City Guards
Encyclopedia
Municipal Guards also called the Municipal Civil Guards, are the security forces of municipalities (cities) of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Created in the time of Empire of Brazil, the guardsmen are subordinated to the municipality mayors (in Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

, prefeitos). Trained as a civilian uniformed agency, the city guards are responsible to police the municipal parks, properties, installations and the interior of municipal councils and city halls, according to the Brazilian Federal Constitution.

Their patrols are called rondas (for round
Round
Round or rounds can mean:* The shape of a closed curve with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, or sphere* Roundness , the smoothness of clastic particles...

s) and there are 753 municipalities with Municipal Guards with more than 74,000 operatives the guardas according with the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. They are treated as police officers by the former president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

 of IPA (International Police Association
International Police Association
The International Police Association is the largest organisation for police officers in the world.The founder Arthur Troop , a police sergeant, was born in Lincoln, in the English county of Lincolnshire....

) Brazilian section, Mr. George Henry Millard, and the former Brazilian Minister of Justice, and elected governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...

, Mr. Tarso Genro
Tarso Genro
Tarso Fernando Herz Genro is a Brazilian politician, and a member of the Workers' Party . As a result of the Mensalão scandal, Genro served the remainder of José Genoíno's term as party president in 2005...

, asked for more professional valorization for these operatives, specially the recognizing of function of public safety workers by the part of the Brazilian society.

Legal basis

Legally mandated missions IAW article 144, § 8º of the Federal Charter, when establishing activities, agencies and performance front to the Public Security and the safety of the people and the patrimony, stresses the responsibility of all but and mainly of the "State" (Union, States, Federal District and Cities), for the following:
  • 1) From protect their goods, services and facilities;
  • 2) In organize, direct and monitor vehicle traffic into their territory;
  • 3) From ensure the right of the community to enjoy or use public goods, obey the legal requirements;
  • 4) Protect the environment and historical heritage, cultural and ecological the municipality;
  • 5) Provide assistance for domestic and foreign tourists.


There is a PEC (Proposal of Constitutional Amendment, PEC nº 534/2002) which will change the Brazilian City/Municipal Guards constitutional status. If approved, this constitutional review will be to give police power
Police power
In United States constitutional law, police power is the capacity of the states to regulate behavior and enforce order within their territory for the betterment of the general welfare, morals, health, and safety of their inhabitants...

 to every guardsman to serve and protect the Brazilian cities and citizens, transforming these corporations in law enforcement agencies  de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....

 (The Brazilian people consider the 'Guardas' policemen de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...

, and the Brazilian Ministry of Justice are treating the guards as constables. However, the Brazilian State Police Forces don't agree with this ideal - In deeed, all the municipal guards operatives accuses The State Sheriffs and Colonels to interfere in the municipalities autonomy. In Portuguese, this act is called "ingerência").

The PEC was approved in the Brazilian Federal Senate and the Brazilian Federal House of Representatives Justice Commission (now it's waiting to be approved in the Brazilian Federal House of Representatives in two votations - with open vote). After that, the PEC will need to be approved by the President of Brazil
President of Brazil
The president of Brazil is both the head of state and head of government of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces...

.

Organization

In some cities, like São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, the commander used to be a retired Brazilian Military Police colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

, or a retired Brazilian Civil Police Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

. There is a third example: other cities, like Guarulhos
Guarulhos
Guarulhos is the second largest city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo and a suburb of São Paulo city itself. In the last few years it has outgrown Campinas. The population in 2006 is 1,283,253, the density is 4,035.26 inh./km² and the area is 318 km²...

, São Caetano do Sul
São Caetano do Sul
São Caetano do Sul is a city in São Paulo state in Brazil, located in the Greater São Paulo Metropolitan Area. It is the city with the highest per capita income in Brazil and it also has the highest Human Development Index .-Geography:São Caetano do Sul is located on a plateau that is part of the...

 and Osasco
Osasco
Osasco is a municipality and city in São Paulo State, Brazil, is located in the Greater São Paulo and ranking 5th in population among São Paulo municipalities. The current mayor is Emidio Pereira de Souza ....

, the commanders were licensed members of São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

 Metropolitan Civil Guard
(Guarda Civil Metropolitana da Cidade de São Paulo). Currently, there is an Osasco City Guard Senior Inspector acting as Subcommander; and the Local Inspector Commander is an ideal defended for the Brazilian city guards operatives. (Nowadays, in São Paulo City, Mr. Joel Malta de Sá, a Regional Chief Inspector is the Metropolitan Civil Guard Commissioner Commander. This fact is celebrated as the begin of an era of true Municipal Guards Commanders trained in these agencies with the Federal Government support and without any kind of State Government Interference).

The Municipal Guards or Municipal Civil Guards had been reorganized from the device of the Great Letter - Federal Constitution - (1988), that she authorizes to the cities "to create" Municipal Guards, for protection of its in agreement goods, services and installations to make use the Law (to complement - constitutional text).

Therefore, a priority, them they have to be able of policy to act in these situations, but they also act in any another situation of crime detected in the act or threats to the order or to the life, beyond in calamity situations, because in these cases, as the same Law prayer, "any of the people can and the authorities & agents must act". Thus, exactly that it has divergences on the possibility of action of the Municipal Guards, the action of the same ones is supported by the Law.

