Controversies
On Friday, August 10, 2007, Puerto Rico police officer Javier Pagán Cruz, killed a community leader, Miguel A. Cáceres Cruz, after he was brutally shot, an event captured by amateur video.
The victim was doing traffic control while a quinceañera (analogous to a "Sweet Sixteen" in the US) motorcade was passing by. The police officer tried to make an arrest of the man for many reasons including disrespect to a female officer, however as the man resisted, the officer began to beat the victim at which time his gun was discharged. In apparent rage, the officer fired at the man at near point-blank range. The victim was shot four times, with a fifth and last shot being fired in the back of the head after a short pause, in what the local media described as "execution style". The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
The victim's family is currently undertaking a campaign against police brutality, which has caused much controversy in the Puerto Rico Police Department and other government agencies.
Four agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Puerto Rico Police Dept, Puerto Rico Justice Department, and the Civil Rights Commission, are investigating this and many other incidents in which members of the police force have been engaging in criminal acts that have been uncovered at large greatly in part to efforts of the local media.
Calle 13 has contributed with a song named "Tributo a La Policia" to the police of the Puerto Rico Police Department, due to the killings of "Christopher", Calle 13's "Brother", "Naldo Dario", "Santiago Marín Pesquera", "Carlos Enrique", "Miguel A. Cáceres Cruz" and "Antonia Martínez". However, eventually it became a rivalry between Calle 13 and the Puerto Rican police, so they answered Calle 13 back with a song named "Tributo A Calle 13".
In September 2010, the FBI conducted raids across Puerto Rico, arresting many members of the PRPD and other local police agencies as part of Operation Guard Shack.
Read more about this topic: Puerto Rico Police