Following several violent incidents in downtown Ponce, the Municipal Police and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau coordinated a security plan to protect residents and visitors during weekend recreational and family activities. The response follows a shooting at the intersection of Reina and Miramar streets that killed a man on Thursday, October 29, and social media reports of gunfire in the Bélgica community on Friday, October 30.
Municipal Police commissioner, inspector Lellys Ramos, and Ponce area commander, colonel Rolando Trinidad, established a joint action plan. Mayor Marlese Sifre said the priority is to restore calm to families, young people and visitors, with a greater police presence ordered in La Guancha and the urban core while keeping preventive watch over the rest of Ponce’s neighborhoods.
The operational plan sets rotating Municipal Police shifts from 4:00 PM to midnight and from 8:00 PM to 4:00 AM, focused on the busiest points. Eight security towers with more than 48 surveillance cameras will remain operating, monitoring the city actively. On the Puerto Rico Police side, Trinidad ordered all units activated, 12-hour shifts and suspended days off to maximize personnel on the streets and respond immediately to emergencies.
Authorities asked residents to report suspicious activity and said intensified patrols will continue all weekend.