{"id":513392,"date":"2026-07-06T11:29:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T15:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/pld-calls-for-independent-investigation-into-death-of-young-man-in-herrera-and-questions-results-of-police-reform\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T11:29:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T15:29:31","slug":"pld-calls-for-independent-investigation-into-death-of-young-man-in-herrera-and-questions-results-of-police-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/uncategorized\/pld-calls-for-independent-investigation-into-death-of-young-man-in-herrera-and-questions-results-of-police-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"PLD calls for independent investigation into death of young man in Herrera and questions results of police reform"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Santo Domingo.\u2013 <\/strong>The vice president of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), Zoraima Cuello, expressed this Monday the concern of that political organization regarding the death of the young man Darlin Mercado Reyes, which occurred during a National Police procedure in the Herrera sector, and demanded an \u201cindependent and transparent\u201d investigation that allows for responsibilities to be established in accordance with the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the party’s weekly press conference, Cuello expressed the PLD’s solidarity with the young man’s family and stated that no citizen should lose their life in the midst of a procedure related to an administrative infraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PLD leader pointed out that, according to the images released of the incident, two young men were stopped by police officers to verify the documentation of a motorcycle. She indicated that, according to the video, the driver acknowledged that he did not have all the required documentation and even accepted that the vehicle could be impounded in accordance with the established procedure. However, she maintained that the situation led to a struggle during which the passenger was shot, which subsequently caused his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese facts demand an independent and transparent investigation and the establishment of all responsibilities that correspond in accordance with the law,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cuello recalled that the Organic Law of the National Police No. 590-16 establishes that all police action must be governed by the principles of legality, necessity, and proportionality, which is why he considered that a lack of vehicle documents should be resolved through the procedures provided for in the legislation and not with the use of force that ends up taking a life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recommend reading: PLD will hold national affiliation and citizen outreach sessions in July and August<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The PLD vice president stated that this case does not constitute an isolated incident and recalled that, in September 2025, the organization warned about an increase in deaths due to police intervention. According to her, at that time the party proposed conducting independent investigations under the Minnesota Protocol, the mandatory use of body cameras by officers, the publication of technical reports for each case within 72 hours, the creation of a public dashboard on the use of force, and the strengthening of internal affairs bodies with operational independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, he maintained that, according to data published by media outlets, there are currently 147 people who have died in police interventions, a situation that, in his view, highlights the need to review the institution’s transformation process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cuello also questioned the results of the police reform, noting that between 2024 and 2025 the State allocated more than RD$8.389 billion to that process, but considered that efforts have been concentrated on the acquisition of equipment, uniforms, and administrative changes, leaving the human and professional training of the agents in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that sense, he stated that a true reform must prioritize permanent training in crisis management, emotional control, mental health, conflict mediation, and the proportional use of force, in addition to strengthening supervision and accountability mechanisms within the institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the PLD leader reiterated the PLD’s call for the case of Darlin Mercado Reyes and other similar events to be clarified to the final consequences through impartial investigations. Likewise, she urged that this case mark a turning point to promote a police reform focused on respect for human rights, transparency, and the professionalization of the members of the National Police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCitizen security is not strengthened solely with more weapons or better salaries, but with better-prepared police, transparent institutions, and an unwavering commitment to the life, dignity, and rights of all citizens,\u201d concluded Cuello.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Santo Domingo.\u2013 The vice president of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), Zoraima Cuello, expressed this Monday the concern of that political organization regarding the death of the young man Darlin Mercado Reyes, which occurred during a National Police procedure in the Herrera sector, and demanded an \u201cindependent and transparent\u201d investigation that allows for responsibilities to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133559,"featured_media":514188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-513392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-29yw","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-06-at-11.24.06-AM.jpeg","dum_api":{"author_name":"Preciosa Jimenez","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-26-at-5.31.56-PM-96x96.jpeg","categories_name":["Uncategorized"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-06-at-11.24.06-AM.jpeg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}