In a statement Monday, Police Chief Vernon Hale said “this is a trained technique and best practice in some scenarios,” such as with crowd control. However, he said he believes his officers “showed poor judgment in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of arrest.” He said his department has “immediately changed the policy” to prevent use of the technique.

Neely is free on bond. He has no listed telephone number and couldn’t be reached for comment.

","published":"2019-08-07T10:02:39.000Z","updated":"2019-08-07T10:01:14.000Z","summary":"Galveston’s police chief is apologizing after two of his officers, mounted on horseback, led a handcuffed trespassing suspect by a rope through downtown streets.","affiliate":{"_id":"5c784a0c4961cb23ad330098","callSign":"kotv","origin":"https://www.newson6.com"},"contentClass":"news","createdAt":"2020-02-01T18:12:41.491Z","updatedAt":"2022-03-31T19:19:16.193Z","__v":2,"breakingNews":[],"entities":[{"_id":"6244be686880e45323a754a8","text":"Donald Neely","type":"PERSON","__v":0},{"_id":"6244be686880e45323a754c3","text":"Vernon Hale","type":"PERSON","__v":0}],"hasBeenCheckedForEntities":true,"openInNewWindow":false,"show":true,"link":"/story/5e35bf99fcd8ef694720e7f4/chief-apologizes-after-horseback-officers-lead-man-by-rope","hasSchedule":false,"id":"5e35bf99fcd8ef694720e7f4"};