"Favelas" are urban spaces that were chaotically built

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"Favelas" are urban spaces that were chaotically built into hills filled with jungle, slopes, narrow alleys and dumping grounds. To navigate on the maze, one's need mobility, heavy armour, for close quarters combat, but also speed to rush pass empty fields. Helicopters are vulnerable to the anti material rifles of the criminals and ground vehicles are too big to go out of main streets. Drug lords run entire armies with support from locals who will riot, barricade passages, and if killed by accident, will become political nightmares, as the press is against you. Fortunately, criminals relies on ak-47, and very few anti-material rifles. No RPGs or IEDs.
Currently, police forces are outnumbered and unable to outmanoeuvre the criminals who hides after every major operation just to pour back in after the cost of deploying the necessary manpower becomes unbearable.
In such scenario, would it be worthy to put proper ballistic armour on horses and "ride-by shooting" their positions? Both simpler and crazier suggestions, to solve this problem, are welcome.