Omaha Police Mounted Patrol Unit gets called up to help in 2026 FIFA World Cup

OMAHA, Neb. —

The Omaha Police Department’s Mounted Patrol Unit is gearing up for a busy summer of work. As always, they’ll work the College World Series, but shortly after, the unit will be headed to Kansas City to assist in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Sgt. Kevin Vodicka with the unit said he got the call requesting their help about a year ago.

“It’s just a wonderful opportunity for us to get to work that large event like that and talk to people and meet people from around the world and kind of show what we can do, for our unit,” Vodicka said.

As the only full-time mounted patrol unit in the region, they’ll assist in crowd control for the quarterfinal game on July 3 and semifinal game on July 11.

The unit’s ability to engage with the community and unique vantage point makes them an invaluable asset.

“Our number one thing with the Mounted Patrol is community engagement,” Vodicka said. “You just can’t replicate it on the department. One mounted officer equals about nine to 10 officers on the ground. Just because when a 1,500-pound animal asks you to move, you usually move. Our horses are trained to move crowds like that. They’ll move sideways. They’ll lead with their shoulder. And usually people will move when we ask them to.”

They’ve been training ever since receiving the call.

“It’s a lot of repetition. We do a lot of stuff entering the indoor arena. We drop those flags down, we’ll have mattresses on the ground, we’ll have tarps. We’ll have anything that makes noise. Fireworks, flares, smoke machines. Just. You kind of have to do it over and over and over again. And with the horses, you got to do it on each side of their brain,” Vodicka said.