Monday, February 24, 2014

The Police Superintendent James Tuller Cintron said this morning that he does not plan to resign

James Tuller: "Yo no voy a renunciar"

Cintron Tuller: It was not easy collecting documents for confirmation

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Además aseguró que no planifica renunciar al cargo como ha trascendido públicamente y que tampoco tiene problemas con la secretaria de la gobernación, Ingrid Vila.

» Tuller: "Yo no renuncio, ni me voy"
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El designado superintendente de la Policía, James Tuller Cintrón, desmintió hoy declaraciones que...

By Javier Dávila Colón / javier.colon @ gfrmedia.com02/24/2014 | 24:04

The police chief predicted that in about three weeks should have all the documentation ready. (Tonito.zayas @ gfrmedia.com)

Also said he does not plan to resign as he has publicly transcended and has no problems with the secretary of the government, Ingrid Vila.

The nominee Police Superintendent James Tuller Cintron said this morning that does not plan to resign as publicly transcended and not have problems with the government secretary, Ingrid Vila, chief liaison with Fortaleza.

"Of course I'll stay. It is clear," proclaimed Tuller Cintron in a press conference in the headquarters that became engrossed in heated exchanges with several of the journalists present.

Asked about how the process of gathering documents required by the Senate for confirmation, Tuller Cintron acknowledged that the process was more complicated than expected. He even attributed his difficulty in getting documents like spreadsheets and certificates of good conduct to the resignation from his post in New York came into force on 30 November and the next day was already laboring in Puerto Rico.

JAMES TULLER, "I WILL NOT RESIGN"

The nominated superintendent of police said this morning that does not plan to resign the office as publicly transcended.

"There are many formalities ... personal things, things I need to deliver to the Senate. Gotta get those things. Me has not been easy some of the things to deliver," said Tuller Cintron.

"I came here too light. Had I stayed (in New York) to (meet) some personal things I need for the Senate would have been easier to get," he said noting that his wife, who is in New York, the is ayuando in the proceedings.

The police chief predicted that in about three weeks should have all the documentation ready.

When asked if you have had difference Vila, Tuller Cintron was blunt: "Not true Clearly not true.".

When you are stressed, abounded: "I find it hard to think of the differences we've talked I do not understand why the question..."

In fact, this media asked him if has had trouble with politicians, including senators who are called to evaluate their appointment.

"Everything went very well ... I have confidence that this confirmacón result for me," he said.

Tuller Cintron looked haggard repeatedly in his meeting with reporters. For example, was upset when a reporter questioned whether he was investigated by an apparent pattern file while air traffic was head of the NYPD.

"There was an investigation with me," replied the reporter, pointing the finger and questioned him if he understood well the question I asked.

Then Tuller Cintron acknowledged to be investigated for allegedly filed a traffic ticket to a relative."But there was no ticket I filed," he said.

Tuller Cintron was altered again with another journalist who asked him if he also filed a ticket transit to then candidate for mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio.

"I know what you mean," he snapped. "If I had I would have filed a ticket dismissed from the police," he added.

The appointed superintendent also got angry when asked if he was willing to stoop the $ 195,000 annual salary as part of austerity measures intended to implement the government.

"I entered into an agreement with my salary.'m Going to keep working. Already I answered the question. Salary is an agreement that I got," he said.

After much insistence, he added that not discuss his salary at the press conference.

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Venezuelans stop traffic in protest

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PR police reform monitor steps down - By CB Online Staff

PR police reform monitor steps down

By CB Online Staff

cbnews@caribbeanbusinesspr.com; cbprdigital@gmail.com

The federal monitor overseeing compliance with a sweeping reform of the Puerto Rico Police Department required in a settlement between the commonwealth government and the U.S. Department of Justice has stepped down for personal reasons.

Juan Mattos informed U.S. District Judge Gustavo Gelpí this week that he is leaving the post after just four months on the job.

“It is in the interest of the public and the press that this court informs that Mattos’ resignation is in no way due to the action or inaction of the commonwealth and/or the U.S. and their respective officials,” Gelpí said in a short order. “On the contrary both parties have always acted as expectd by the court and in the best interests of justice.”

The judge urged that a replacement of Mattos’ “caliber” be appointed promptly.

Puerto Rico Justice Secretary César Miranda said Friday he is working with U.S. Justice Department officials to quickly find a replacement.

Mattos, veteran New Jersey law enforcement official from Puerto Rico, was serving as U.S. Marshal for the New Jersey District when he was appointment as technical compliance adviser (TCA) on the Police Department reform in October.

