After it sent shockwaves through the Internet and enraged many, the Texas Police Department has officially issued an apology for the outrageous photo of Donald Neely, 43, being led on a leash by police officers after his arrest for trespassing.
As reported by @WSBTV, the Galveston, Texas Police Department recently issued a statement apologizing for the use of the rope around the man’s wrists. However, it’s important to note that within the apology Galveston Police Department Chief Vernon L. Hale III, stated that “the practice will be immediately discontinued”—meaning that leading black men around on leashes is a common practice.
Hale’s FULL statement on the matter reads:
“First and foremost I must apologize to Mr. Neely for this unnecessary embarrassment. 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 arrest. 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.”
After it sent shockwaves through the Internet and enraged many, the Texas Police Department has officially issued an apology for the outrageous photo of Donald Neely, 43, being led on a leash by police officers after his arrest for trespassing.
As reported by @WSBTV, the Galveston, Texas Police Department recently issued a statement apologizing for the use of the rope around the man’s wrists. However, it’s important to note that within the apology Galveston Police Department Chief Vernon L. Hale III, stated that “the practice will be immediately discontinued”—meaning that leading black men around on leashes is a common practice.
Hale’s FULL statement on the matter reads:
“First and foremost I must apologize to Mr. Neely for this unnecessary embarrassment. 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 arrest. 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.”
According to the Galveston PD, the unit the officers called to transport Neely to the precinct was unavailable, so the officers decided to walk the man across a local intersection with a rope around his neck where waiting mounted units were staging.
Hale previously told news outlets that although the technique is generally used to remove people from crowds, he did not approve of its use in this instance:
“In my opinion, quite frankly, I think my guys showed some poor judgment in this scenario. It wasn’t a crowd-control scenario or anything like that. They should have waited on a unit.”
Neely’s history of trespassing arrests is said to be tied to his reported mental illness and homelessness, as stated by his attorney.