BRAZIL: PUBLIC SECURITY FORCES TOP 818,000 OFFICERS AS IMBALANCES DEEPEN

Lack of Oversight

According to the report, insufficient oversight has allowed serious irregularities to emerge. In 44 Brazilian municipalities, the number of Municipal Guard officers exceeds the legal limits established by the Municipal Guards Statute, with some local forces employing as many as three times the permitted number of personnel. In light of this situation, the FBSP warns of the risk of the growing “police-ification” of these agencies without the accountability, supervision, and control mechanisms required of state police forces.

Management Crisis: More Chiefs than Subordinates

The Raio-X report also identifies an inversion of the traditional hierarchy within the Military Police and Military Firefighter Corps, showing that both forces now have more sergeants than rank-and-file soldiers. Nationwide, the Military Police includes 129,402 sergeants compared with 117,142 soldiers. According to the study, this imbalance results largely from the use of promotions as a mechanism for salary increases. The practice reduces operational capacity on the streets, distorts career structures, and raises administrative and personnel costs.

Penal Police

While Municipal Guards continue to expand, the police forces responsible for criminal investigations and the custody of inmates are losing personnel and operational capacity. The Penal Police has experienced a 3% reduction in staffing, even as the prison population continues to grow. At the same time, the Civil Police operates with only 55.2% of the personnel considered necessary for adequate performance. The report also points to the strategic vulnerability of fire departments. Brazil has only 0.3 firefighters for every 1,000 inhabitants, a shortage that becomes particularly serious amid the increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters.

Wage Inequality and the Fiscal Burden of Retirees

According to the study, public security expenditure amounts to approximately R$ 230 billion per year, equivalent to 1.8% of Brazil’s GDP. These resources, however, are distributed unevenly across states and professional categories. For comparison, a police chief (delegado) earns an average of R$ 41,200 in Ceará and R$ 23,100 in Minas Gerais. At the entry level, a police clerk earns an average of R$ 8,600 in Paraíba, compared with a national average of R$ 12,900. The pension system is also identified as a difficult long-term fiscal challenge. Brazil has 424,415 retired personnel from state public security forces, representing a 6% increase since 2023. Although these retirees account for only 22% of all retired employees in the Executive Branch, they represent 34% of the total payroll for this group. Another significant finding is that retirees in the public security sector receive, on average, 24% more than active-duty personnel.

Gender Diversity

Female representation remains a major challenge across public security institutions. Women account for only 13.3% of Military Police personnel and 28.4% of the Civil Police workforce. Their presence is even more limited in senior leadership positions. Within the Military Police, women occupy only 6.9% of colonel-level posts. The study identifies several barriers to career advancement, including insufficient basic infrastructure, limited access to daycare services, inadequate leave policies, and a predominantly male organizational culture that restricts women’s access to command and decision-making roles.

Database and Methodology

The study is based on a compilation of public information collected from the transparency portals of Brazil’s 27 federal units and federal agencies, as well as data obtained through requests filed under the Access to Information Law (LAI). To map Municipal Guard forces, the methodology cross-referenced three databases for the first time: the Survey of Basic Municipal Information (MUNIC), produced by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE); the Annual Social Information Report (RAIS), maintained by the Ministry of Labor; and the Census of Municipal Guards, conducted by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.

Analysis:

The expansion of Brazil’s public security workforce reflects a growing recognition that crime has become one of the country’s most pressing public policy challenges. However, the report suggests that increasing personnel alone is unlikely to produce better security outcomes if institutional imbalances persist. The rapid growth of Municipal Guards illustrates this dilemma. Originally created to protect municipal assets, many of these forces are gradually assuming policing functions traditionally carried out by state police agencies. Without standardized training, clear legal mandates, and robust accountability mechanisms, this expansion may create inconsistencies in law enforcement practices and increase the risk of operational and legal disputes, particularly as the Supreme Federal Court has broadened the scope of municipal policing powers in recent years.

The findings also expose structural weaknesses within Brazil’s traditional police institutions. The shortage of Civil Police investigators directly affects the state’s capacity to solve crimes, dismantle criminal organizations, and produce intelligence-based investigations, while the reduction in Penal Police personnel comes at a time when prison gangs continue to coordinate criminal activities from inside correctional facilities. Equally significant is the distortion in the Military Police career structure, where the growing number of supervisory ranks compared with frontline officers may gradually reduce the availability of personnel for preventive patrols. These challenges demonstrate that workforce management and institutional organization can be as important as the total number of officers when assessing public security effectiveness.

Sources: Fonte Segura.