Marisol LeBrón, Policing Life and Death: Race, Violence, and Resistance in Puerto Rico
| Published date | 01 October 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14624745221079292 |
| Author | Robert J. Durán |
| Date | 01 October 2023 |
Marisol LeBrón, Policing Life and Death: Race, Violence, and Resistance in
Puerto Rico, Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2019; 301 pp.,
(including index): 9780520300170, $29.95 (pbk)
As the Latina/o/x population has grown to become the largest numerical racial or ethnic
minority group in the United States, many people may assume a homogenous existence
in political thinking, lived experiences, and historical origins. Puerto Ricans are the
second largest population of Latinos (ten percent), and the archipelago has been a territory
of the United Statessince 1898. LeBrón’s book, Policing Life and Death,provides readers
insight intopolicing, violence, and resistance in Puerto Ricosince the 1990s. LeBrón exam-
ines the importanceof constructing a different lived realityfor Puerto Ricans through seven
empirical chapters that outline how “punitive governance”has led to more societal pro-
blems. The research study began in 2011 as LeBrón began utilizing a mixed method ana-
lysis of archival data (external investigations, federal and local records, court documents,
political speeches, and press accounts) along with participant observation, interviews,
and informal conversations. These data were then supplemented with an analysis of
song lyrics and social media. This review will provide an overview of the key themes in
LeBrón’s book followed by an overall analysis of what makesthis research project unique.
The first primary takeaway from LeBrón’s book was how territorial policies in Puerto
Rico shifted to punitive governance in the early 1990s. Puerto Rican leaders, primarily
the governor, worked to maintain a special relationship with the United States as they
adopted a crime control model called mano dura contra el crimen (iron fist against
crime) that merged territorial law enforcement with the federal national guard to target
the housing projects and the people who lived there. Mano dura was formally in effect
from 1993 to 2000 but maintained informally afterwards by later governors in order to
not appear soft on crime. Blacks, Dominicans, im/migrants, and the poor were the
people primarily impacted. Such efforts to target the poor and primarily nonwhite resi-
dents was aided by the racial separation of neighborhoods into gated communities.
The primary institution utilized by the territory was the Puerto Rican Police
Department (PRPD) which ranged in size from 13,000 to 25,000 law enforcement offi-
cers over the years. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a report criticizing
the actions of the PRPD and its officers as did the American Civil Liberties Union in
2012. Residents encountered challenges in curtailing the violence and harassment they
experienced by the police.
The second theme present in LeBrón’s bookwas how political leaders utilized ongoing
fears of violence to maintain punitive governance. The alleged root cause of the violence
was drug trafficking and so officials initiatedincreased law enforcement raids and surveil-
lance on housing projects. The residents targeted were not benefitting from the gains of
drug trafficking but rather living in poverty. They had to accommodate to policies that
exposed themselves and family members to greater violence and risk for incarceration.
LeBrón reports how the individuals most impacted by these policies had the least say
in what official actions were taken in Puerto Rico. Many resident lives were seen as not
important, thus contradicting the image of Puerto Rico as a racial democracy.
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