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In his first duties as police commissioner, Colonel Antonio López Figueroa reported today that he will start working this week with the officers’ vaccination protocol and the merging of the various units of the uniforms.
Both points were at the top of the agenda of the meeting that López Figueroa held this morning at the headquarters in Hato Rey with the commanders of the 13 police zones in Puerto Rico.
He mentioned that the vaccination protocol will be developed in coordination with the Secretary of Health, Carlos Mellado, and General José Reyes, Adjutant General of the National Guard.
“Next week they will enter phase 1B vaccination. A protocol will be made so that in each police area it will be possible for the agents to be vaccinated and, if possible, to be protected during the pandemic (COVID-19) “, said López Figueroa.
He assured that they will establish some mechanisms on police areas, so that no problems will arise due to the extended lines of the uniform, which currently has 11,463 on the payroll, although he clarified that the vaccination is voluntary.
Meanwhile, the new commissioner indicated that during the meeting he spoke about the creation of more units “to increase the clarification of cases”.
He stressed that this process will involve a “restructuring of the branch of investigation”, which will include the merger of divisions that do practically the same thing, in order to streamline processes.
As an example, he mentioned the divisions of domestic violence, juvenile affairs and sexual offenses, so that the same officer would be trained to investigate in these three areas.
Instead, he said he does not anticipate changes in the positions of area commanders at this time. He mentioned that for the time being, Lieutenant-Colonel José Luciano will be the interim commander of the San Juan police area, after the departure of Colonel José Juan García, who was appointed commissioner of the Municipal Police in the capital.
In the meantime, he announced that he would try to restore the payment of the accumulated sick hours in Uniform from the next budget. He indicated that it is more cost-effective, as absences from “vulnerable” data that are covered by other officers working overtime that also have to be paid will be reduced.
For 2021, the commissioner is already waiting for an academy of 225 police officers, while they will request a budget for a new class of 800 cadets, to try to counteract the loss of past years. He said an average of 400 to 500 police officers retire annually.
As an incentive to attract new recruits, López Figueroa said that they will try to reduce the minimum age to enter the Police Academy to 18 years and that at the end of the cadets they have an associate degree.
The recruitment of new police officers has been a constant signal from the federal court as part of police reform.
López Figueroa assured that in his administration there will be “facilitators between reform and the police”.
Under his administration will be 10 years of reform, which was signed in 2013, so he anticipated that “we will try to move forward enough so that compliance with the provisions of the agreement that negotiated the government’s request can be finalized” to the United States for civil rights violations .