Questions/Answers

The most challenging problem faced by the state of Paraíba in Public Security provision was the lack of public policies that benefit and protect life. In 2012, the survey named "Map of Violence" revealed an alarming intensification of premeditated murders in the period from 2000 to 2010, representing an increase of 180% in the state. The homicide rate per 100,000 people scored 15.1 in 2000 and ranged 38.8 in 2010, almost four times more than the limit recommended by the UN. The program called Paraíba United for Peace introduced to the Public Security of Paraíba state an original model of management based on the leadership of the head of the executive branch and the Steering Committee composed of police chiefs and other Secretarys. The committee has established exclusive and coherent guidelines for the act of these operating agencies alongside a new method of management in which accountability reports of the public service provided to the Paraíba society have been submitted. A specific sector has been created in order to gather criminal statistics. This sector enabled a watchful monitoring of violent crimes that resulted in better strategies to reduce the crime rates. In order to establish efficient dialogue and solid integration action among corporations, the Complementary Law nº 111/2012 was created to readjust administrative divisions in order that they could be equivalent in all operative bodies, resulting, therefore, a greater integration of the branches. In this new administrative scenario, it was possible to develop the main objectives of the Program, controlling the growth of violent and lethal crimes and reducing homicide rates in all territories of the state of Paraíba, with the goal of preserving primarily the lives of those who are most vulnerable to criminality, such as, young black people, women and those who live in poor neighborhoods.

The main objective of Paraíba United for Peace Program is to improve the quality of the Public Security service in the state of Paraíba. The program prioritizes the valorization of human life through the reduction of intentional lethal violence, as well as the reduction of other violent crimes, either against the people or against the patrimony, in the sense of developing a culture of peace and providing the citizens of Paraiba a better sense of security that impacts in the life quality. In a practical sense, the largest goal of the initiative reflects on an annual goal of reducing lethal and premeditated violent crimes in 10% according to the previous year, so that the state can continuously reach the recommended level by the UN, which is up to 10 homicides per group of 100,000 inhabitants in the period of one year. Besides, the empowerment of the beneficiaries from this public policy - the social groups most vulnerable to violence - is one of the main reasons that allow continuous supervision, demand and implementation of public security actions in the territories as policies of state.

The program Paraíba United for Peace benefits the poorest and most vulnerable people since it establishes its focus on the management with the priority goal of decreasing the violence rates, which historically affects those who are poorer and live in suburban areas, with less schooling, as well as young and black people under conditions of vulnerability such as drug addiction and female gender discrimination. Furthermore, this was the rupture point in the public policies implemented in the state. The last previous priority focus of the actions in Public Safety focused on crimes against the patrimony mainly. In Paraíba, 93% of homicide victims are black, 52% are young people between 15 and 29 years-old; the neighborhoods with the highest concentration of homicides are exactly those with the worst social indicators. In addition, there are still a large number of women murdered merely because of their gender or domestic violence, which has recently become a crime well-known as femicide. With a qualified policy of protection for those people, they have the opportunity to be inserted in a safe context as beneficiaries of police protection instead of repression.

Historically, in the police institutions, there has been great interference of economic power in the absence of clear guidelines for action. For this reason, there has been a certain institutional culture for police actions that segregate poor people from the rich ones, or possible victims of possible criminals. This made the police forces work in the poorest communities based on repressive and energetic policing in order to approach and apprehend lawbreakers, whereas it was preventive and protective for the other social classes. This reality has changed thanks to a new vision of the Paraíba United for Peace Program, which implemented in the most violent communities the Solidary Police Units, which are police groups where the Military Police started to operate inside the territories of the communities intensively, creating a bond of trust with the population, under the principles of community policing so that they can protect the inhabitants and reduce violence in those places. The presence of the police people as peacemakers in those localities provided a greater access to education, health and housing services, among others, which were constantly threatened and interrupted by the presence of the power and actions of criminals that spread fear in the community.

