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Police on horseback raise levels of public trust and engagement with officers, according to a new study.

A report suggests that when deployed on community patrols, officers on horseback appear more visible to the public than those on foot.

But, the number of mounted units across the UK has fallen from 17 to 12 in the three years prior to 2013, with some forces closing them in response to Government austerity measures.

A report commissioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) suggests that when deployed on community patrols, units on horseback (stock image) appear more visible to the public than officers on foot

The report by the University of Oxford and think-tank Rand Europe was commissioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

It is based on a study of mounted patrols in areas of Gloucester and south London, which suggested that officers on horseback had six times as many interactions with the public as police on foot.

Co-author Ben Bradford, from the University of Oxford's Centre for Criminology, said: 'After an initial period of surveying in each of the areas in February 2014, mounted community patrols took place in three of them in March.'

A second round of surveying took place in April.

'Early results reveal a measurable value and impact of mounted police in neighbourhood settings,' continued Mr Bradford.

'People who have recently seen mounted patrols tend to have higher levels of trust and confidence in police.'

The study also claimed that mounted police have a 'unique capacity' when policing disorder, football crowds and public events such as Glastonbury Festival. Here, a police officer on horseback watches over Bayern Munich and Manchester United fans before a football game in April this year

The report said that the 12 mounted police units in the UK - including one for all of Scotland - have 271 officers, 103 staff and 247 horses. 

This represents a cut of nearly a quarter of national mounted capacity since the beginning of 2012.

The study also claimed that mounted police have a 'unique capacity' when policing disorder, football crowds and public events such as Glastonbury Festival.

Researchers estimate that the cost of keeping mounted units is between £15,500 and £22,000 a year more than the basic cost of employing a regular officer.

Gloucestershire Deputy Chief Constable Rod Hansen, the ACPO's lead for mounted policing, said: 'It does not feel right to lose such a historic and versatile capability due to short term financial challenges without fully understanding how sadly it would be missed.

'That doesn't mean to say there aren't more cost effective ways of delivering mounted policing, and this academic research will help sign post those alternatives.'

MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA USE COMPUTER TO PREDICT CRIMES

Law enforces in America have used crime-prediction software similar to that seen in the film Minority report, starring Tom Cruise (pictured)

When police in the Minority Report film predicted who would commit crimes and stopped them before they did it, it was considered so futuristic, the film was set in 2054.

But last year, law enforcers in two American states used crime-prediction software to predict which freed prisoners are most likely to commit murder, and supervised them accordingly.

Instead of relying on parole officers to decide how much supervision inmates will need on the outside by looking at their records, the new system used a computer algorithm to decide for them.

The Minority Report-style software is already being used in Baltimore and Philadelphia to predict future murderers.

It has been developed by Professor Richard Berk, a criminologist at the University of Pennsylvania, who believes it will reduce the murder rate and those of other crimes.

Professor Berk says his algorithm could be used to help set bail amounts and also decide sentences in the future. It could also be modified to predict lesser crimes.