Galveston鈥檚 police chief is apologizing after two of his officers, mounted on horseback, led a handcuffed suspect by a rope through downtown streets.
Photos of the Saturday incident went viral on social media. The two officers linked the rope to handcuffs worn by 43-year-old Donald Neely, who was being detained for criminal trespass and led him around the block to a mounted patrol staging area.
Activist and writer Shaun King criticized the Galveston Police Department for the officers鈥� action via Twitter.
In a statement Monday, Police Chief Vernon Hale said 鈥渢his is a trained technique and best practice in some scenarios,鈥� such as with crowd control. However, he said he believes his officers 鈥渟howed poor judgment in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of arrest.鈥�
He said his department has 鈥渋mmediately changed the policy鈥� to prevent use of the technique.
Neely is free on bond. He has no listed telephone number and couldn鈥檛 be reached for comment.
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