Segurança pública e participação social: a experiência do Conselho Estadual de Segurança Pública do Pará – Consep

Abstract

The present dissertation analyses the experience of the Pará Public Security Council (CONSEP), as an institutional social participation mean for the realization of public security policies allied to the characteristics of Rule of Law State so the defense of human rights. This study has as a central point of identify if the social participation on public security management councils has been contributing for a democratic institutionality achievement in the public management, with the capacity of inducing security policies that guarantee the legally described rights for all social groups. The work firstly investigate the models as well as the public security policies implemented in the recent Brazilian history, since the 1964 civil-military coup until the present time. We also investigated how occur the creation of participatory spaces in public policies from the 1988 Constitution, such as forums, conferences and councils, and how these participatory arenas emerged in the public security field. Finally, we examine the CONSEP experience as a collegiate deliberation institution, that stand with the participation of civil society since the creation in 1996, been responsible for defining relevant policies and procedures in the public security area in the Pará State. We also aimed to introduce the trajectory of the aforementioned Council, from the creation to the current, highlighting the activities of social movements and representatives of civil society during more than 20 years of activity. The methodological approach used in the research has based on qualitative analysis, through bibliographical, documentary and field research, with semi-structured interviews from CONSEP members, aiming at the reconstruction of the trajectory so verification of the Council current context. Our conclusions emphasized the relevance and limits of CONSEP in the construction of public policies aiming the defense of the rights in this field, recognizing that still are obstacles for a balanced and effective social participation. The study also shows that, despite the existence of CONSEP since 1996, the violence rates increased in the last decades in Pará, which points to the limits of social control over security devices, since decisions taken in other instances are inaccessible to democratic control. Nevertheless, without neglecting existing limits and obstacles, is important to emphasize the importance of civil society participation in institutional spaces and participatory democracy, as a necessary complement to representative democracy. In the end, we understand that the greatest contribution of management councils, in the most diverse areas, is their capacity to re-signify political actions.