Maintaining law and order on the riotous streets of Utrecht.
In Holland, you expect to see police on bicycles, and indeed you do. But, walking through central Utrecht the other day, I was pleasantly surprised to see mounted police. (So much so that I asked to have my picture taken with them, to my boyfriend’s embarrassment.)
I always viewed mounted police as somehow typically British. In the UK you often see police on horseback on riot duty, at football matches, and street festivals.
I can’t really imagine what purpose they could serve in Holland, the quietest, most peaceful country I’ve ever lived in during my entire life. And especially in down town Utrecht on a Saturday afternoon… what could possibly go wrong?
