Police and youth: partnership for change

Youths age 14 to 24 are the most hard hit victims of armed violence in Brazil, according to the survey Mortes matadas por armas de fogo no Brasil by the Sociologist Julio Jacobo Waiselfisz.

According to data from the Ministry of Health the average homicide rate in the nation for 2002 was of 30.6 recorded killings per 100,000 inhabitants. In the state of Rio de Janeiro, the problem looms larger still: a rate of 60.3. Coincidence or not, Rio de Janeiro's military police is not only the one responsible for the greatest number of deaths but also the one that most dies in the world, according to a report published by the Center for Security and Citizenship Studies - CESeC, in 1998.

It is in clashes between youths who lack access to services, jobs and education, at risk of being drawn into crime, and police officers, who so often share a similar background, that Brazil loses loses thousands of lives every year.

Comunidad Segura's dossier on Police and Youth brings us stories and articles on how joint collaboration and mutual understanding can contribute towards change.

The following is a selection of specialized literature available in Portuguese at Comunidad Segura's Virtual Library:

Mortes matadas por armas de fogo no Brasil - 1979/2003

Políticas Públicas para a Juventude: o Brasil caminhando em uma nova direção.

Documento: Carta do Rio de Janeiro (conclusões do congresso violência frente e verso)

Serviço jovem: governos locais e a prevenção da violência urbana

From other sites:

Brazil: Homicide control program reduces violent deaths through combined action of researchers, police, government and NGOs

Brazil’s “Police and Youth” program: undoing stereotypes and cutting down on crime

Violence prevention volunteers in schools improve relations with the police

Hope on Horseback

Local mobilization led to community policing in Bahia