Mário Sarrubbo, a former national public security secretary in President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government, says the version of Brazil’s Public Security Amendment approved by the Senate on Tuesday was altered by measures he considers populist. Sarrubbo helped develop the proposal and left the government in February this year.
Speaking to Painel, he acknowledged improvements in the text but said he felt frustrated that its original goal—to establish a unified public security system in the Constitution—had been diluted. He pointed to increased penalties for members of criminal factions and provisions for municipal police as examples of changes he criticized.
The amendment authorizes civilian forces focused on visible, community-based policing. They would be subject to external oversight by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and requirements including financial capacity and standardized training. Sarrubbo questioned how such forces could be coordinated across nearly 5,400 municipalities and how prosecutors would oversee them.
He argued that improving public safety depends on strengthening the Civil Police’s ability to solve crimes. Among the amendment’s positive provisions, he cited constitutional protection for the National Public Security Fund and the National Penitentiary Fund, as well as a ban on limits to the execution of their budgets, which he said would prevent spending cuts or freezes and help projects continue.
Sarrubbo also expressed concern about a provision that would allow Congress to overturn regulatory acts issued by the National Council of Justice and the National Council of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Sources: Folha Poder.