The Senate of Brazil this Tuesday gave its approval, with no votes against, to a proposal for a constitutional amendment (PEC) on Public Security that reorganizes the operation of the security forces, granting greater prominence to the federal government in this area and leaving out of the debate the option of lowering the age of criminal responsibility, which remains set at 18 years.
The initiative, whose approval has been communicated by the upper house itself in its official social media profiles, establishes the creation of a Unified Public Security System (SUSP) and toughens the prison regime for the heads and members of the so-called "factions"—criminal organizations such as the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) or the Comando Vermelho (Comando Rojo)—as well as for paramilitary groups and militias.
With 73 votes in favor in the first round and 75 in the second, and with no senator taking a stance against it, the plenary body has given the green light, according to the news agency Brasil, to a PEC that only required 49 supporters to be approved. After clearing this step, the only remaining requirement is its formal promulgation by Congress, after it had already received prior backing from the Chamber of Deputies.
Among the most relevant changes is the creation of the SUSP, a new organizational model that sets in the Constitution that public security must be carried out "within a framework of federative cooperation" and "through integrated and decentralized action" by the different institutions involved.
"Public security agencies will coordinate under a system of federal cooperation, through the Unified Public Security System, designed to guarantee the effectiveness of crime prevention, prosecution and criminal execution," the PEC states.
The reform also contemplates the possibility of forming municipal Police forces of a civilian nature, subject to external oversight by the General Prosecutor's Office, and tasked with carrying out visible, neighborhood-oriented policing in the cities within their jurisdiction. It also strengthens the powers of the Federal Highway Police, opens the door to the implementation of new municipal police forces, and provides for an increase in the budgetary resources allocated to public security.
Lula now drives the creation of the Ministry of Public Security
After the approval of the PEC, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has celebrated the result in a social media post, in which he has emphasized that, once this step has been overcome, he will move forward with the creation of the Ministry of Public Security, as he had already announced in May, when the project received the endorsement of the Chamber of Deputies.
The new portfolio, for which no name has yet been released as a possible person in charge, will be "focused on intelligence, planning and cooperation with the states and municipalities to deal with factions and militias".
"The Brazilian people have the right to work, go back home and live in peace. Ensuring this right is a commitment of the Government of Brazil", the head of state has reiterated.