The Galveston Police Department is apologizing after recently coming under fire for the way officers handled the arrest of a black man over the weekend.

Two officers mounted on horseback arrested a 43-year-old man for criminal trespass in downtown Galveston. A photo of the arrest was taken and shared on social media that shows the man with his hands behind his back, walking between the horses and the officers, with one of the officers holding a blue rope which was clipped to the handcuffs.

We have verified with law enforcement officials in Galveston, that the photograph taken in Galveston is real. It is hard to understand why these officers felt this young man required a leash, as he was handcuffed and walking between two mounted officers. pic.twitter.com/bEFZnn4qmH

— Adrienne Bell (@AdrBell) August 5, 2019

A spokesperson for the department said:

"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".

Galveston Police Chief Vernon L. Hale, III said in a statement Monday that,

"First and foremost, I must apologize to (the man arrested) 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 the 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." "We understand the negative perception of this action and believe it is most appropriate to cease the use of this technique."

There was no word on whether any disciplinary action is being taken against the officers

The Galveston PD offered this official statement posted on the department's Facebook page.