On patrol with Puerto Rico's police officers

  • The Miami Herald went out on patrol with officers of the Puerto Nuevo precinct in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This officer's shift started with a murder of an innocent man who was shot while trying to stop a fight. Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • The Miami Herald went out on patrol with officers of the Puerto Nuevo precinct in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This officer's shift started with a murder of an innocent man who was shot while trying to stop a fight. Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • The Miami Herald went out on patrol with officers of the Puerto Nuevo precinct in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This officer's shift started with a murder of an innocent man who was shot while trying to stop a fight. Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • A police officer sets up a police perimeter following a murder in the Puerto Nuevo precinct of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photos by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • Police officers investigate a murder in the Puerto Nuevo precinct of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Murders related to drug trafficking have risen abruptly in the last four years. Photos by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • Police officers search the rooftop where they found a firearm during a murder investigation in the Puerto Nuevo precinct of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • Sargent Medina, left, waits at the scene of a murder in the Puerto Nuevo precinct in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photos by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • Two men watch the police and forensic team investigate the scene of a murder near the perimeter. Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • A forensics technician marks a piece of evidence at the scene of a murder in the Puerto Nuevo precinct in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • A piece of evidence is marked with a yellow cone at the scene of a murder in Puerto Nuevo in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • A forensics technician marks evidence at the scene of a murder in the Puerto Nuevo precinct of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • Dozens of bystanders arrive to look the scene of a murder outside a bar in Bayamon, one of the largest metropolitan areas in Puerto Rico on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012. The victim was identified as Carlos Juarbe. The case hasn't been solved. Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • Police investigate the scene where Carlos Juarbe was brutally shot and killed inside a bar in Bayamon, one of the largest metropolitan areas of Puerto Rico on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012. Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • Murders related to drug traffic have risen abruptly the last four years. In this picture, a forensics technician marks a piece of evidence. Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo

  • In March 2012, the Governor of Puerto Rico, Luis G. Fortuno, appointed former FBI Agent and Miami Port Authority security chief Hector Pesquera, pictured, as the Superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police Department. He has been the third to occupy the position during Fortuno administration. Photos by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo / For The Miami Herald