A viral picture of an arrest has led to changes in the Galveston Police Department.
The picture is of a man being arrested by two mounted patrol officers. It appears the man was tied to a rope.
According to cops, this arrest happened Saturday. A statement from the Galveston Police Department says a transportation unit was not immediately available when the arrest took so Donald Neely was handcuffed and escorted beside two police officers on horses.
Some on social media commented that it looked like the rope was tied to the suspect's hands. The police department says the suspect was handcuffed and the rope was clipped to the handcuffs.
“While this technique of using mounted horses to transport a person during an arrest is considered a best practice in certain scenarios, such as during crowd control, the practice was not used correctly in this instance,” the statement said.
“Although this is a trained technique and best practice in some scenarios, I believe our officers showed poor judgment in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of the arrest,” Chief Vernon L. Hale, III says. “My officers did not have any malicious intent at the time of the arrest, but we have immediately changed the policy to prevent the use of this technique and will review all mounted training and procedures for more appropriate methods.”
The department identified the officers involved as P. Brosch and A. Smith. They were wearing body cameras, which were activated, according to police. At this time they do not face any disciplinary action.