Vicente Riccio

Community policing in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro

This article evaluates the adoption of a new model for community policing in two communities in Rio de Janeiro. They were initially dominated by heavily armed criminal gangs that challenged the hegemony of the Brazilian state. A version of community policing was introduced in these two poor areas. Its principal feature was a commitment to delivering honest, professional, and respectful policing; other initiatives commonly associated with community policing in the northern hemisphere would have to come later. The questions addressed here were whether the police could actually mount such a program, and if they could respond effectively to crime and disorder while avoiding abusive conduct. Six hundred residents of the study communities were surveyed regarding the program and their concerns about crime and police misconduct. The survey found widespread support for the initial intervention by Rio de Janeiro’s police, which aimed at damping the presence of armed criminal gangs and reducing omnipresent fear of crime. The findings suggest that it is possible for police to improve the quality of life and reduce concern about crime in one of the most difficult urban environments in the Americas.

Professionalizing the Amazonas military police through training

This article examines a new national program of professional education for military police officers, and how it was implemented in the State of Amazonas, in Brazil. Police reform has taken a high place on the Brazilian political agenda due to their low legitimacy, inefficacy in the execution of their duties, and constant allegations of police corruption and abuses of power. Education is seen as an important instrument for improving policing in Brazil. In an exploratory study, in-depth interviews were conducted with training participants in order to understand the political and organizational issues involved in implementing new guidelines for high-level officer training. The continuing issues facing this reform agenda item include a culture fostered during the authoritarian military era, the lack of police legitimacy in the eyes of the public and elites alike, and the inadequacy of its organizational models for a democratic context. The discrepancies between policy and practice observed in Amazonas were not a question of training efficacy per se, but reflected persisting problems at the local and national levels in Brazilian policing.

O caso da gestão da reforma universitária brasileira: negociação como estratégia de ação política

This article is based on two Ebape/FGV reports on the issues discussed on the initial meetings about the universities system reform in Brazil. It tries to understand the ongoing process of universities system reform. Therefore, the paper tries to analyze civil society groups’ perspectives on the issues discussed on the meetings. The article tries to understand the legal framework based on consensual elements identified in the meeting’s discussion process.