On Friday (25/08), Minister Cristiano Zanin broke the tie in a trial and formed a majority of votes in the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to recognize that municipal guards as part of public security bodies. The Court’s decision reinforces authorization, for example, for municipal guards to approach and search suspicious places when they are related to their work, which is the protection of assets and assets of municipalities.
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Understanding the Debate
The ministers judged an action by the Association of Municipal Guards of Brazil. The entity argued in the Supreme Court that judges across the country are not recognizing the duties of guards as members of the security system, which affects their performance.
STF Understanding of the Matter
Zanin followed the vote of the rapporteur, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, to rule out judicial interpretations that exclude municipal guards, duly created, and instituted, as members of the Public Security system. For Moraes, the constitutional and legal framework and the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence allow us to conclude that the institution is a public security body. The minister understood that the guards have, among their attributions, to prevent, inhibit and curb, through their presence and surveillance, criminal or administrative offenses and infractions that threaten municipal goods, services, and facilities.
Analysis:
While the recognition of Municipal Guards as member of the security forces may provide some improvements in their work, it has a lot of potential to lead to abuses and disputes between forces, fighting over jurisdictions, approaches, methods and credit for some cases. Historically, the Civil and the Military police forces have had problems cooperating with each other, and this is valid for their counterparts in the federal level: the Federal Police (PF) and Federal Highway Police (PRF). Furthermore, if Zanin’s decision prevail, thousands of new police forces could be created, some in small towns, where there would be no mechanism of control, facilitating a series of misconducts.
Source: G1
