Feature Articles

“Changing lives through literature”. This short phrase in plain English makes up the title of a program in US penal policy and also, surprisingly, and much more ambitiously, an alternative sentence, to jail. The program that has recently called the attention of the press as it spread from its origins in the State of Massachusetts to seven other states in the US and spawned a version in the UK, began humbly back in 1991.

It is the vital document, the link to bring all the components of a police investigation together for delivery at the justice system. The document the prosecution needs to launch a criminal investigation. But under scrutiny it has become a bone of contention, beset with low productivity, high bureaucracy, bouncing back and forth in the justice system like a ping pong ball. A new study on Brazil's Police Inquiry bares it all.

A judicial ruling to decrease the number of inmates in overcrowded prisons and a fiscal deficit have put California's correction system in a bind: it must lower the number of detainees held in prison, but the entire system is geared towards inflating it. Bill 3x18 has been enacted to help parolees stay away from jail, affecting a projected 6 thousand offenders, but how significant is it?

Launched at the end of the 2010 UN Crime Congress, the Salvador Declaration calls for justice systems to adapt to a changing world, for harmonized international law, and crime fighting firmly grounded in human rights. The declaration also notes the key role of civil society in strengthening the rule of law, present in a record number of NGOs that in turn issued their own statements.

At the 2010 Crime Congress experts from universities, NGOs, and government officials noted that a number of myths on the connection between urbanization and crime are coming undone. Residential density does not breed crime, anonymity can be diminished through urban planning and civil society organizations show how living in large centers can mean more safety for all.

At the 12th United Nations Crime Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice being held in Salvador, Brazil, participants stressed the need for legal instruments with more bite against transnational crime and more data on common crime, for lack of shared definitions of offenses across countries.

In 140 characters at a time, controversy, accusations, little known facts and heated debate on public security policy and policing. Unlikely? Apparently not. Welcome to the world of twitter, the social network has become a favorite of Brazilian internet users, and that includes the world of Brazilian public security.

They don't feel any different, but they are making all the difference in Rio de Janeiro's Military Police force. Even though they are a minority, they are now rising to command positions. According to PMERJ General Commander Colonel Mário Sérgio, with the exception of only a few roles that may engage in armed confrontation, all doors are open to women at the PMERJ, and they are key to Rio de Janeiro's UPPs.

The population of Belo Horizonte has a new crime fighting tool in the city, virtual crime maps offering data on homicides in the city. Launched two months ago, the capital of Brazil's Minas Gerais state hopes the Programa Virtual de Georreferenciamento de Homicídios da Secretaria de Estado da Defesa Social (SEDS) will aid police officers and communities to feel safer and be safer.

It's the last day of school, and just before children go off on vacations, they get an unusual visit: two police officers and a former-drug trafficker. The members of the Papo de Responsa program want to give kids an opportunity to have a free conversation on topics that are usually too constrained by simplistic messages. The question is, what do you do with your life?