Galveston police apologize after photo surfaces of horse-mounted officers leading handcuffed suspect

[brooklynite]

Source: Houston Chronicle

Galveston police are apologizing after a dramatic photo circulated online showing horse-mounted officers leading a handcuffed man of color by what appears to be a rope.

Police issued a press release about the photo on Monday, confirming that horse-mounted officers had "clipped" a "line" to a man's handcuffs after he was arrested Saturday on a criminal trespassing charge.

Galveston Police Chief Vernon Hale also issued a statement Monday in the press release. He apologized to the man, Donald Neely, 43, who had been arrested on a misdemeanor criminal trespassing charge.

"First and foremost I must apologize to Mister Neely for this unnecessary embarrassment," he said in the statement. "Although this is a trained technique and best practice in some scenarios, I believe our officers showed poor judgement in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of the arrest."



Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Galveston-police-apologize-for-photo-of-14282778.php

[procon]

1. WTF were they thinking?

They had to know what they were doing was wrong. They had to know, especially given today's racially charged news events, that the optics would be horrendous. Yet they brazenly paraded that man down city streets in broad daylight to maximize his humiliation.

Gawd, if these cops are an example of Galveston's finest, then it's not a safe city for blacks to live in. Maybe that was the plan.

[UncleTomsEvilBrother]

2. Perhaps...

...they figured they can get away with things like this because even "our side" keeps referring to them as "racially charged" instead of "racist."

[Nitram]

3. They were thinking, "This is how we show people who's boss!"

[Delphinus]

13. That was my thought too.

[MarcA]

4. Mister Neely is not the one who should be embarrassed. n/t

[rocktivity]

5. If there wasn't a police vehicle available

Couldn't they at least have called for an Uber?


rocktivity

[PatSeg]

6. How on earth can an apology begin to

compensate for what they did? Could we possibly regress any faster?

I'll bet you won't see any photos of a white man being led by a horse mounted police officer.

[moreland01]

7. USA Circa 1958?

Good fucking grief!

[nycbos]

8. Sue em

[BlueIdaho]

9. Jesus H Christ...

These cops should be fired immediately. If they can’t understand how dehumanizing this is, they got no business wearing a gun and a badge.

Do they keep their KKK robes in their lockers at the station?

[christx30]

24. Oh, I think they know exactly how dehumanizing it was.

And that's why they did it. And I agree with you, if they were employed by the police department the next day, it's way too long. They need to be prosecuted.

[lark]

10. I hope he sues their pants off and wins millions of $$.

Those 2 asses on the horses should be fired.

[Delphinus]

14. Yes and

yes.

[brooklynite]

15. What would the legal basis for a lawsuit be?

Perp walks have never been successfully challenged as far as I recall.

[dalton99a]

16. They paraded him for EIGHT blocks.

Would they treat a white person that way?

[brooklynite]

17. Again, what's the legal basis for a suit?

[dalton99a]

18. You call that a perp walk? EIGHT blocks?

[brooklynite]

19. We're not arguing morality, we're arguing law.

[lark]

21. Unusual and cruel punishment?

I'm not an attorney but it sure looks like his civil rights were violated.

[Progressive Jones]

23. A good lawyer will find that legal basis. nt

[Blue_Tires]

25. An attorney can find one easy...

[jaysunb]

11. Slave Patrols n/t

[TeamPooka]

12. The Galveston police dept should be the only ones embarrassed by this.

Scumbag cops do things like this.
There's a PD that needs a cleansing top to bottom.

[jeffreyi]

20. Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. ,

[Progressive Jones]

22. Wannabe cowboys. Stupid as fuck... nt

[Beacool]

26. At what time is the lynching?

It's like regressing to the early 20th century South.

Unbelievable!!!

[MissMillie]

27. You can't fix stupid

Ignorance can be addressed, but STUPID is incurable