Welcome to the TCA Newsletter – Special Edition

What are the TCA Survey Reports?

       On April 4th, 2023, an informative motion was submitted by the Chief Federal Monitor, John Romero, that formally released the 2022 TCA Survey Reports. Chief Monitor John Romero stated that in compliance with paragraph 241 the “Agreement for the Sustainable Reform of the Puerto Rico Police Department” (“Agreement”) requires a court-appointed Technical Compliance Advisor (“TCA”), also known as the Federal Monitor, to conduct annual surveys on members of the community, including police officers, and detainees.

Paragraph 241 states:

       The TCA team contracted IPSOS to conduct the above surveys. IPSOS worked with the Monitor and the Parties to design the surveys and methodology. From February to April 2022, IPSOS gathered information from surveys which included interviews with random samples of residents of Puerto Rico, PRPB officers, and detainees arrested by PRPB. The surveys allowed the TCA and IPSOS to gather information regarding community-police relations; PRPB’s integrity, effectiveness, and service; and how it treats members of different demographic groups, while ensuring anonymity. Subsequently, IPSOS produced a report of the findings and progress made by PRPB and submitted these reports to the Monitor’s Office. Annual surveys and/or focus groups will be conducted and similar reports will be produced and provided on the TCA website.

         The full versions of the 2022 TCA PRPB and Community Survey Reports are available online. Because of a low response rate, IPSOS was unable to conduct a comprehensive analysis of detainees. The Monitor’s Office will work with the Parties and IPSOS to redesign its methodology in hopes of increasing participation from detainees and in an effort to better understand their perspective of PRPB.

Click on the button below to read the full  2022 TCA PRPB and Community Survey Reports.

TCA PRPB Survey Report Summary:

The TCA PRPB Survey was from March 23 to April 19, 2022. In total, 1,993 surveys were gathered from all PRPB members that were contacted. The active PRPB members were between the ages of 24 years and older across the 13 Puerto Rico police areas and headquarter classification. The study used an online interviewing technique to collect data.  The PRPB members were asked close ended questions and had a maximum of 12 minutes. The questionnaire covered the following topics: (1) knowledge of the Reform; (2) measurement of the eleven areas of compliance with the Reform; and (3) defining the demographic profile of the interviewees. The goal of the study design was to allow statistically defensible inferences about the Puerto Rico police population in terms of age, gender, rank, years of service, and police service area.

This is a summary of the data collected during the PRPB survey:

Knowledge about the Reform:
The survey found that most officers interviewed indicated having knowledge about the Reform being carried out by the Puerto Rico Police. Most agreed that the Reform is achieving its goal of protecting the citizens’ civil rights, that they are kept informed about the reform process, and that citizens have been kept informed. Although the majority of PRPB members agree that they have been kept informed about the reform process, over one-third of the officers in the areas of San Juan and Aguadilla disagreed. The survey found that knowledge about the reform is more common amongst older and longer-standing officers, and less common among the younger officers.

Professionalism:
Elements of Professionalism include respectful interactions with citizens, professional communication from supervisors to subordinates, appropriate training to promote ethical behavior, and the mechanisms in place for reporting unethical behavior. The survey found that there was a high level of agreement in all questions relating to professionalism. Most officers agreed that they act in a respectful manner when intervening with citizens; that supervisors communicate with the subordinates in a professional manner; that they receive appropriate technical training and supervision to promote ethical behavior; that there are adequate mechanisms in place to report unethical behavior within the PR Police; and that promotion processes are transparent, equitable and fair. The highest level of disagreement came from younger officers.

Use of Force:
The surveys concluded that there is high agreement on the topic of police respecting and protecting the citizens’ right to freedom of expression when responding to a demonstration. Majority of officers indicated that they received training regarding freedom of expression during a demonstration, but over half of the officers disagreed whether they have the right equipment. Officers are divided on whether they have received effective training to intervene appropriately with citizens with mental health problems.

Searches and Seizures:
The surveys concluded that there is a high agreement regarding elements related to Searches and Seizures. These included the topics of interventions being done in a clear and respectful manner, justified interventions, appropriate treatment, and supervisors following protocol when responding to the scene of an arrest and examining arrested parties for injury.