The TCA’s role is to be an officer of the court to monitor, evaluate and report on the island government’s compliance with required reforms.

In July, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Gov. Alejandro García Padilla announced a sweeping civil rights agreement to modernize and reform the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) that resolves a civil suit initiated by the federal government in December 2012 to remedy a pattern and practice of police misconduct.

The agreement represents a joint commitment to effective and constitutional policing and is the product of extensive negotiations between the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), the PRPD and the administrations of García Padilla and his predecessor Luis Fortuño.

The agreement is designed not only to promote constitutional policing, but also to enhance public and officer safety and increase community confidence in the PRPD, according to officials, who said it was among the “most extensive” agreements ever obtained by the DoJ under the police misconduct provision of the Violent Crime Control & Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

The agreement requires corrective action in numerous core areas: use of force, searches & seizures, equal protection, policies & procedures, training, supervision, civilian complaints & internal investigations, community engagement and information systems. The agreement will also provide the public meaningful opportunities to participate in the reform process through periodic community meetings, public reports, civilian interaction committees, community surveys and the implementation of community policing principles.

Officials have said the agreement is expected to be fully implemented in 10 years, but it has no expiration date. The technical compliance adviser will assess and report on the PRPD’s compliance, as well as provide technical assistance to promote constitutional policing. They said the accord is tailored to the unique needs of the PRPD and with a recognition of the public safety challenges facing Puerto Rico. With a diverse mission and a police force of 17,000 officers, the PRPD is the second largest police department in the country.

Puerto Rico government officials have said they need up to $80 million for changes in the first two years.

The accord calls for an initial capacity-building period of four years, which will allow the PRPD to modernize its administrative systems and professionalize its police force.

Through the development of action plans, the PRPD will have broad flexibility to stage implementation and allocate resources to achieve measurable results within established timeframes. Once the plans are implemented, officers in all police regions will have the policy guidance, training, supervision, equipment and support they need to carry out their duties in a lawful, effective and efficient manner.

The DoJ’s December 2012 civil lawsuit followed a thorough investigation of the PRPD’s policies and practices. The investigation uncovered wide-ranging and longstanding deficiencies that gave rise to a pattern and practice of police misconduct, including the use of excessive force, use of unreasonable force designed to suppress protected speech and unconstitutional searches and seizures. The investigation also uncovered evidence the PRPD has failed to adequately investigate gender-based violence, and engaged in discriminatory policing. The PRPD cooperated throughout the investigation and began initiating corrective actions in response to the investigative team’s recommendations and technical assistance.

The department began negotiating an agreement with the Fortuño administration after completing the investigation in September 2011. The negotiations culminated in a preliminary agreement that was filed concurrently with the department’s complaint in December 2012. The court granted a joint request to stay the proceedings to provide the García Padilla administration the opportunity to review and negotiate a final agreement. Once the federal court approves the agreement, the parties will select a technical compliance adviser and begin implementation.

Under the agreement, the TCA will assist in determining whether the terms of the reform plan have been fully implemented in a timely manner. The TCA’s assessment will include a thorough review of PRPD’s policies, training curricula, standard operating procedures, plans, protocols and other operational documents related to the agreement.

The TCA will also assess whether the implementation of the agreement results in constitutional policing, increased community trust and the professional treatment of individuals by PRPD officers. To this end, the TCA will engage community stakeholders including representatives of civic and community organizations, minority communities, lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender and transsexual communities, student and labor groups, civil rights organizations, and women’s advocacy groups to ensure they have a voice in the reform process.

The TCA will also assess and report on PRPD’s compliance, as well as provide technical assistance to promote constitutional policing. Once appointed, a replacement for Mattos will assist PRPD officials with the development of action plans to modernize its administrative systems and professionalize its police force.

