Esta ley enmienda la Ley de la Policía de Puerto Rico de 1996 para establecer la obligación del Superintendente de la Policía de adoptar un modelo o sistema para recopilar, compilar y divulgar estadísticas de criminalidad. La ley exige mecanismos de control de calidad para la información recopilada y divulgada, incluyendo auditorías anuales, y establece que la información debe ser accesible a la ciudadanía a través de internet. También se especifica un procedimiento para garantizar la consistencia de los datos de asesinatos/homicidios entre la Policía, el Instituto de Ciencias Forenses y el Registro Demográfico.
(Approved September 2, 2004)
To add a new subsection
(o) to Section 5 of Act No. 53 of June 10, 1996, as amended, known as the "Puerto Rico Police Act of 1996," to establish the duty of the Police Superintendent to adopt a model or system for collecting, compiling, and disclosing crime statistics, establish mechanisms to assure quality control of the collected and disclosed information, as well as to establish that the information be accessible to the citizenry.
The Senate of Puerto Rico has conducted a thorough investigation regarding the collection and disclosure of crime statistics in Puerto Rico. The forgoing due to multiple indications on the possible alteration of data regarding criminal activity. On the analysis made, some findings arose that require resolution through legislation.
The collection of data on crime incidence is a task that has the purpose to serve as an instrument of evaluation and planning in the crime and criminal justice fields. The Puerto Rico Police is the government body in charge of collecting information related to criminal activities on the Island thorough the Statistics Division, which is currently part of the Office of the Assistant Superintendent for Citizen's Aid. The information collected serves to keep a profile of criminal activity by geographical area, which allows the Police Board of Directors to establish plans to respond to these criminal
patterns. However, it is important to say that this responsibility is not specifically established in the Organic Act of the Puerto Rico Police of 1996.
The criminal statistics information allows us to know the number of crimes committed; the number of solved cases; the characteristics of the victims; the crime profiles; and the characteristics of the arrested person. With this information, law enforcement agencies can establish strategies to prevent crime, measure the efficiency of investigation works, and obtain information on the characteristics of the offender.
Currently, the so called statistical indexes or indicators are a description of a social phenomenon, expressing its occurrences in rates, to allow comparisons within a time frame or specific places. As it has been said, statistical representations show a picture of the social situation, in this case of the crime activity. Statistics show the number and relative distribution of the crimes committed. The official indicators of crime incidence are calculated based on offenses discovered by the Police and those filed by the public which have been verified by law enforcement officials.
The Police plays a leading role in the process of organizing the information that serves as source for the reports on criminal activity. In the performance of this duty, it shall be understood that although penal codes seem to be specific and precise, there is a wide range of criteria regarding the classification of certain actions as violations against the legal system.
The adoption of a statistics model shall answer to a cost-benefit analysis under criteria such as providing information regarding the most serious performed offenses due to their nature or social impact; providing information on the offenses brought more frequently to the attention of the Police; and collecting relevant information on reported offenses. Thus, the statistical information collected must arise from clear and precise guidelines,
which allow for the obtaining of reliable data, so that it can show a real picture of the situation in society. The Legislature deems it necessary to clearly establish the responsibility of the Police Superintendent to collect and disclose crime statistics.
Section 1.- A new subsection
(o) is hereby added to Section 5 of Act No. 53 of June 10, 1996, as amended, known as the Puerto Rico Police Act of 1996," to read as follows: "Section 5.- Superintendent; Powers, Authority, and Duties.- The Superintendent, as administrator and director of the Force, shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) ...
(o) Shall ensure the creation and maintenance of a registry of crime incidence on the Island, as well as statistics on reported offenses. These statistics shall serve to allow the Superintendent to establish strategies that lead to appropriately fight crime, as well as to implement preventive initiatives in areas of high criminal incidence. The Superintendent shall prepare a monthly report on the crimes reported. (1) The Superintendent shall adopt a collection, compilation, and report model of the criminal activity statistics. This model or system shall include mechanisms to ensure that the highest quality control standards are followed in the collected and disclosed statistical information, including both internal and
external yearly audits. Copy of the audit reports shall be filed before the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Senate not later than February $1^{ ext {st }}$ of each year. In the case of statistical data regarding murders/homicides, the Superintendent shall establish a procedure to guarantee that officers of the Police, the Forensic Sciences Institute and the Registry of Vital Statistics of the Department of Health share and analyze the information available to ensure that there are no discrepancies in the gathered and reported data. (2) The Superintendent shall establish the appropriate procedure to ensure that updated monthly reports on crime statistics are available through the Internet, to expedite the continuous access of the citizens to said data."
Section 2.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 242 (S.B. 2352 ) of the $7^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to add a new subsection
(o) to Section 5 of Act No. 53 of June 10, 1996, as amended, known as the "Puerto Rico Police Act of 1996," to establish the duty of the Police Superintendent to adopt a model or system for collecting, compiling, and disclosing crime statistics, establish mechanisms to assure quality control of the collected and disclosed information, as well as to establish that the information be accessible to the citizenry, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $9^{ ext {th }}$ of September of 2005.
Francisco J. Domenech Director