The legitimacy for killing and dying in public security policies

The research project “Violence and Citizenship: the legitimacy for killing and dying in Brazil’s public security policies” was designed through a partnership between the Center for the Study of Violence and the Brazilian Public Security Forum for the CNPq Call nº 2016/2016 – Research and Innovation in Human, Social and Applied Social Sciences under the theme: Citizenship, violence, and human rights. The research seeks to understand the historical endurance of the legitimacy of lethal violence as one of Brazil’s most striking societal traits, and subsequently diagnose, analyze and lay the groundwork for public policies that may exert influence on the reduction of lethal violence practiced and endured by civil and military police officers. The research also attempts to expand our knowledge on how institutions within the criminal justice system have handled these cases, especially the Public Prosecutor’s Office, in an attempt to contribute to effective solutions for the prevention of violence, the promotion of citizenship, and compliance with the provisions of Articles 5 and 6 of the Federal Constitution. Based on an analysis of the legal procedures within the criminal justice system for cases of death resulting from police intervention and police deaths in five Brazilian states, the project was designed to be an innovative platform for research and information on the patterns of action of the Brazilian police and how other institutions responsible for securing justice, order, rights, and security may contribute to the modernization of the country’s public security model and the solidification of the civil and human rights agenda advocated by the 1988 Federal Constitution.

Keywords: Police; Deaths Resulting from Police Intervention; Death of Police Officers; Public Prosecutor’s Office; Civil and Human Rights Agenda; Legitimacy.