DR2028 investigative brief. Analysis by the DR2028 movement synthesizing its own newsroom reporting. This is not a government finding.
The case
DR2028's July 2026 investigation — "146 Deaths and No Accountability" — documented deaths in police custody and operations, including the Darlin Mercado case, and the absence of systemic consequences for any of them.
The regulatory failure
Our reporting's conclusion: the problem is structural, not a matter of individual bad officers. Use-of-force incidents are investigated by the same institution that committed them; civilian oversight is nominal; and the resulting impunity teaches the institution that lethal force carries no institutional cost. A police that cannot be held accountable cannot be trusted with a monopoly on force.
The DR2028 answer
The National Public Safety Reform Act in Module 2 — true first responders, independent investigation of police-caused deaths, and the end of the police-state model: civilian oversight with real power, public use-of-force reporting, and consequences that stick.