As an example of a special approach to a problem of violence against vulnerable groups, we can mention the actions that protect women who are frequently afraid of reporting violence crimes to the police. This happened just because they have the sense of impunity and inefficiency by the police force. So, the program has adopted the subprograms called Woman Protection and SOS Women, which operate by integrating police forces in order to assist victims of criminal offences related to domestic/family violence of any other nature: physical, psychological, patrimonial, sexual or moral. When searching for Women's Police Station, the victims are registered and immediately receive solidarity visits of the Military Police garrison that promotes preventive actions by removing the aggressor and putting protective measures determined by the Court into effect. In addition, there has also been an expansion of 15 units of the Specialized Police Station in Assistance for Women, spreading the service to victims throughout Paraíba. At the same time, a partnership has been established with the Public Defender, which has become more present inside the Police Stations for Women providing the victims the right assistance according to the civil sphere that permeates situations arising from domestic violence.

The positive impacts aimed at improving the public security service to the poorest and most vulnerable social groups, and it can be verified by reducing the number of homicides against women over the years since the creation of the Paraíba United Peace Program. In 2011, the first year of implementation, 146 deaths were registered being female victims. On the other hand, this number decreased 48%, with a total number of 76 cases in 2017. The Homicide Rate for each group of 100,000 women in Paraíba was 6.1 in 2010. One year before the implementation of the initiative in 2017, this rate had already been reduced to 3.66, a below average of northeast and national regions. Other vulnerable groups also achieved a reduction in lethal violence. In 2011, 836 young people aged 15-29 were murdered in the state. In 2017, this number dropped to 580, a reduction of 31%, and the black victims also registered a decrease from 2011 to 2016 of 17%.

Paraíba United for Peace Program was extremely innovative in the context of the state. For the first time, methods of management in public administration were used aiming at obtaining better outcomes to reduce violence. Before the program, there was no agency in the Secretary of Social Security and Defense to measure the criminal rates, so the police forces acted without knowing the reality of the crimes. Then, the Criminal Analysis and Statistics Nucleus (in Portuguese NACE) was created to provide chiefs with information on the dynamics of crimes. The crime dynamism has been accompanied alongside meetings for monitoring, something unprecedented in our state. This has brought together the police forces, the governor of the state and other secretaries, as well as representatives of the Judiciary branch, Public Ministry’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office to evaluate the scenarios of violence and outline control strategies. Another example of innovation in the state was the award policy for the best performance of the police activity. Monetary prizes were created by law to grant police officers who help reducing the number of homicides in their areas of duty. Similarly, pecuniary bonuses were offered in order to encourage the capture of illegal shotguns.

In public administration, a successful initiative from one region is not often useful in another especially in a continental country with many regional inequalities such as Brazil. Before the implementation of Paraíba United for Peace, there were already other initiatives to reduce lethal violence with some similarities to several others throughout the country. However, the great highlight of the Paraíba state is the adaptation of what is the best in other experiences, with the possibility to apply them with harmony in the territory. Policies such as: a) targeting and rewarding for the reduction of homicides; b) community policing and preventive policing occupancy in violent communities with the Solidarity Police Units and c) special assistance to female victims of violence with Specialized Police Offices for Women other subprograms, such as SOS Woman and Protected Woman, have already been verified separately in other places, but never with the cohesion and continuity as occurred in our state, what made Paraíba the only unit of the Brazilian federation to reduce lethal violence for 6 years consecutively.

To successfully achieve the goals of the program, the human resources of the civilian, military and scientific forces, committed themselves to the use of various weapons equipment, vehicles and others, to provide the most efficient public security service in the operational activity. In addition, there was a great backstage work that provided a better operational performance of the Secretary of Security. There was a considerable increase in logistics and infrastructure, with a strong investment in armaments, police vests, vehicles and other equipment that were scarce or precarious before the Program. A great effort was also made in the qualification of policemen, especially in community policing and in technical activities such as homicide investigation. Finally, there was still a great investment in communication systems, enabling greater security and agility in police actions with the implementation of digital technology of the Tetra System. These increments were financed with own funds from the state of Paraíba, but also with financial contributions from the Federal Government were made through the Safer Brazil Program, among others.

