The details
Frank Keller, founder and CEO of Alpha & Omega Mounted Patrols, said the company recently celebrated 35 years of operation companywide and 30 years in The Woodlands.
"We're sensitive to crime and negative activity," Keller said. "There's nothing that's 100% public relations and 100% security but these horses. Cameras don't do that, cars don't do that, bicycles don't do that, foot patrol doesn't do that. The bad guys are scared of the horses, and the good guys love them."
Keller said he wanted to provide an opportunity for township board members to experience the mounted patrols to better understand the services provided as well as the upcoming needs of the organization. Keller said the mounted patrols are currently limited to only working 387 hours a week, whereas before the COVID-19 pandemic the organization logged 1,000 hours a week within The Woodlands.
According to the 2025 adopted budget for The Woodlands Township, a total of $1.48 million was budgeted for the mounted patrol this year, a 4% increase from 2024, but down from $1.73 million in 2020.
"The ability to flex hours too is super important, because criminals ... base what they do on what they see. When they see the horses out in the parking lot until 8 p.m., they know the parking lots are open to breaking into vehicles, burglary of vehicles." Keller said. "Employees miss that [escort] to their vehicles at the end of their [work] time at 8-9 p.m. We're no longer out there."
The current patrol routes include the Town Center area around The Woodlands Mall, Market Street and along The Woodlands Waterway. Keller, alongside several additional troopers, guided Eissler and Nelson around the main patrol route around The Woodlands Mall during the ridealong.
In their own words
- "I feel very, very safe living in The Woodlands, I think it's probably one of the safest places in the greater Houston area," Nelson said. "Retail theft is increasing, but the township has put a lot of extra money into the [Montgomery County] Sheriff's office, into the [Precinct 3] Constables, and into the mounted patrol."
- "We're out here to explore what the mounted patrols see, any challenges they're facing; and as a board, public safety is our number one concern for our residents, so we're looking at any and all possible ways to make this place safer and for our residents to feel safer," Eissler said.
