ASK THE EXPERTS
73
Sérgio Cabral
Set crime
reduction targets
74
Genaro García Luna
Reform all law
enforcement
institutions
75
General Douglas
Fraser
Implement an
interagency
approach
SÉRGIO CABRAL
How can communities and
policymakers best protect citizens
and take back communities?
ELIARIA ANDRADE/GLOBO/GET TY
SÉRGIO
CABRAL
is governor of
the State of
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. He
assumed office
in January 2007.
Over the last decades, the State of Rio de Janeiro has experi- enced a significant downturn in public
security. Lack of investment,
under-trained law enforcement
personnel and constant struggles between the federal and
state government contributed
to the escalation of violence
and crime rates. But since the
beginning of 2007, we have
been working very hard to
change this sad reality.
My staff developed a long-term plan for the next 10 years
based on four pillars—all aimed
at tackling both the effects and
the root causes of criminality.
The first pillar entails rebuild-
ing the permanent staff of the
military police. Since the 1980s,
state laws have restricted the to-
tal number of officers to 37,000,
but in 2009, we received approval
to raise the ceiling to 60,000
policemen. The second pillar
focuses on new technology in-
vestment. The government in-
telligence center, a legacy of the
2007 Pan-American Games, is be-
ing redesigned as an Integrated
Command and Control Center
(C4i), inspired by models adopted
in cities such as Madrid and New
York. With an investment of over
$25 million, the C4i will bring to-
gether eight departments operat-
ing at the city, state and federal
levels, including police, firefight-
ers, civil defense, and health de-
