LMD admits that the Municipal Police operate without clear legal limits
Santo Domingo — The Dominican Municipal League (LMD) acknowledged the absence of a detailed legal framework that addresses the actions of the Municipal Police nationwide. statement comes in response to the Listín Diario report, titled «The Municipal Police exercise their role of authority without clear limits.»
The article, in addition to analyzing the laws, reveals how these agents are often «more attentive to their cell phones» than to their surroundings while on duty.
«The current legal framework, articles 173 and 174 of Law No. 176-07 of the National District and Municipalities, does not sufficiently develop the tools, powers, and mechanisms necessary for its daily operation. This situation has generated regulatory gaps that, in some cases, lead to inaction and, in others, to actions that can result in excesses or abuses of authority,» stated LMD President Víctor D’Aza in a press release.
However, he noted that, to contribute to this regulatory framework, which lacks depth, the Dominican Municipal League is preparing a Draft Organic Law of Local Administration to expand and update Law 176-07, enacted in 2007.
The aforementioned law «is insufficient in the face of the transformations of the national legal system and, especially, in the face of the mandates of the current Constitution, which provides for the adaptation of dozens of laws, especially that of the municipal legal system to the new constitutional model,» he explained.
He asserts that this new law, promoted by the entity that supports the municipalities and municipal boards of the Dominican Republic, will strengthen essential aspects of the sanctioning power of local governments in matters such as urban planning infractions, territorial organization, fees, and violations of public spaces.
«This will allow both the Municipal Police and municipal inspectors to act with greater legal tools in the face of municipal and citizen coexistence infractions,» he pointed out.
New regulatory framework
The Dominican Municipal League stated that the initiative is still in the drafting stage and that its purpose is to replace Law 176-07 and to guide local governments.
The president of the LMD indicated that in January 2024, the entity published the brochure» Municipal Police: Questions and Answers», in which they detail the work carried out by these agents.
Among the topics highlighted are: the functions of the Municipal Police, its link with the National Police, the requirements for joining, the principles of action of a municipal police officer, its role in emergencies, whether it should intervene in the prevention of violence and mediate in conflicts of coexistence between neighbors, and other points.
Furthermore, within the framework of the aforementioned brochure, the LMD calls upon local governments to adopt immediate measures to ensure that the Municipal Police operate under clear protocols, effective institutional controls, and full respect for due process and citizens’ rights.
Although the Dominican Republic Bar Association supports the regulation, the lack of cooperation with the Public Prosecutor’s Office is, according to the LMD, the main obstacle to the legislation’s development.
«The limited understanding of this specialized subject matter in the Justice of the Peace Courts has prevented many of the violation reports filed by local governments from receiving the corresponding judicial process,» the institution emphasized.
Therefore, the Municipal League reaffirms its commitment to continue working on the drafting of a new law and the institutional strengthening of the Municipal Police, with the objective that local authority can be exercised in a close, efficient, and permanent manner, always within clearly defined limits.
Supposedly the municipal police are an asset of the local mayors or municipality leaders. They are basically charged with protecting municipal assets, such as buildings, parks, and ect. However, it seems because there is no clear definition of their charge. The leaders have used them for whatever situation comes to pass that is convenient to give benefit to them, the leaders.