Equal Protection and Non-Discrimination:
The surveys concluded two-thirds of the officers stated that the Puerto Rico Police had representation from different ethnic groups or sectors, with disagreement amongst officers with 20-24 years of service and officers of lower rank. Majority agreed that supervisors treated all officers equally and that the officers’ conduct towards arrested citizens was reasonable, with disagreements among younger age officers, females, and those with less than 20 years of experience. Additionally, there was majority agreement amongst PRPB officers in the areas of non-discrimination, identifying and solving hate crimes appropriately and timely, effectively dealing with domestic violence and sexual assault cases and providing victims proper treatment, given specific guidelines on how to interact or intervene appropriately with trans people, and having reasonable conduct towards arrested citizens.
 
Recruitment Selection and Hiring:
The surveys had mixed responses regarding recruitment, selection, and hiring. Two-thirds of the officers agreed that the Puerto Rico Police recruits candidates with the right characteristics to promote the philosophy of community policing and protection of civil rights. The areas of disagreement include not having the proper conditions and benefits to employ qualified people to be officers, no effective and attractive promotional campaign for recruitment, and, most notably, not being able to retain new recruits because of a lack of necessary incentives and proper working conditions.

Policies and Procedures:
The surveys concluded that most officers agreed that the Puerto Rico Police has well-defined policies, protocols, and procedure manuals. However, some officers believed their opinions and suggestions were not considered when creating the policies. Officers’ opinions are divided on whether the Puerto Rico Police provides sufficient training to collect, analyze and disseminate useful data to officers and supervisors for their daily decision-making and operation.
 
Training:
The surveys concluded a high agreement in the areas of sufficient training to conduct work in an updated and professional manner, receiving the right training for an effective job, appropriate methods used for learning and training, and training on how to interact with foreigners and non-citizens. The areas of disagreement in training persist because of the lack of provision of equipment to carry out jobs more effectively and the lack of training to offer services to people with disabilities.

Supervision and Management:
 The surveys concluded that there is disagreement regarding the efficiency of the system.  For example, whether supervisors can early identify inappropriate behavior by police officers if there are sufficient qualified supervisors and the prejudicial impact it may have on their work and performance evaluations. On the other, hand there is high agreement that the active area commanders demonstrate effective leadership, and that the superintendent/commissioner is directing the Puerto Rico Police towards being a community police that protects civil rights.

Civil Complaints, Internal Investigations, and Discipline:
The surveys concluded there is a majority agreement (around two-thirds or so) that the Puerto Rico Police investigates complaints submitted against any police officer for improper conduct. They consistently apply the corresponding disciplinary measures to police officers that have sustained complaints for committing offenses. The Puerto Rico Police has confidential and accessible mechanisms to submit misconduct complaints against any officer.  There is less agreement about being able to provide protection against reprisals for filing misconduct complaints and about taking appropriate measures when identifying cases of corruption.

Community Engagement and Public Information:
The surveys concluded there is high agreement regarding Community Engagement, particularly in knowing the needs and concerns of the community, regarding the proper treatment of the homeless population, in promoting community participation in solving crimes, and in training officers to work and fight crime together with the communities. However, officers are divided on whether the communities have respect for police officers.

Information and technology:
The surveys concluded that the officers are divided on whether the Puerto Rico Police provides sufficient training with regards to efficient and proper use of information systems. There is a higher agreement in terms of publishing reliable general statistics on all types of crime in Puerto Rico. 
All the areas are further examined in the full version of the survey which is available in both English and Spanish. These versions break down levels of agreement and disagreement by gender, age, area, rank, and years of experience by the officers of PRPB.

TCA Community Survey Report Summary:

The community survey data was collected between February 3 and March 26, 2022. The community survey had a sample of approximately 1,300 residents of Puerto Rico, ages of 18 and older, across the 13 policing areas. From this, a subsample was created within each police area of gender, age, and socioeconomic level (which can be found in the full surveys as SEL), with the goal to allow statistically defensible inferences about the entire population age 18 and older in terms of age, gender, SEL, and police area. The study used a mixed interview technique, Online + CATI for data collection, with a questionnaire of a maximum duration of 15 minutes with closed-ended questions, covering the topics: knowledge of the Reform, measurement of the eleven areas of compliance with the Reform, and defining the demographic profile of the interviewee.

