Puerto Rico committee reviews bill to formalize domestic‑violence training for public‑safety personnel

The House of Representatives’ Committee on Public Safety held a public hearing April 11 on House Bill 102, a measure by Representative Wanda del Valle Correa that would amend articles 1.11 and 2.4 of Law 20‑2017 to establish a standardized curriculum and courses on domestic violence for Department of Public Safety (DPS) components, including the Police Bureau.

Committee members and agency representatives debated whether the curriculum the bill proposes duplicates or supplements training already required under the federal police‑reform agreement and existing agency orders; they also pressed DPS for data about officers arrested for domestic‑violence incidents and asked the academy for training impact metrics.

Omara Arias Nieves, legislative counsel for the Department of Public Safety, told the committee that the department and the Police Bureau already have a framework of policies and orders addressing domestic‑violence response, including Order General 606‑27 (investigation of domestic‑violence incidents) and Order General 606‑44 (investigations involving employees). She said those rules, the department’s training protocol and federal consent‑decree requirements shape who designs and approves curricula. "Respetuosamente diferimos de tal conclusión," Arias Nieves said, arguing the bill overlaps with processes governed by the federal reform monitor and court oversight.

Arias Nieves laid out the department’s training structure in detail. She told the committee that the federal reform requires a minimum of 900 hours of pre‑service training for cadets; the DPS currently provides about 1,348 hours of pre‑service instruction and a field training program of roughly 800 hours. Mentor training is about 80 hours and recertification about 40 hours; the department also provides specialized modules and an annual continuing‑education requirement. On the subject of domestic‑violence content, she said DPS training includes biopsychosocial modules taught by psychologists and legal modules taught by attorneys and noted that some monitoring reports have identified gaps in compliance at times following major emergencies.

Representative Adriana Gutiérrez Colón, a committee member, expressed support for the bill’s aim while pressing the department for specifics and for expanded coverage of marginalized groups. "Una medida como esta es una medida necesaria," Gutiérrez said, and she requested that DPS provide counts of officers arrested for domestic‑violence‑related incidents from 2010 to the present so the legislature can compare staffing, discipline and training outcomes.

Committee leaders authorized a formal request to the Department of Public Safety for that dataset and for training‑evaluation materials from the police academy, and they set a 20‑day deadline for the department’s response. The committee also asked the academy to provide impact and compliance metrics for the domestic‑violence modules currently in use.

Representative Wanda del Valle Correa, author of the bill and president of the House Committee on Women’s Affairs, framed the proposal as a response to problems she said she has seen in the field. She recounted arriving at a domestic‑violence case in which two officers outside a specialized unit could not complete the court forms and said, in Spanish, "El papel lo llené yo." Del Valle argued that specialized units receive deeper instruction but that regular precinct officers must have the practical skills to handle victims at first contact.

Multiple members raised the role of the Office of the Women’s Advocate (Procuraduría de las Mujeres). Fabiola Plaza Rivera read on behalf of Procuradora Astrid Piñeiro (who later joined the hearing). Piñeiro said the office will support measures that "nos ayuden a salvar la vida" and described plans to expand prevention, education and interagency coordination. She also reported that municipal police forces had not received domestic‑violence training in 2023 and urged the committee to consider municipal coverage in any final language.

Committee members and witnesses discussed model programs — the DPS paper cited a Nashville police division model that provides 80 hours of specialized domestic‑violence training — and compared those benchmarks to current Puerto Rico practice. Arias Nieves and other DPS witnesses emphasized that any change to hours or the structure of training must be reconciled with the federal reform agreement and approved by the court monitor, and they proposed a narrower amendment adding a clause to article 1.11 to require that "personal debidamente calificado en violencia doméstica ofrecerá cursos dirigidos a que los miembros de todos los negociados puedan reconocer, interactuar y referir para ayuda a una persona sobreviviente de violencia doméstica."

Committee members also sought information about internal misconduct and accountability. Representative Adriana Gutiérrez requested the department report how many officers arrested for domestic‑violence incidents remain active and what administrative or disciplinary outcomes followed. The committee formally authorized asking DPS for those records covering 2010 to the present, including outcomes of investigations and separations, with the department given 20 days to respond.

Several lawmakers pressed for stronger operational metrics — not only counting hours of instruction but showing how training affects field performance, victim outcomes and internal supervision. Representatives and the procuradora asked DPS and the police academy for specific evaluations and comparatives of pre‑service and in‑service curricula; the committee signaled it will review possible technical amendments to include municipal forces and to define the office of the procuradora’s role in curriculum design.

The hearing closed with agreement among members to continue work on amendments and to await the data and academy evaluations. Committee staff will circulate the DPS and academy responses when they arrive, and members said any final bill language will need to be coordinated with the federal reform monitor and court process before implementation.

Next steps: the committee has a 20‑day timeframe for DPS and the police academy to deliver the requested datasets and training assessments. Lawmakers indicated they will draft technical amendments to clarify municipal coverage and the procuradora’s role and will evaluate whether the bill would require monitor approval because of training‑hour changes.