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Unfortunately, what has been verified in the other states, especially those closest to Paraíba, is the absence of an effective public policy to reduce lethal violence, what is demonstrated by the increase in the number of crimes in these states in 2017. The state of Rio Grande do Norte, borderline to the North, registered an increase of 20% in the number of murders in 2017 as well as a rate of 67.9 homicides per group of 100,000 inhabitants. Ceará, state to the West, registered 50% in 2017 at the same rate, representing 59.1 of rate. Pernambuco, to the South, increased 21% in the same year, representing a high rate of 57.3 homicides per 100,000. All of these states had superior rates than Paraíba, where scored 31.9 of rate in 2017. Notwithstanding, Paraíba has a consolidated outcome that can serve as a model for those states where exists political interest of their managers, including structuring measures for programs in forms of law in order to be public, transparent and permanent.

Paraíba United for Peace Program can also be considered as a sustainable initiative under the economic and social aspect. In the field of economics, this occurs because the fact that the measures adopted by the initiative have modified the police's performance in the field of strategies and management methodology much more than in the increase of resources. As it is known, in the current decade, Brazil has been experiencing a serious economic crisis, with a slowdown in the Gross Domestic Product - GDP in 7.5% of economic growth in 2010 to 0.5% of growth in 2014. In 2015 and 2016, negative GDP, -3.8% and -3.6% each year. Faced with this reality, it was not possible to make a substantial increase in the amount of human resources of the police; however, the program's results are very positive in the period, which demonstrates the low need for financial resources to implement them. In the social aspect, the sustainability of the program is based on the social control of the population over the rulers and managers. Innovatively in the state, there was a policy of transparency in the dissemination of crime rates so that the population can follow these same data and demand actions from the authorities for improvements. Previously, there were no mechanisms for assessing the quality of the public security service. Now, with the initiative and through the NACE, any citizen can check the institutional webpage of the Secretary of Security for violence rates of their city. Besides, they can request information from that nucleus about the criminal reality of their community or street. This has enabled popular participation in the design of security policies, which is also stimulated by fostering a constant channel of dialogue between managers and the population.

Paraíba has the most sustainable initiative of Public Safety in Brazil. As already mentioned, Paraíba has the Public Security policy with the longest continuous reduction in the country's violence, with 6 consecutive years of reduction of lethal violence, with a cumulative drop of 28% in the Homicide Rate in the state. This is mainly due to the fact that the initiative, from the beginning, was planned as a state policy, to be independent of those who temporarily occupy control of the government or the police. For this, the structural changes brought by the program have been transformed into law, so they cannot be easily changed. They are: Complementary Law No. 111/2012, which made the integrated territories of Security and Social Defense compatible, the foundation of the integration between Civilian Police and Military Police; Law No. 9,708 / 2012, which created the pecuniary bonus for the seizure of firearms to combat the illegal circulation of these weapons, which are the greatest instruments of murder and robbery; Law No. 10,327 / 2014, which established the Paraíba United for Peace Prize to reward those for the reduction of homicides in the integrated territories; Complementary Law No. 124/2014 that regulated the competencies of the General and Integrated State Court of Justice of the Secretary of Security; Law No. 10,338 / 2014, which created the State Intelligence System to integrate the intelligence agencies of the police forces. The most important of them is the law No. 11,049 / 2017, which promotes the Paraíba United for Peace. This law acts as a great instruction manual where all the actions and guidelines of the initiative are recorded and explained in order to be applied permanently with the same efficiency.

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Faced with the problem of criminal violence across the country, some organizations annually conduct surveys to monitor and evaluate the public security in the country, taking as parameter the numbers of intentional homicides. In its most recent publication called the Brazilian Yearbook of Public Security in 2017, the non-governmental organization Brazilian Public Security Forum claims that Paraíba is the state with the third highest reduction percentage of homicides in the country in 2016, describing a decrease of 12.6% in comparison to the previous year (information in table nº01 of the survey). In addition, the same document also claims that the state has the second lowest homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants of the Northeast region in the previous year of 2016 (information in table 01 of the survey), which was 33.1 and still decreased to 31.9 in 2017. The Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), in the Atlas of Violence (2017), with data referring to 2015, ratifies the continued reduction in the homicide rate in Paraíba, decreasing in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 (Table 1.2 of the document).

