“The degree of police corruption and criminal misconduct in Puerto Rico is high and contributes to the public safety and civil rights crisis,” the report said. “More P.R.P.D. officers are involved in criminal activity than in any other major law enforcement agency in the country.”
The police are also accused of failing to address sex assault and domestic violence cases and attacking nonviolent protesters, bystanders and journalists
The report says the police force has a “profound” and “longstanding” record of civil rights violations and illegal activity, and the department is “broken in a number of critical and fundamental respects.”
The police are also accused of failing to address sex assault and domestic violence cases and attacking nonviolent protesters, bystanders and journalists.
The DOJ’s investigation began partly as a result of complaints by the American Civil Liberties Union, which sent President Barack Obama a letter claiming the police department “engaged in a level of brutality against U.S. citizens” in ways that “would not be tolerated in the 50 states.”