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Sunday, February 23, 2014

Former Puerto Rican police commissioner jailed for possession of child porn

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ICE said its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), working jointly with Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force, conducted the investigation that led to the arrest, the guilty plea and subsequent sentencing of the former commissioner. (Credit: pr

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Thursday November 21, 2013, CMC – The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says the former commissioner of the San Juan, Puerto Rico Police Department has been sentenced to 10 years in jailed followed by 15 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography.
On Wednesday, ICE said its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), working jointly with Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force, conducted the investigation that led to the arrest, the guilty plea and subsequent sentencing of the former commissioner.
On December 8, 2011, Hilton Cordero-Rosario, 52, was arrested by HSI special agents on production and possession of child pornography charges.
According to the 21-count indictment, Cordero-Rosario had digital images and video files of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
He pleaded guilty on February 1 to count 21 of the indictment, possession of child pornography, by signing a plea agreement that requires a 10-year prison sentence, ICE said.
Angel Melendez, the special agent in charge of HSI San Juan said the investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View sample)

Puerto Rico Police Reform - News Review

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Venezuela: chaos and thuggery take the place of the pretty revolution | World news - The Guardian

Venezuela: chaos and thuggery take the place of the pretty revolution | World news
Sunday February 23rd, 2014 at 10:51 AM

World News And Comment From The Guardian | Theguardian.Com

Hugo Chávez used to call it la revolución bonita (the pretty revolution), but the world looked atVenezuela last week and saw only ugliness. Protesters gunned down in the streets, barricades in flames, chaos. One of the dead was a 22-year-old beauty queen shot in the head.

With the government censoring and cowing TV reports, many of the images came from smartphones, grainy and jerky snippets filled with smoke and shouts. One fact loomed through them all: Chavismo, a hybrid system of democracy and autocracy built on populism, petro-dollars and quasi-socialism, was reaping the consequences of misrule.

Demonstrations in Caracas, Valencia, Mérida and other cities turned lethal, with student-led rallies provoking a fierce backlash from National Guard units and paramilitaries. They roared on motorcycles into "enemy" neighbourhoods, guns blazing. Families piled mattresses against windows to shield against bullets.

Human Rights Watch accused security forces of excessive and unlawful force by beating detainees and shooting at unarmed crowds. Worse may come. Jailings, beatings and killings have galvanised rather than deterred the mostly middle-class protesters. They vowed to continue until la salida, the exit of a government that has held power under Chávez, and now President Nicolás Maduro, for 15 years. "Change depends on every one of us. Don't give up!" Lilian Tintori, the wife of a jailed opposition leader, Leopoldo López, said via Twitter. Banners fluttered from buildings and barricades. "I declare myself in civil disobedience," read one.

In a televised speech to red-shirted supporters, Maduro accused the US of fomenting a coup and threatened Táchira, a particularly rebellious eastern state, with martial law. A local mayor would soon join López behind bars, he vowed. "It's a matter of time until we have him in the same cold cell." An official policy of "communicational hegemony" harnessed state media for propaganda, intimidated privately owned broadcasters, yanked one TV channel off the air and revoked work permits for four CNN journalists.

It may have resembled a regime's desperate battle for survival, affecting not just Venezuela but also its ally Cuba, which depends on Caracas for subsidised oil and supporters in the west who consider it a leftist beacon.In reality, though protests continue, the outcome is not in doubt. The government controls the police, army and courts and retains support among the poor. It remains an entrenched, formidable system of power untroubled by external threats. Despite the expulsion of three US diplomats – a staple of chavista political theatre – there is no evidence of a Washington plot.

The convulsions were partly confected. López, an ambitious, Harvard-educated politician, steered student protests against crime and economic problems into a wider challenge to authority. A radical minority attacked state property with stones and petrol bombs, prompting the ferocious response by security forces and militias known as colectivos, leaving at least six dead, scores wounded and cities echoing to the sound of enraged pot-banging, a traditional form of dissent.

"I recommend they buy some stainless steel pots to last for a good 10, 20, 30 or 40 years," Maduro mocked. "Because the revolution is here for a long time!"History suggests that the president will prevail. Street protests briefly ousted his mentor in 2002 with the aid of a military-led coup tacitly backed by Washingon. Chávez bounced back. Protesters tried and failed again in 2003 by shutting down the oil industry, Venezuela's lifeblood. This time the generals and drillers appear firmly under government control. By rallying his fractious ruling coalition, Maduro could emerge even stronger.

That will not mean the revolution has won. On the contrary. In a broader, historical sense, it has already lost. This tropical would-be alternative to capitalism is a husk. It faces an existential threat not from youths chanting in plazas but from the fact that Venezuela is a shambolic, crumbling, dysfunctional ruin.

Start with the economy. The official inflation rate, 56%, is among the world's highest. There are shortages of bread, flour, meat, toilet paper and other basics. The bolívar currency has collapsed in value and is virtually unconvertible. Agriculture and industry are gasping. Newspapers are running out of paper. Airlines are threatening to cut services because the government owes them $3.3bn. Food companies are owed $2.4bn. Bond prices have plunged to levels associated with default. Recession hovers. An infrastructure once the envy of South America has suffered from lack of investment and maintenance. Power cuts leave cities in darkness. Potholes make highways look like they have been mortared. Cobwebs shroud abandoned cable cars. Even the facade of the presidential palace, Miraflores, peels and rots.

