Citizen
Security

Safety is a precondition for the development of people and society. It is not by chance that violence is among the greatest concerns of citizens, especially in regions with high crime rates, such as Latin America and the Caribbean. Brazil, for example, is the country with the highest number of homicides in the world.
 
The Institute supports the implementation of evidence-based public policies to ensure that everyone has access to security. These strategies require actions in different areas and depend on the performance of public institutions that are part of the security and criminal justice system, in addition to contributions from civil society.

 

Get to know some of our projects below. Access also the agendas “Segurança Pública é solução” (Public Security is Solution) and “Rio Seguro” (Safe Rio), which systematize actions that can be adopted by governments. 

Violence
Prevention

Prevention strategies are crucial to avoid the occurrence of violence and crime. A prevention agenda is able to interfere with the factors that increase or diminish the probability of a violent act happening. These solutions are more efficient whey they take into consideration the most vulnerable groups and territories, as our programas do. 

Data, analysis and evidences to inform public policies aimed at prevention, reduction and ultimately the end of violence against women in Latin America. 

CONTENT IN PORTUGUESE AND SPANISH

A joint effort to build knowledge and share innovative methodologies to strenghten social and situational prevention in the Brazilian Pernambuco State. 

CONTENT IN PORTUGUESE

A guide of practices and strategies to support reintegration of current and former inmates into the labor market. 

CONTENT IN PORTUGUESE

Safer
Cities

Cities are the front line of security and where public safety will be determined. The Igarapé Institute is working with cities accross Latin America and the Caribbean to help designing solutions to improve public security and justice. The Institute also builds data visualization platforms and new applications to empower citizens to help make their cities and communities safer.

The platform includes information on over 2,100 cities with populations of 250,000 or more, with data that ranges from population growth, unemployment and inequality to pollution, climate risks, homicide and exposure to terrorism.

These documents systematize concrete actions that can be taken by mayors and municipal lawmakers to prevent violence in their cities. 

CONTENT IN PORTUGUESE

The Paraty Observatory is a platform that merges information from various City Hall services, such as education, support, and healthcare, in order to identify the individuals at greater risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of violence. It is the first of its kind in the country.

Regulation of
firearms and
ammunition

A responsible regulation of firearms and ammunition is a crucial agenda to ensure public safety. The access to these items impact the dynamics of different kinds of violence. The Igarapé Institute produces and disseminates data and technical analysis on this issue. The Institute also mobilizes different sectors of society to promote advances and halt setbacks on this agenda.

The visualization tool features over 35.000 records of the exports and imports of small arms, light weapons and ammunition from more than 262 states and territories between 1992 and 2011.

The campaign (We’re Not Targets, in Portuguese) is a nonpartisan initiave of united citizens against the setbacks in arms and ammunition control in Brazil. 

CONTENT IN PORTUGUESE

Dozens of rules changes have increased access to arms in recent years in Brazil. These bulletins (Uncontrolled targeting, in Portuguese) provide information to help understand this scenario.  

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Police
Activity

Police services are central to public safety and their work must by driven by intelligence and controlled use of force. This is fundamental to protect the society and the police. The Igarapé Institute develops studies and technologies to help promote  responsible and effective practices for this service.

The ISPGEO platform features crime hotspots across the state of Rio de Janeiro. The tool integrates several databases into a unified map interface. ISPGEO discriminates between a range of crime types and temporal features. ISPGEO standardizes crime data and displays areas with high and low prevalence. The platform is intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of police resource deployment and increase overall prevention capabilities.

The agenda contains initiatives that can be adopted by police institutions to stimulate the good police work.

CONTENT IN PORTUGUESE

CopCast consists of an Android application for officer-held smartphones and a web-based dashboard application for police supervisors. The application tracks and stores video, audio and GPS coordinates of police officers while they are on patrol. Supervisors may visualize real-time data from their desktops or tablets on a user-friendly dashboard for monitoring and oversight purposes.

Drug policies are of pivotal importance to public health and violence reduction. Countries and political leadership are increasingly advancing in more humane and evidence-based strategies. The Igarapé Institute developes metrics to track the progress of Latin America and monitors debates in national, regional and global levels. 

The monitor presentes a map and a timeline to help understanding the main drug policies reforms in the Americas.

The Commission was established in 2011 to promote an informed and evidence-based debate on ways to reduce the harm caused by drugs to people and society.

Here you will find lesson plans and discussion guidelines to discuss the elephant in the room. It’s important to speak about it and to work towards prevention through honesty, both in the classroom and in the security of your own home. Strategies are bases on Ilona Szabó’s book “Drogas: as histórias que não te contaram”.

Homicide
Reduction

Home of less than 10% of the world population, Latin America accounts for more than one third of all its homicides. The problem is centered in a few countries, such as Brazil, that has the highest number of violent deaths in the world. It is possible to change this scenario. The Igarapé Institute monitors data and suggests strategies to foster governments commitments to reducing this kind of violence.

The Homicide Monitor is the most comprehensive publicly available dataset on murder in the world. It is a data-driven data visualization tool designed to show the distribution, dimensions and dynamics of homicidal violence.

The Latin American alliance, Instinct for Life, was created through the union of dozens of non-governmental organizations in the region. The proposal was to reduce lethal violence by half in 10 years.

Prison
system and
former prisioners

Incarceration is commonly seen as a solution to public safety, but that is not the case – specially considering the harsh conditions of prisions in countries such as Brazil. Overcrowding and problems related to health, social assistance, work and education make it hard to change the trajectory of imprisioned people. The Igarapé Institute seeks to change this scenario trought projects that look not only inside prisons but also to its exit door.

The Portal to Freedom is an initiave that aims to inform and unite people and organizations that work to support former prisioners in Brazil. (SOON)

CONTENT IN PORTUGUESE

Data and promising practices to strenghten the qualification and work prospects to former inmates. 

CONTENT IN PORTUGUESE

Companies and businesspeople can do their part to strenghten public security in Brazil. The campagin Sócios da Liberdade (Freedom Partners, in Portuguese) shows that employing inmates and former inmates is capable of creating new possible trajectories. 

CONTENT IN PORTUGUESE

Public Security Publications

Public Security in the media

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