Welcome to the Monitoring Team’s first Community Newsletter. Here we’ll share information about our work over the past few months to monitor the Puerto Rico Police Department and their progress in accordance with the Consent Decree and the Agreement for Sustainable Reform.

       In 2008, the Civil Rights division of the Department of Justice opened a comprehensive investigation of the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD). In 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) announced that the PRPD had engaged in patterns of misconduct that violate the Constitution and federal law, that included patterns or practices of use of excessive force during routine police activities, relying on the unreasonable force in response to public demonstrations, conducting unlawful searches and seizures, and engaging in discriminatory police practices.

         In 2013, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the United States Department of Justice voluntarily entered into a Consent Decree and agreed to enter into an Agreement for the Sustainable Reform.

        The Agreement for the Sustainable Reform of the PRPD is a 301-paragraph document that provides a comprehensive blueprint for reform that guides the professionalization of PRPD in 11 areas of reform to ensure Puerto Rico residents are free from the use of excessive force, unlawful searches and seizures, and discrimination by PRPD. These 11 areas of reform are as follows:

• Professionalization
• Use of Force
• Searches and Seizures
• Equal Protection and Non-Discrimination
• Recruitment, Selection, and Hiring
• Policies and Procedures
• Training
• Supervision and Management
• Civilian Complaints, Internal Investigations and Discipline
• Community Engagement and Public Information
• Information Systems and Technology

       To ensure an independent court monitoring, paragraph 225 of the Consent Decree calls for a Technical Compliance Advisor (TCA) to ensure the implementation of the Consent Decree.

       The Technical Compliance Advisors are a diverse group of professionals, lawyers, and experts in the modernization and professionalization of the police force, organizational change, data analytics, information systems, and technology, among others. This monitoring team consisting of police practices experts and law enforcement professionals who oversee the implementation of the Consent Decree in adopting reforms aimed at ensuring safe and constitutional policing in Puerto Rico.  After the four-year “capacity-building" period, the TCA team is actively undertaking compliance monitoring for the PRPD. The monitoring team uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods including site visits to assess PRPB’s compliance.
       The TCA team provides an assessment of PRPB policies and practices according to the degree with the paragraphs in the Consent Decree. With this information, the team creates a Federal Monitor Report. The report is a biannually published document detailing the observations, compliance levels, and recommendations for changes the PRPD must take in accordance with the Agreement of Sustainable Reform. As of January 2021, two Federal Monitor Reports have been published for the public to read on the Federal Police Monitor Team website.  The first one was published in March of 2020, covering from October 2018 through June 2019 and the second report was published in December 2020, covering from July 2019 through March 2020. The Federal Monitoring Reports can be found on our website, here.

       Mr. John Romero was appointed Chief Federal Monitor by the Honorable Gustavo Gelpi.

       Mr. Romero is a retired Police Chief serving almost thirty (30) years with the NYPD. As Commanding Officer of the 34th Precinct in NYC (Washington Heights) he was instrumental in reducing serious crime and improving the quality of life for the residents. During his tenure, the precinct experienced one of the largest reductions in crime of any precinct in the City of New York. Upon his retirement from the NYPD, he was appointed Chief of Police for the City of Lawrence Massachusetts, and served as the city’s chief for fifteen (15) years. His extensive experience working in New York and in the reform of the City of Lawrence Massachusetts police made him the perfect candidate to take the role of Chief Federal monitor.

For more information about the Federal Monitor and his team, please visit our website.

The Monitor Team meets with community leaders to explain the Federal Monitor Reports, inform the community about the agreement implementations, and hear varying community perspectives.

Most recently, on October 29, 2020, the Monitoring Team met with community stakeholders from Loiza, Puerto Rico where they discussed the recent report and issues such as safety, lack of enforcement, and improving communication between the PRPB and the Community.

In addition, on November 17, 2020, the Federal Monitor met with a community representative from Loiza, P.R. to discuss concerns about public safety, lack of resources, and domestic violence handling, Covid-19 curfew violations, amongst other topics.

Further, on November 18, 2020, the Monitoring Team met with transgender community activists to address the needs of the transgender community and the investigative process in the wake of recent incidents of violence against members of their community. These meetings are important for the Federal Monitor to understand the concerns of the community and inform the status of PRPB compliance with the Agreement.

If you would like to meet with the Monitor or host a meeting with your organization, please click on the link below.

 There are various ways the community can get involved in the Puerto Rico Police Reform:
 
Follow the progress and learn more on our website and by connecting to us on social media!