University of Nevada, Reno Police Chief Adam Garcia apologized Sunday for the Halloween costume of one of his officers.

Garcia was referring to a photo that began circulating on social media Sunday that showed a University police officer dressed as Colin Kaepernick, a UNR graduate and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who says he has been penalized by the NFL because he kneeled during the playing of the national anthem last season to protest racial injustice.

In the post on Twitter, a screen shot of a University police officer is seen next to a photo of what appears to be the same man dressed in a wig, a painted on beard, a false nose and a sign that says, "Will stand for food."

"For those who have seen the Halloween costume of one of our officers apparently mocking a citizen who has chosen to take advantage of his constitutional right to protest, I offer my sincere apologies," Garcia said.

"Members of our profession are held to a higher standard and denigrating another – on or off duty - is insensitive for its lack of respect and lack understanding on how others may negatively view their actions and may be impacted."

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Garcia addressed growing tensions on campus that have included an investigation into an officer who said to UNR graduate student Kevin McReynolds during a routine traffic on Sept. 24, "I'm just going to shoot him if this goes sideways because f--- that.”

The traffic stop was recorded on an officer's body camera. In that case, the officer is on leave and an investigation is pending.

UNR did not name the officer in the Halloween photo and said no action will be taken.

"As insensitive and inappropriate as this is, we have no policy that would dictate any disciplinary action," said UNR spokeswoman Kerri Garcia.

The police chief said in his statement that he has heard from many members of the community that feel unsafe on campus because of the current social and political climate.

"Behavior such as this magnifies unsafe feelings and lack of trust in police, especially when that individual is responsible for the safety of all members of the University, regardless of color, ethnicity, sexual orientation or religion. At a time when officers should be heightened in their attentiveness to perception by our community, this act seems extremely out of touch with those sentiments and reflects poorly on all of us," Garcia said.

"To regain the trust of our students, and in particular those of color, will be a challenge and will be a priority through continued education, training and conversation."