UPRRP

Alerta de Seguridad: DSMR Pide Caminar Acompañadas Después de Hostigamiento Sexual Dentro del Recinto de Río Piedras

Monday, October 21, 2024PRsexual offensetimely warningmedium confidence

Under Investigation

On Monday, October 21, 2024, the División de Seguridad y Manejo de Riesgos (DSMR) at UPR Río Piedras issued an Alerta de Seguridad after a student reported a sexual-harassment incident on campus that morning. The alerta — published on the recinto's official website — described the incident, urged the university community to avoid walking alone in dark or isolated areas, and listed direct security extensions (787-764-0000 ext. 83131 and 83535) for emergency reporting. This is one of several Alertas de Seguridad issued by DSMR for sexual offenses during the 2024-2025 academic year.

Alerts: 1
Response: —
Killed: —
Injured: —

Institution

Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras

Territory · PR

~13,000 studentsAlerta de Seguridad DSMR

Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTWebsiteOct 21, 2024, 8:00 PM EDT

Approximate reconstructionUPR Río Piedras — Alerta de Seguridad: 21 de octubre de 2024 (text reconstructed from DSMR template language and El Vocero summary)775 chars

ALERTA DE SEGURIDAD — 21 de octubre de 2024. La División de Seguridad y Manejo de Riesgos (DSMR) del Recinto de Río Piedras notifica a la comunidad universitaria sobre un incidente de hostigamiento sexual reportado por una estudiante en horas de la mañana del 21 de octubre de 2024, dentro del Recinto. Se exhorta a la comunidad universitaria a tomar las siguientes medidas preventivas: evitar caminar sola; permanecer en áreas iluminadas y transitadas; evitar calles oscuras; mantenerse alerta a su entorno; pedir ayuda inmediata si percibe peligro; y reportar cualquier incidente sospechoso a la División de Seguridad y Manejo de Riesgos al 787-764-0000, ext. 83131 y 83535. La DSMR continúa la investigación en coordinación con la Oficina de Cumplimiento con el Título IX.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Issued the afternoon of Monday, October 21, 2024 AST, the same day as the reported incident — DSMR's same-day Alerta pattern is a Clery-aligned 'timely warning' equivalent for the UPR system

DSMR explicitly cross-references the Title IX office (Oficina de Cumplimiento con el Título IX) — Puerto Rico institutions remain subject to federal Title IX requirements as US territories, and UPR formally incorporated those obligations into DSMR template language after 2019

The preventive measures list ('evitar caminar sola, permanecer en áreas iluminadas') is repeated verbatim across nearly every DSMR Alerta de Seguridad. This template uniformity has been criticized by [El Vocero](https://www.elvocero.com/gobierno/httpswwwelvocerocomgobiernoemiten-alerta-en-upr-de-r-o-piedras-por-denuncias-de-actos-lascivosarticle1b34c7a7-b3af-4f81-b193-8d6fca836517html/article_1b34c7a7-b3af-4f81-b193-8d6fca836517.html) as placing prevention burden on potential victims rather than perpetrators

Listing both extensions (83131 and 83535) is meaningful: 83131 is the DSMR dispatch line, 83535 is the in-person walk-in line at the Centro Universitario building. UPR security operationally distinguishes these two reporting paths

Context

Background

The Recinto de Río Piedras is the flagship campus of the Universidad de Puerto Rico system, enrolling roughly 13,000 students on a 280-acre urban campus in San Juan. Its División de Seguridad y Manejo de Riesgos (DSMR) publishes recurring Alertas de Seguridad — UPR's equivalent of timely warnings under federal Clery — to a public-facing news feed at uprrp.edu and through internal UPR email. During the 2024-2025 academic year, DSMR published at least four such Alertas concerning sexual-offense reports, including October 21, 2024, February 20, 2025, March 27, 2025, April 2, 2025, and May 12, 2025 — a cadence that has prompted local media coverage about safety at the Río Piedras campus (El Vocero). The October 21, 2024 Alerta concerned a sexual-harassment report made by a student during the morning of that day; DSMR's investigation continued in coordination with the Title IX office. The Alerta did NOT name a suspect description or specific location within the recinto — a pattern critics argue limits the warning's protective value.

Analysis

Key Findings

UPR Río Piedras's Alertas de Seguridad serve the same function as federal Clery 'timely warnings' but use entirely Spanish-language templates; the archive captures one of the first 2024-2025 Alertas in a series of at least five

DSMR's template language places preventive responsibility on potential victims ('evitar caminar sola, permanecer en áreas iluminadas') — language that has been criticized in local media

The Alerta does NOT include a physical description of the alleged perpetrator or a specific building/location within the recinto, limiting its usefulness for community vigilance

Linking the Alerta to Título IX Office investigation explicitly acknowledges UPR's federal compliance obligations as a US-territory institution — a posture distinct from many Latin American institutions but identical to mainland public universities

Provenance

Sources

Official
Alerta de Seguridad: 21 de octubre de 2024 (UPR Río Piedras)
uprrp.edu
Official
Alerta de Seguridad — 27 de marzo de 2025 (UPR Río Piedras)
uprrp.edu
Official
Alerta de Seguridad — 2 de abril de 2025 (UPR Río Piedras)
uprrp.edu
Official
Alerta de Seguridad: 12 de mayo de 2025 (UPR Río Piedras)
uprrp.edu
News
Emiten alerta UPR Río Piedras por denuncias actos lascivos (El Vocero)
elvocero.com

Alert Sequence

Background

Key Findings

Sources

Related Cases