Políticas públicas de segurança e participação social: análises sobre a atuação dos conselhos comunitários de segurança em Curitiba/PR entre os anos de 2022 e 2024

Abstract

Over the course of the development of public safety policies in Brazil, a variety of strategies have been adopted to mature the process of formulating and implementing state actions, including the involvement of society as a component of planning and execution. Based on the philosophy and organizational strategy of community policing—which seeks to bring public security agencies closer to the community to identify and solve local problems—one of the measures used to embed social participation in public safety policy was the creation of Community Security Councils (CONSEGs). These entities appeared in Brazil in the 1980s, first in the municipalities of Londrina and Maringá, both in the state of Paraná, and later spread to other states. The state of Paraná, made up of 399 municipalities, currently hosts 165 active CONSEGs established by municipalities in the interior and by neighborhoods in the state capital, which accounts for about 16% of these entities. CONSEGs are regarded as a public safety policy at the level of the state of Paraná, since they are part of the State Public Safety and Social Defense Plan (2024–2034) and constitute a security indicator within the context of the Multi-Year Plan (2024–2027). They differ, however, from Municipal Councils for Public Safety Policy (CONSEPs), which are created by law and linked to the municipal executive branch and do not have territorial scope limited to neighborhoods. This study set out to analyze the extent to which the activities carried out by the CONSEGs of the city of Curitiba, Paraná, between 2022 and 2024 were aligned with the purposes of those entities and with the principles of social participation. The research is justified by the need for an in-depth study of CONSEGs’ operations in the urban territory, treating these entities themselves as a public policy. A qualitative approach was used, with bibliographic and documentary research, employing Bardin’s (2016) Content Analysis methodology alongside the guidance of Sampaio and Lycarião (2021). The data collection instrument consisted of the 261 minutes of the ordinary meetings of the 20 CONSEGs active in Curitiba between 2022 and 2024. A pattern was found of an average participation level among ex officio members and the executive board, relative variation in participation by constituted authorities and leaders, and a notable variation in average participation by local communities. In addition, six thematic axes and 18 sub-axes were identified that reflect the scope of activity of the CONSEGs analyzed. The axes established were: i) Political dialogue and Institutional claims; ii) Coproduction of order and Operational action; iii) Community prevention and Active citizenship; iv) Intersectoral coordination and Urban stewardship; v) Social control and Accountability; vi) Symbolic strengthening and Institutional cohesion. All axes were present in the minutes analyzed. In conclusion, the entities studied generally showed strong adherence to the objectives set out in the State Regulations and to the principles of social participation, with differences in the prominence of each thematic axis depending on the predominant profile of each CONSEG considered.