Crime is out of control. The government has stopped publishing regular statistics, but NGOs estimate the murder rate at 25,000 annually, one of the world's highest per capita rates, deadlier than Iraq. Kidnappings – people are snatched for ransom from bus stops, universities, shopping malls, airports – compound public anxiety. Corrupt police and politicised, overwhelmed courts breed impunity. An estimated 97% of murders go unpunished. The list goes on. A catalogue of neglect and decay. This does not signify collapse. Venezuela is the original El Dorado, a land that seduced conquistadores with a false promise of gold only to find itself atop the world's biggest oil reserves. Billions of petro-dollars gush into the treasury every month, a replenishing source of patronage. Yet the nation's stitches are coming loose. Venezuela is unravelling.

Even if the protests abate, Maduro faces a desolate vista that mocks chavismo's grandiose rhetoric. An anti-imperialist beacon? A new path for humanity? Not while fistfights break out in supermarkets over scarce chickens. Or a diaspora of the best and brightest scatters around the world.

Middle-class anger the government can canalise and convert into polarisation, a venerable, successful strategy. But danger lies in discontent in the barrios and pueblos, the hillside slums and dusty villages that comprise core support. It almost sank the revolution a month after Chávez's death from cancer last March when Maduro, despite lopsided advantages in money, media and institutional control, managed just a narrow, contested election victory over opposition leader Henrique Capriles. That was a sign that government patronage and handouts – jobs, subsidies, houses, electrical goods –were no longer sufficient compensation for the shortages, inflation and crime.

Chávez, first elected in 1998, created the system. A gifted politician and communicator, he expanded social programmes that sharply reduced poverty, cementing his image as champion of the underdog. But he proved to be a disastrous manager. Expropriations, subsidies and currency and price controls trapped the economy in a populist labyrinth. A historic oil boom and manic spending sustained the illusion of a new Jerusalem. You could fill an SUV tank for 60p. Chávez dreamily spoke of the population doubling, even quadrupling. He changed the clocks, the flag, the country's name, vowed to build new cities, artificial islands, a transcontinental pipeline.

There was a whiff of Ozymandias to it all, but foreign supporters applauded the fantasy. Oliver Stone, visiting Caracas to make a documentary, looked blank when I asked about the distortions and corruption haemorrhaging the economy. Shrewder observers – writers and academics – would visit and confide over rum that, yes, it all seemed a bit chaotic, then return home and publicly laud the revolution's progress.

The squandering reached such proportions that even amid record oil revenues Chávez had to borrow billions from China to confect artificial booms before elections. Maduro inherited this model – and made it worse. Where Chávez had the confidence to bow to economic sanity and make painful adjustments, his successor, weaker and unloved by many on his own side, has plumped for even more reckless populism, ordering supermarkets to slash prices, jailing business owners as "speculators", sending troops to stores to liberate washing machines "for the people".

"We are in a critical situation of shortages and that's only the tip of the iceberg," said Luis Vicente León, a Caracas pollster. He predicted the difficulties would soon worsen. Workers at state-owned factories in Ciudad Guayana are in near open revolt. Teachers, doctors and nurses take turns striking. Chávez's gift for showmanship enabled him to create distractions and defuse frustration, but Maduro, stiff and wooden in comparison, relies more on thuggery. Hence the coordinated and symbolic assaults by "motorizados" on middle class neighbourhoods.

There is no more pretence that the revolution is pretty. It is in the business of keeping power, no more, no less. It offers no solution to the fiasco, the tragedy, that is Venezuela.

Rory Carroll was based in Caracas as the Guardian and Observer Latin America correspondent from 2006-12. He is the author of Comandante: Hugo Chávez's Venezuela.

Monday, February 24, 2014

By Javier Dávila Colón / javier.colon @ gfrmedia.com02/24/2014 | 24:04

JAMES TULLER, "I WILL NOT RESIGN"

Sunday, February 23, 2014

After 13 Years on Run, Mexican Drug Lord Is in Prison by webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Sunday February 23rd, 2014 at 11:29 AM

After 13 Years on Run, Mexican Drug Lord Is in Prison by webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Sunday February 23rd, 2014 at 11:29 AM