This is a summary of the data collected during the community survey:

Knowledge about the Reform:
Nearly two-thirds of the community members interviewed indicated they have some level of knowledge of the PRPB reform being carried out, although their level of knowledge varies with most indicating little to some knowledge. While half of the citizens indicated that there has been some degree of impact by the PRPB reform in protecting the citizens’ civil rights, only one out of four indicated that PRPB has kept the citizens informed about the reform process achievements throughout its implementation.

Professionalism:
Most community members agreed that PRPB officers act in a professional manner when intervening with citizens and communicate respectfully. However, only one-third of respondents indicated that PRPB officers take appropriate measures when identifying cases of corruption.
 
Use of Force:
The Use of Force indicators has consistent and positive results. About half of the community members agreed that PRPB officers are properly trained with updated techniques on how to prevent excessive use of force, are respecting citizens’ right to freedom of expression, and that they intervene appropriately when dealing with citizens going through a mental health crisis.

Searches and Seizures:
Although only one-third of community members have witnessed a police intervention, the evaluation of the elements related to Searches and Seizures (following correct procedures during interventions, explanation of reasons for intervention, making arrests for justified reasons) tends to be positive.

Equal Protection and Non-Discrimination:
Half or more of the community members felt that PRPB officers provide public security services to all citizens free of discrimination, that citizens can interact with police officers and not be discriminated against, and that PRPB has an interest in dealing with hate crimes.  A little over half of the respondents feel there is targeted discrimination. Two out of ten respondents felt that discrimination arises due to sexual orientation, gender, political ideology, and nationality. A majority of respondents stated that discriminated groups are fearful of reporting crimes.  About half of the respondents slightly agree that PRPB effectively handled cases of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Recruitment Selection and Hiring:
There is a majority disagreement and negative responses to the survey questions. The community stated that PRPB did not have the conditions and benefits to attract qualified people to become members of the force, that candidates with the ideal characteristics to join PRPB are not recruited, and that PRPB does not have an effective promotional campaign to draw recruitment attention.

Policies and Procedures:
Most respondents disagreed or are unaware whether PRPB makes the policy/procedure manuals available to the public or if information is provided to the general public about the policies or regulations that govern interventions with foreigners or non-citizens.

Training:
Around half of the community members indicated that the police officers are not trained to offer services to people with some type of disability. There is a bit more agreement with regard to the police officers being trained in terms of responsibilities, authority limits, and policies. Two-thirds of the interviewed community members felt that PRPB did not provide officers with the necessary equipment to effectively carry out their work.
 
Supervision and Management:
         In the area of supervision and management two-thirds of community members agreed that PRPD does not provide officers with the necessary equipment to effectively carry out their work.

Civil Complaints, Internal Investigations, and Discipline:
Over half of the community members indicated that they did not believe that the PRPD investigated complaints submitted against officers for inappropriate conduct in an objective, transparent and thorough manner. The community is divided on whether PRPD applies the corresponding disciplinary measures against officers charged with misdemeanors. Most community members stated that PRPB does not provide public information regarding the officer or civil employee complaint investigation statistics, and do not take adequate measures to protect citizens who file complaints from reprisals. There is a fragmented agreement response on whether PRPD has an efficient, manageable, and accessible mechanism for filing improper conduct complaints. Lastly, there is little knowledge of how to submit a complaint about improper conduct by a police officer.
 
Community Engagement and Public Information:
Half of the community members surveyed agreed that police officers know the needs and concerns of the community, are encouraged to collaborate with the communities in the prevention and resolution of problems, and that there exists a level of respect between the community and police officers. This same proportion of agreement can be observed in the topic of PRPB’s community presence and work carried out by the police officers in the communities.  However, the level of confidence is divided among the community in terms of those that feel a positive level of trust and those that show some level of distrust in the public security services provided by PRPB officers. Lastly, there is some division on whether police officers treat the homeless population well.

Information and technology:
Only one out of four community members think that PRPB has the right technology to provide a more efficient service, which is one of the areas with the greatest degree of negative responses. There’s also a majority disagreement among community members that the Puerto Rico police publishes reliable statistics on all types of crime.

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