The Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD)—the second largest police force in the United States—was slammed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in a report released Tuesday.
The ACLU said that “unrestrained abuse and impunity” were rampant at the police department, which has more than 17,000 officers.
The report stated that police in the Puerto Rican commonwealth frequently used excessive and sometimes lethal force against civilians, particularly in poor Dominican and black neighborhoods.
It also said there were violent suppressions of peaceful demonstrators by police, who used batons, rubber bullets, and “a toxic form of tear gas that was phased out by mainland U.S. police departments in the 1960s.”
The abuses were not committed by only a few officers, but were endemic throughout the entire department, the ACLU said.
The organization’s findings came months after the U.S. Justice Department found similar abuses, including the widespread use of excessive force among officers.
The ACLU recommended that Puerto Rico implement new policies and improve training. They also called for independent oversight, and to work with the Justice Department to curb abuse.
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