How much to its administrative organization, they diverge sufficiently between one and another city, having, also, a common error in citing them as paramilitary organizations, when, in the truth, the only reference to this type of organization in the Brazilian laws is for saying that these do not have to exist. Therefore, the Municipal Guards are not paramilitary, nor need to have similarity with military organizations, although comumente to be initiated under "command" of military pensioners of the BMP., "who generally don't act in the interests of Civil Guard and yes of where he is deriving", presenting some traces of these organizations. Traces, however, that they are being questioned for its integrant e, gradually, reviewed, because the guards, as many even though are autodenominam, are civil, and not military, thus do not need, to have military vices, crazes to form its hierarchy and funcionability.

One of the Civil Guards in Brazil that if detach for the excellency in the services is Municipal Civil Guarda of Sobral who offers to an exemplary structure of video monitoramento, motopatrulhamento and ciclopatrulhamento, besides generating daily reports of the occurrences and disponibilizar them on-line, information on the competitions and the inclusion of young adolescents through the social project Mirim Guard. of Municipal Guarda of Sobral.

Civil Guard

Municipal Civil Guard is a municipal civil police, that can be created by specific law of the chamber of the councilmen of the city, as an instrument of public security of the city. Its components possess the same prerogatives and legal obligations of the municipality's employees. The GCM, as it is known, can still assist the other agencies of public security, such as: the Federal Police
Brazilian Federal Police
The Polícia Federal is the federal police force of Brazil subordinate to the Ministry of Justice, whose main assignments are the investigations of crimes against the Federal Government or its organs and companies, the combat of international drug trafficking and terrorism, and immigration and...

, Federal Road Police
Brazilian Federal Highway Police
The Brazilian Federal Highway Police is a federal law enforcement agency, subordinate to the Ministry of Justice, whose main function is fighting crime on Brazilian federal roads and highways, as well as monitoring and supervising vehicular traffic, although it has also taken on duties that go...

, Federal Railroad Police
Brazilian Federal Railroad Police
The Brazilian Federal Railroad Police or Federal Railway Police is a police agency founded in 1852 which is responsible for patrols and security on federal railways in Brazil.- History :...

, Civil Police, (including the Superintendence of State Scientific Police Service) and the Military Police including the Corps of Military Firemen. By a "súmula" (the Portuguese for ruling, or stare decisis
Stare decisis
Stare decisis is a legal principle by which judges are obliged to respect the precedents established by prior decisions...

) of the Supreme Federal Tribunal
Supreme Federal Tribunal
The Supreme Federal Court is the supreme court of Brazil, serving primarily as the Constitutional Court of the country. It is the highest court of law in Brazil for constitutional issues and its rulings cannot be appealed...

, the scientific police is considered a branch of the Civil Police because of the principle of the indivisibility of the criminal inquiry, fitting to the States of the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian Federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...

 that had conferred it autonomy, to subordinate it, again, to those institutions.

In São Paulo City receive the name Metropolitan Civil Guard . The use of marine blue uniform for the Guards has been stipulated. In Rio De Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

 it was called only Municipal Guard and the uniform color is khakis.

The Civil Guards are organizations of civil, not militarized corporations. How much to the weapon transport, they are authorized to more than use them the Civil Guards of the cities with 20,000 inhabitants. Firearms only of allowed use as authorization legal. The transport is granted by the Federal government (Policy Statute of the Disarmament). One of the Civil Guards in Brazil that if detach for the excellency in the services is Municipal Civil Guarda of Sobral who offers to an exemplary structure of video monitoring, motor patrol and bicycle patrol, besides generating daily reports of the occurrences and disponibilizar them on-line, information on the competitions and the inclusion of young adolescents through the social project (Mirim Guard, the Portuguese for Young Guard) (of Municipal Guarda of Sobral).

Up to 1965, the Civil Police of the most populous States of Brazil had in its administrative structure a full integration with the CIVIL GUARD, but the reforms of police of the beginning of the 20th century and destined to perform the preventive police, together, with the Military Police. These reforms are more clear in the Coup D'état on March 30,1.964; who finished with all autonomy in the Brazilian federal subjects (the Union, the Federal District, The States of Union and the Autonomal Municipalities).The idea was eliminate any resistance against the military regime. The Great Goal of the act was the elimination of the Republican State Civilian "Guardas" and the Republican Municipal Civilian "Guardas".

The deriving government of the call Revolution of 64, objectifying to establish rigid control on the municipal & state uniformed police forces, extinguished the Civil Guards and many Municipal Guards too and regulated the supervisory norms of the Army on the Military Police, also, nominating official of the Army to command them in all the States.

See also

  • Brazilian Federal Police
    Brazilian Federal Police
    The Polícia Federal is the federal police force of Brazil subordinate to the Ministry of Justice, whose main assignments are the investigations of crimes against the Federal Government or its organs and companies, the combat of international drug trafficking and terrorism, and immigration and...

  • Military Police of Brazilian States
  • Força Nacional de Segurança
  • Military of Brazil
    Military of Brazil
    The Brazilian Armed Forces is the unified military organization comprising the Brazilian Army , the Brazilian Navy and the Brazilian Air Force....

  • Civil Police of Brazilian States

Portuguese only


English language links

  • IPA Official website
  • Municipal police
    Municipal police
    .Municipal police are law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government, including the municipal government, where it is the smallest administrative subdivision. They receive pay from the city budget, and usually have fewer rights than the "state paid" police...

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