Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety

Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety
Departamento de Seguridad Pública de Puerto Rico
Department overview
FormedApril 10, 2017; 7 years ago (2017-04-10)
Preceding department
Jurisdiction Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
HeadquartersSan Juan, Puerto Rico
Department executive
Key document
  • 20. 2017.
Websitewww.dsp.pr.gov

The Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety (PR DPS) (Spanish: Departamento de Seguridad Pública de Puerto Rico) is the umbrella organization within the Executive branch of Puerto Rico that agglomerates the Puerto Rico Law Enforcement and Emergency Response agencies in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The department was formed on April 10, 2017, when then-Governor Ricardo Rosselló signed into law a bill to unify all safety agencies. All agencies are bureaus of the department.

Agencies overseen

The following agencies are under the umbrella organization of the department.[1] All of these agencies have their own director or commissioner:

The Puerto Rico Forensic Sciences Institute was part of the Department for three years until it once again became an independent agency.[2]

List of secretaries

  • 2017 - May 2019: Héctor Pesquera[3]
  • May 2019 - December 2019: Elmer Román[4]
  • December 2019 - January 2021: Pedro Janer
  • January 2021 - present: Alexis Torres[5]

References

  1. ^ Rivera Sánchez, Maricarmen (September 4, 2017). "Advirtieron el choque de poder en la Policía". El Vocero (in Spanish).
  2. ^ NotiUno.com. "Otorgan independencia al Negociado de Ciencias Forenses". UNO Radio Group. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  3. ^ "Héctor Pesquera sobre las cosas que no pudo hacer durante su gestión: "Such is life"". elnuevodia.com (in Spanish). April 26, 2019.
  4. ^ "Rosselló nombra a Elmer Román como sustituto de Pesquera". elvocero.com (in Spanish). April 9, 2019.
  5. ^ "Pedro Pierluisi designa a Alexis Torres como secretario del Departamento de Seguridad Pública". El Nuevo Dia (in Spanish). December 17, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.