Violência, democracia e segurança cidadã

The formation of the rule of law in modern Western democracies did not dispense with the control of public order. In the real machinery of surveillance and sanctions, which targeted mainly low-paid wage earners, the police came to occupy a strategic role in the productive chain of legal and social control. The birth of the modern police came accompanied by concerns for its improvement. Not infrequently, by containing crimes, some police officers engaged in shady deals; when repressing behaviors they used violence and the use of abusive force. In some societies in the Western world, trust in police is broadly recognized. Fear of the police is associated with the image of police officers protecting vulnerable citizens from attacks by anyone. It is equally true to acknowledge that criticisms of the institution and its agents remain strong whenever deportations, abusive use of force, involvement with scandalous businesses, and racial and social filtering in the work of surveillance and containment of crime come to the public. The legitimate state monopoly of violence in the hands of the state and control of civilian governments over their police forces are pillars of democratic governance. The profile of the crimal economy has changed and is changing, demanding more and more professionalism, as well as a greater competition of modern technological means of communication and information, capable of enhancing investigative activities and police intervention with low operational cost and high effectiveness, measured by the success of the task performed according to laws and regulations.