Russia mulls deploying 'reindeer police force' in Siberia

Northern Siberia is so cold, Russian police are considering taking a page out of Santa's playbook.

Bedeviled by snowmobiles that can run of gas or malfunction at inopportune moments, the authorities of Russia's Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug area are wondering if they wouldn't be better served with a "reindeer police force," The Guardian reports.

Police officers attest the animals are needed to chase down the perpetrators of crimes like "drunken fights, robberies, and hooliganism" who can escape into inaccessible areas of the frozen tundra on their own reindeer. Russian police think a few Rudolphs of their own could level the playing field.

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