José Figueroa Sancha is a former superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police Department and former deputy director of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

in Puerto Rico. After being appointed by

governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico () is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Elected to a 4 year-term through popular vote by the residents of the archipelago and island, ...

Luis Fortuño Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset (born 31 October 1960) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, from 2009 to 2013. Fortuño served as the first Secre ...

as superintendent in 2008, he resigned in 2011 amidst criticisms in the middle of a crime wave in the island.

Career with the FBI

He joined the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

in 1986. He served as a liaison officer at the U.S. Embassy in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. As deputy director of the FBI in Puerto Rico, Figueroa Sancha was one of the people in charge of the operative where

Filiberto Ojeda Ríos Filiberto Ojeda Ríos (April 26, 1933 September 23, 2005) was a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican independence activist who cofounded the Boricua Popular Army, also known as ''Los Macheteros,'' and its predecessor, the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberació ...

was killed in September 2005. He was also the agent in charge of an operative at an apartment building in

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Flo ...

where agents pushed and shoved members of the press, spraying them with

pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, mace, or capsicum spray is a Tear gas, lachrymator (tear gas) product containing as its active ingredient the chemical compound capsaicin, which irritates the eyes with burning ...

. The incident caused a lot of commotion amongst the press community and the Puerto Rico Press Association and the

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

sued the FBI.

Career as superintendent

In 1993, then-Superintendent Pedro Toledo appointed him deputy associate director of the Police. In November 2009, Puerto Rico Governor-elect

named Figueroa Sancha as superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police Department, and he was confirmed by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in January. During 2010, Figueroa Sancha dealt with numerous riots and incidents involving students of the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

and members of the police. These were as a result of a student's strike against new policies from the university administration and the government. In 2011, the rate of murders in Puerto Rico increased rapidly, which led many sectors to ask for Figueroa Sancha's resignation. Figueroa Sancha officially resigned on July 2, 2011, after less than three years in his position, after criticism for his work and the lack of positive results under his command. Allegedly, the governor asked him to resign, but this was denied by the government. Puerto Rico recorded its second-worst year for killings under his watch in 2010, while 2011 is currently the worst in the history of the island.

Political aspirations

After his resignation, Figueroa Sancha admitted that he had been approached by leaders of the PNP,

Thomas Rivera Schatz Thomas Rivera Schatz (born June 10, 1966) is a Puerto Rican politician, legal advisor, attorney, and former prosecutor, who was the fourteenth, sixteenth and is currently the eighteenth President of the Senate of Puerto Rico. He is affiliated ...

and Héctor O'Neill, for a possible aspiration to the

Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico () is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control the legislative branch of ...

. However, Jorge Santini, mayor of San Juan, didn't support him. Two days later, Figueroa Sancha announced that he wouldn't run for the Senate and would instead dedicate his time to a private security company he had started.Figueroa Sancha desiste aspirar al Senado
on '' El Vocero''; Méndez, Milly (October 26, 2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Figueroa Sancha, Jose Living people Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Superintendents of the Puerto Rico Police Members of the 15th Cabinet of Puerto Rico Year of birth missing (living people)