House committee hears competing views on bill to expand municipal police powers and benefits

The House of Representatives’ Commission on Municipal Affairs on March 5 heard testimony on House Bill 139, a measure that would amend multiple provisions of the Código Municipal de Puerto Rico and related statutes to expand duties, training and benefits for municipal police corps across the island.

Why it matters: The bill would extend certain police functions, create or clarify specialized units for municipal forces, adjust certification and training requirements, and extend benefits (including scholarship and survivor-pay provisions) currently available to state police to municipal officers. The measure prompted sharply divergent views at the hearing on whether those changes would improve public safety or create fiscal and coordination problems with the ongoing state police reform.

The Department of Public Safety (DPS) told the committee it cannot support the bill “en su forma actual.” Omara Arias Nieves, identified in the hearing as the DPS interim director, said the department’s written analysis and oral presentation stressed that many proposed changes fall outside DPS authority and could affect the structure and implementation of the state police reform. “El DSP indica que no apoya el proyecto de la cámara uno treinta y nueve en su forma actual, ya que considera que muchas de sus disposiciones afectarían la estructura de seguridad pública, la reforma de la policía estatal y la capacidad fiscal del gobierno,” Arias stated during her presentation.

Arias and DPS staff emphasized fiscal uncertainty: the department said it lacks the data to certify financial…