Pedro Lagatta, Edna Jatobá e Allyne Andrade
The recent arrest of the masterminds behind the murder of Marielle Franco and Anderson Gomes reinforces what social movements have been denouncing for a while: Brazil’s deep ongoing public security crisis is not fortuitous—instead, it is carefully designed. It is a power project that feeds on society’s desires for peace and security.
This article was originally published in Nexo – follow the link to read it in Portuguese.
The centralization and militarization of public security favor the use of violence and fear as tools. Lethal police operations, such as Operation Verão in São Paulo, are disastrous examples of such approach.
Data from the 17th Brazilian Public Security Yearbook highlight the failure of this model: more than 47,000 homicides in 2022 alone, with over 6,500 deaths caused by police officers.
Countering this failed ideology of militarization, war on drugs, and punitivism, people’s movements resist and double down on their bet.
This crisis is not evenly distributed. Black people suffer disproportionately as a target of urban violence, police violence, and mass incarceration. The Justice system fails to hold to account the perpetrators of crimes against black people, women, and the LGBTQIA+ community. Urban and institutional violence has spread beyond state capitals and other major cities, especially in the Amazon, reflecting the government’s blind bet on incarceration and its inability to counter organized crime.
The consequences go beyond statistics and corrode the very fabric of democracy. They scar the lives of individuals, families, and entire communities. Black youth—the main victims—are deprived of opportunities and criminalized.
How People’s Engagement May Transform Public Security
Countering this failed ideology of militarization, war on drugs, and punitivism, people’s movements resist and double down on their bet.
Civil society organizations and social movements have developed a wide diversity of strategies to address these issues, including violence prevention projects, advocacy collectives, new protection technologies, groups of mothers and families against violence, and citizen-produced data. These organizations and movements have also played an important role in cases such as ADPF 635 (on Brazilian favelas) and ADPF 973 (on black lives).
These initiatives have gained valuable support in recent years: People’s Forums were created in the Northeast, and are now present in all states in that region, in addition to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
These forums show, from a participatory people’s perspective, that another approach to security is, indeed, viable. Since 2017, they have been doing what the State refuses to do: they truly listen to what the population has to say about the police, drugs, crime, and—above all—safe and vibrant communities. They do this through People’s Conferences, which bring together proposals developed by the communities themselves, which are then submitted to the institutions in charge of public security. How long may the State continue ignoring these proposals, conferences, and forums? Certainly not for long.
Looking back a few decades, how did Brazil develop the SUS, its great democratic healthcare system? The answer is: through people’s engagement. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to think that the same approach might also provide an excellent solution for building democratic and civic public security.
The Brazil Human Rights Fund launched a call for proposals on People’s Engagement in Public Security with the aim of strengthening initiatives that, like People’s Forums, seek to innovate and transform public security, overcoming structural racism. These are essential steps toward building a fairer and safer Brazil. People’s movements are there to show us that it is possible.
Pedro Lagatta has a master’s degree in Psychology, and acts as a Criminal Justice project adviser to the Brazil Human Rights Fund.
Edna Jatobá is the executive coordinator of the People’s Organizations Legal Advisory Office, and a member of the People’s Public Security Forum in the Northeast.
Allyne Andrade is a lawyer specialized in Critical Racial Theory, and the deputy executive director of the Brazil Human Rights Fund.
