Setting The Record Straight
September 30th, 2026
We have now seen A&O and our mounted patrol described several times in ways that make it unclear which service The Woodlands Township chose to purchase from our company.
The latest example appeared in the Township’s September 17 meeting recap, published this week and republished by local media, where the existing A&O service was described as the “current civilian courtesy patrol model.”
Here is the part that keeps getting missed. A&O does not decide the assignment or level of patrol a client purchases. The client does. We provide different service levels based on what each client needs and chooses to purchase. The contract defines that particular assignment and level of patrol. It does not define Alpha & Omega Services’ full capabilities.
A&O is a fully licensed and insured Texas private security company. We carry substantial insurance coverage appropriate to the work we perform, including coverage for our personnel, operations, vehicles, horses, and the risks associated with providing mounted security services in public environments. Depending on what a client requests, we can provide different levels of security service, including commissioned armed security officers, expanded security functions, additional staffing, enhanced communications, and specialized training.
Woodlands Township selected the service model A&O would provide, and we intentionally developed that service around a community policing philosophy. We designed that model to be highly visible, approachable, and familiar.
The horse was not simply transportation. It created an elevated, highly visible security presence, allowed our troopers to move through areas difficult for vehicles to reach, and gave residents, visitors, employees, and children a natural reason to approach and interact with our personnel. That interaction was part of the model.
Our troopers became familiar faces in the community. They answered questions, assisted visitors, helped residents, identified problems, observed suspicious activity, responded to security concerns, assisted with traffic and crowds, helped with lost children and medical situations, documented incidents, and coordinated with law enforcement, fire, and EMS when additional authority or resources were required.
That kind of accessibility and public interaction does not make the patrol ceremonial. Our mounted troopers are trained, licensed security professionals. They are not volunteers, entertainers, mascots, or simply a customer service presence. They work for a fully operational private security agency with established supervision, training, substantial insurance coverage, operating procedures, communications, reporting systems, relief coverage, vehicles, trailers, equipment, and trained patrol horses.
A&O has also spent decades training mounted public safety professionals. Our mounted training division has conducted 40 mounted certification academies and has trained personnel from more than 50 law enforcement agencies. That is not a ceremonial program.
It is also important to understand the distinction between private security and sworn law enforcement. MCSO deputies have broader statutory law enforcement authority. We have never disputed that. But broader police authority does not mean that professional private security has no meaningful role.
Public law enforcement and private security routinely work together as different layers of public safety. They have different authority, responsibilities, and strengths. For more than 31 years, that is how A&O’s mounted patrol operated in The Woodlands.
Our troopers provided a highly visible security presence, deterred problems, assisted the public, responded within their lawful authority, and called upon sworn law enforcement when police authority was required.
On September 17, the Township Board voted to move forward with negotiations with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office for a different mounted patrol model. A&O’s current contract remains in effect through December 31, 2026.
As that transition moves forward, we want the public to have an accurate description of the service A&O has provided and of the professional capabilities of our company and our people.
The scope a client chooses to purchase is not the same thing as the full capability of the company providing it.
Thanks.
Frank P Keller
President/CEO
Alpha & Omega Services, Inc.
Mounted Security Patrol
Email: fkeller@mountedpatrol.com
Office: 817/379-6607
Web: www.mountedpatrol.com
