2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-ONE - Municipalities (§§ 1-4 — 6756) › Subtitle 3 - General Provisions (§§ 621-639 — 1100a) › Chapter 97 - Municipal Police Corps (§§ 1061-1061p — 1079) › § 1067a - Promotions

(a) Promotions in rank may be granted for merit or through the approval of examinations up to the rank of Captain, except in the cases provided for in this chapter. Promotions for heroic acts shall be granted pursuant to the regulations to be established by the municipal government and shall take effect when a vacancy for the corresponding rank arises.
The criteria for promotions for merit shall be established by regulations of the municipal government, taking into account the following provisions:
Guards to be promoted on the merit principle shall be so promoted through evaluations, taking into account the experience, his/her work history, the outcomes of his/her training and the leadership shown in his/her performance as a law enforcement officer, also taking into account his/her performance in the community and good conduct, in order for the fittest to be the ones to hold directive and supervising positions in the Police.
(b) The municipal government may establish by regulations the examination procedures for rank promotion when the Municipal Police Corps member is not being considered under merit regulations.
(c) The mayor shall appoint Municipal Police members and fill vacancies by promoting members up to the rank of Captain, through a reliable, modern and scientific examination system, as well as in the cases in which candidates have not complied with the regulations established for promotions for merit. He/she shall also provide through a call for applications announcement the requirements to participate in promotion examinations. All examinations shall be administered within a period of not less than sixty (60) days and no greater than ninety (90) days [following] the date of the call for applications announcement.
(d) Once the candidate has [passed] the examination and met all the requirements needed to become a part of the eligible candidate roster, he/she may not be denied a promotion if a position is available and there are fiscal resources available to cover the budgetary effect of the promotion; the same applies to promotions under the merit principle. To deny a promotion by examination or for merit, only may [sic] those administrative investigations or complaints that appear on a candidate’s record before having [passed] the examination, may be taken into account. If any complaint or investigation should arise after a candidate has [passed] the examination but before the promotion is formalized, no one shall be appointed to the corresponding rank until the administrative investigation is [concluded]. In the event that the outcome of the investigation exonerates the Corps member thus charged, the latter shall be entitled to hold the rank for which he/she [passed] the examination, subject to the provisions of this subsection.
(e) In the event that any candidate for promotion is turned down for any reason, the Commissioner shall notify the candidate in writing of the reasons for such rejection together with the notice that promotion is denied. In the event the rejection is based on information provided by any person during the investigation, under no circumstances whatsoever shall the Commissioner disclose his/her identity. In the notice, the Commissioner shall only state the reasons for turning down the application for promotion. The candidate for promotion thus affected by the situation described above shall have up to ten (10) work days to respond to the reasons for which he/she was turned down.
The Commissioner, after having acknowledged receipt of the reply, shall have an equal term to revoke or reaffirm his/her rejection. Should the Commissioner not issue a written reply within the term established, the same shall be construed as a reaffirmation of the rejection of the application for promotion. While the notice, reply and reaffirmation or revocation is being processed, the position or rank that would correspond to the candidate may not be filled. Upon having complied with the procedure, the determination of the Commissioner shall be final and binding. Provided, That all complaints lodged after the promotion has been applied for shall be resolved peremptorily within ten (10) days.
(f) Upon certification of the corresponding eligible candidate roster, no interview may disqualify for promotion a Police member who has [passed] the examination and qualifies under the merit system, when the position for said rank is available.
(g) When the amount of candidates who have [passed] the examination and qualified under the merit system for promotion within the same rank is greater than the amount of positions available, the order for promotions shall be established pursuant to the regulations in effect; Provided, That members who have [passed] the examination are at the top of the roster, followed by members who qualify by merit. In the case of a deadlock, the promotion shall be granted to the Municipal Police member with the highest seniority in the Corps.
History —May 12, 1977, No. 19, p. 33, added as § 7(a) on Sept. 30, 2004, No. 533, § 4, eff. 60 days after Sept. 30, 2004.