In her May 29 address, Governor Jennifer González emphasized public-safety as a central achievement and priority, announcing personnel increases, capital investments and operational funding for Puerto Rico's safety agencies.

She said the budget includes funding to recruit 800 new police cadets, additional funds to cover overtime, and $117,000,000 to build an integrated public-safety interoperability center that will link agencies and improve emergency response across all 78 municipalities. The governor also announced a $12,400,000 allocation for firefighters and funding for victims' interview rooms in police regions.

"Seguridad es la vida de cada 1 de nosotros," González said, framing the investments as necessary to protect residents and essential services. She credited Secretary of Public Safety Arturo Garfer and the new police superintendent, Joseph González, for recent operational improvements and cited declines in categories such as homicides, aggravated assaults and robberies compared with the same period last year.

The administration also said it restored a $27,000,000 asset-recovery program (funds from forfeitures) to support police operations after a multi-year lapse, and announced remodeling of police quarters and campus facilities to improve workplace conditions.

Why it matters: Public-safety funding and recruitment affect response times, crime prevention and community confidence. Investments in interoperable communications and crime-fighting capacity can change outcomes in medical emergencies and disasters; the governor linked these investments to broader emergency-preparedness and infrastructure initiatives.

The address included reports of crime reductions in several categories, but the speech did not present underlying data tables in the transcript; the administration said more detailed metrics would be available in departmental reporting.