Hamburg police disband cavalry squadron by 2027

From the end of 2027, the Hamburg police will no longer have a cavalry squadron. The unit will be dissolved for cost and personnel reasons, a spokesman confirmed when asked by the German Press Agency in Hamburg. The “Hamburger Abendblatt” had previously reported. As a result, the police saved 1.1 million euros.

This fulfills what WELT reported on in March, when the first details from a Hamburg police project called “Police 2030” were leaked. It was also clear back then that the two helicopters “Libelle 1” and “Libelle 2” were also on the verge of extinction. They are to be replaced by drones, which will then be placed on selected guard roofs. The police are therefore continuing to develop their drone strategy, it was said this Thursday.

According to Police Chief Falk Schnabel, all areas are always examined not only in terms of their costs, but also in terms of their efficiency and relevance for future police tasks. "The equestrian squadron has also been subjected to such intensive and thorough consideration and testing for a long time. The very current result is that we will need the financial, but especially the human resources, for other tasks in the future," he told the "Hamburger Abendblatt".

According to the media report, the ten riders will then work in other areas, such as drone defense. What happened to the horses was initially unclear. The time of dissolution is related to the rental agreement for the horse stables in Pinneberg (Schleswig-Holstein). “There will no longer be a cavalry relay in Hamburg when the rental agreement for our stables expires at the end of 2027.” The equestrian relay was only reintroduced in 2010. It had already been dissolved in 1975 for cost reasons.

With regard to the two police helicopters, which are more than 20 years old and whose approximately 500 missions last year cost more than three million euros, Schnabel said that they should continue to fly until the end of their service life. But then it's over. “However, the immense costs of new purchases cannot be justified due to the shrinking areas of application.”

Drones will take over their tasks in the future. “And where they cannot, for example when transporting people quickly from A to B, we – like other federal states – have to consider whether there are synergies with state police or the federal police,” said Schnabel.

The reason for the cuts is the city's tight coffers. The police budget for 2027 will increase by 21.8 million euros to more than 1.1 billion euros. But that is not enough to cover all the additional expenditure, around 250 additional police positions by 2030. “The draft budget presents us with major challenges and forces us to take far-reaching measures,” said Schnabel. This includes a reduction in administrative positions by around 200 jobs. Positions that become vacant should not be filled. However, Schnabel assured: “We will not terminate any employee for operational reasons.”