The evaluation of the surveys mentioned before is from a national scope, but the results of Paraíba can be verified individually. According to the Brazilian Public Safety Yearbook of 2017, and comparing with the same survey in 2012 with data of 2011, the state obtained a 25% reduction until 2016 in the homicide rate. In 2011, the first year of the initiative, Paraíba had the third highest Homicide Rate in the country (according to table 02 of the Yearbook, 2012). In 2016, in addition to having the second lowest rate among the nine states of Northeast region, the state already had the 13th lowest rate among all the 27 states of the country (according to table 01 of the Yearbook, 2017). There is also an impact in the reduction of murder to robbery crimes, which according to table 03 of the same survey, in Paraíba, there was a reduction of 31.7% in the rate of this crime in 2016, being the second lowest of all in the country. Still in this survey, Table 05 shows the 14.9% reduction in the homicide rate against women in the state in 2016.

The most globally recognized parameter for evaluation in public safety and violence uses absolute numbers of Homicide or Rates per group of 100,000. It is important to mention that is commonly in researches the term Homicide when is referring to intentional deaths only, without considering the cases resulting from accidents. It occurs that in the Brazilian Penal Code, in addition to the intentional Homicide prescribed in Article 121, there are other crimes that result in intentional murders, such as the robbery followed by death, rape followed by death, extortion by kidnapping followed by death, among others. For this reason, it is not enough to deal only with Homicides but rather with criminal indicators that aggregate all these crimes. Successfully, the Indicator of Intentional Lethal Crimes (in Portuguese CVLI) is used in Paraíba, which corresponds to all intentional crimes that result in death. This indicator was created in 2006 by the National Secretary of Public Security and is now adopted by several states. The Brazilian Forum on Public Security recently adopted the indicator Violent Intentional Deaths (in Portuguese MVI), which has an exact correspondence with Violent Intentional Lethal Crimes (in Portuguese CVLI).

The Paraíba United for Peace Program gave opportunity for popular participation in the first year of the program with the realization of the Paraíba United for Peace Forum, where there was a large participation of civil society organized to discuss what the biggest demands were. From the feedback, the planning was well adjusted by listening to the population and attending to their lawsuits. In addition, in partnership with the State Democratic Budget Governance Program, there is a constant discussion of public security in each Integrated Public Security Area – AISP in the presence of those responsible for Security as well as the governor of the state, with the direct and constant appreciation by the population. The program was also developed based on the articulation of the other branches of the Criminal Justice System: Judiciary, Public Prosecutor's Office, Public Defender's Office and Penitentiary Administration Secretary, all responsible for monitoring the results of management shared by the operational departments of the Security Secretary. All of these branches participate in the ongoing and monthly meetings of the Steering Committee, monitoring and evaluating the results together. The Paraíba Court of Justice appointed three magistrates responsible for each of the three Integrated Public Security Regions - REISPs to articulate alongside the police in order to ensure the proper functioning of the criminal justice cycle. In turn, the Agreement of Technical Cooperation between the state executive and the Public Ministry of Paraíba was signed with the purpose of articulating Promoters of Justice for each Integrated Area of Public Security. The Public Defender's Office has a partnership in the Specialized Police Stations for Women's Assistance. Another body that has an intense connection with the program is the Secretary of the State for Women and Human Diversity, which articulates the protection lines for women.

The importance of performing Public Security looking especially for those most vulnerable is based on the comprehension that all human lives have the same dignity. Therefore, prioritizing the Right to Life promotes sustainable development insofar as, if we do not have a pacified community, there will be no possibility of developing other rights, such as the right to health, well-being, qualified education and economic growth. In several places that had greater attention of the Program, there was the domination by criminals, which ended up marginalizing all the poor population because of the risk of those areas. Through the Solidary Police Units, with a safer environment, it is possible to advance several other public policies of citizenship, which also makes it possible to reduce inequalities in the poorest areas. Providing security means enabling the education of young people, so that they are not dragged to drug dealing activities, accessing employment, they can reach their autonomy. Providing security sets women free from the threat of domestic violence or other offences, empowering them to seek autonomy. Finally, providing security means giving confidence to the poorest population, something that proves that the state is capable of fulfilling its role of providing social justice