Policing, urban poverty and insecurity in Latin America: The case of Mexico City and Buenos Aires (original) (raw)
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Violence and urban governance in Neoliberal Cities in Latin America
2013
This paper explores the responses of Latin American governments to the phenomenon of high levels of criminal violence and social conflict in Latin American cities. The region has the highest homicide rates in the world and the some of the highest levels of ongoing social protest. It outlines a neoliberal urban security model that has emerged in Latin American cities alongside urban political economy regime supporting 'competitive cities'. It examines its impact on controlling crime and creating more inclusive urban space drawing on examples from México City, Bogotá and Caracas. It argues that urban segregation is driven by the spatializing of security and the selective support for urban development / renewal. The project of making cities safe for people and investment is accompanied by securitization, the risk management of 'dangerous' urban spaces through repression. Making cities safe involves the management of the level of crime and the level of fear, the objective and the subjective impact of urban violence. Citizen security programs seek to address citizen insecurity through participatory citizenship but they often also reinforce urban segregation and exclusion not inclusion (Goldstein 2010).
After referring to the novel and evolving field of 'public security policy' in Latin America and the meaning of 'citizen security', where community plays a relevant role, the article considers 'police reform', as an alternative approach to leave behind the legacy of militarism and authoritarian policing practices, as a path to police democratisation. The importance of 'police culture' is highlighted, as well as the field interactions between police and society. This article exposes the experience of the police reform process of the Buenos Aires province, Argentina, in fact, its two stages, describing in particular the approach, methodology, and results of the program of police cultural change implemented during 2006 and 2007 under civilian supervision. It is recognised a lack of political commitment to sustain long-term reforms. Police reform has not been an imperative but a reactive policy response under crisis. Obstacles encountered and cultural change challenges are further discussed. This article suggests that police reform and police studies in Latin America need to be in close partnership; the practical cooperation between scholars and decision-makers/practitioners involved in the logic of police reform appears as a sound approach.
This study analyzes the problem of police violence in Brazil and Argentina, observing how it affects the relationship between poor communities and the state. The conclusions are based on field research in two shantytowns: Villa 31 de Retiro in Buenos Aires and Heliópolis in São Paulo, comparing their experiences with police violence and political participation. The study describes how political organizations, neighborhood associations, and civil groups responded to the continuities of repressive policing strategies in poor areas of both cities. It analyzes the participatory channels opened in São Paulo and Buenos Aires and the advances and setbacks in protecting vulnerable communities from violence. The main argument in this thesis is that the measures taken by governments to increase participation in São Paulo and Buenos Aires failed to protect citizens in the poor neighborhoods analyzed, as states established contradicting relationships with these communities, at times through repression and violence, and at times through clientelism and particularism. The thesis concludes that in order to successfully promote citizen security and reduce state violence in poor neighborhoods, more effective channels of community participation need to be established, leveraging local demands within the decision-making process in public security.
"Paradoxes of Police Reform: Federalism, Parties, and Argentina's Public Security Crisis"
This ørticle focuses ott three central impediments to políce reform ín Ar,eenlina, each o{ which has Reneraled an imporlanf, ye! díslincl, paradox Firsl'al-'lhough adaocaíes of fedcraiísn ûrgue tha! it føcilitates innouûtion, in praclice po-Iire ieþrm efþrts át'one leuel of {o'sernment' ín Argentina haae been sabotaged by o¡¡ciáls at áíher teuels of goaíriment Second,.allhough elcctoral prcssures høae iished police reform onto"the policy agenda, lhcse same pressurcs hnae also obitiucteá ,eprm'eflor!s because' poliíiciãns depenrl on íllicit.party-police networks for camnaiçn frnincinp. Third,'drspile copious euidence of políce inaolaemenl in 'criminìl a"¿si Argenlina's crímc ittazn has cnetgized conseruatiae cíuil socícly groups whose deriøru| for ø heazty-hande,rl responie to crime has derailed the most þromisíng attempts to restruct te the police force Thc days of coup-rnaking by tlìc military are over in this country The police, on the other hand, will pose quite a few problems.
Latin American Research Review, 2008
This ørticle focuses ott three central impediments to políce reform ín Ar,eenlina, each o{ which has Reneraled an imporlanf, ye! díslincl, paradox Firsl'al-'lhough adaocaíes of fedcraiísn ûrgue tha! it føcilitates innouûtion, in praclice po-Iire ieþrm efþrts át'one leuel of {o'sernment' ín Argentina haae been sabotaged by o¡¡ciáls at áíher teuels of goaíriment Second,.allhough elcctoral prcssures høae iished police reform onto"the policy agenda, lhcse same pressurcs hnae also obitiucteá ,eprm'eflor!s because' poliíiciãns depenrl on íllicit.party-police networks for camnaiçn frnincinp. Third,'drspile copious euidence of políce inaolaemenl in 'criminìl a"¿si Argenlina's crímc ittazn has cnetgized conseruatiae cíuil socícly groups whose deriøru| for ø heazty-hande,rl responie to crime has derailed the most þromisíng attempts to restruct te the police force Thc days of coup-rnaking by tlìc military are over in this country The police, on the other hand, will pose quite a few problems.
La nata contra el vidrio: urban violence and democratic governability in Argentina
Bulletin of Latin American Research, 2000
The article argues that the increase in crime and urban violence in Argentina, especially in Buenos Aires, can be explained as an outcome of the interaction of four factors: the new social relations established by neoliberalism; the incapacity of the state to resolve the social conflicts which have arisen from these new social relations; the failure to democratise the security forces; and the exclusion of a sector of society from the rights of effective democratic citizenship. The increase in crime and urban violence is, thus, analysed as a problem of governability.