Santo Domingo. The Fuerza del Pueblo deputies’ bloc questioned the performance of the police reform and demanded explanations from the Government following the death of the young Darlin Emmanuel Mercado Reyes, allegedly at the hands of a National Police officer, a case that has generated criticism from various sectors.
During a press conference, Deputy Carlos de Pérez, deputy spokesperson for the opposition bench, condemned what he described as “police executions” and questioned the training that officers receive within the transformation process of the law enforcement institution.
“We want to know what training this police reform model is providing to law enforcement officers, since killing at point-blank range, without exchanging words and without an evident threat, should not be contemplated in the actions of any man trained to protect and serve the citizenry,” he expressed.
Opposition legislators requested that President Luis Abinader account for the resources allocated to police reform, noting that, in their view, the results do not reflect an improvement in citizen security or in the training of officers.
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Deputy Víctor Jiménez questioned where due process and the training announced as part of the reform stand, mentioning other recent cases of deaths during police actions, including those of Marky García, in La Vega, and 18-year-old Rawel Sierra, in San Luis, Santo Domingo Este.
For his part, Deputy Miguel Espinal asked the director of the National Police to answer for the actions of the officers and for the cases in which citizens have lost their lives during police interventions.
The People’s Force insisted that police reform must translate into real changes within the institution and not be limited to administrative modifications.
