On Friday, August 14, the first cohort of the Public Security Leadership Academy concluded the class schedule of its immersion program in Medellín, Colombia. On the final day of academic activities, participants discussed evidence on police trust and legitimacy, different experiences of peace negotiations in Colombia, and lessons from the Medellín case for addressing illegal territorial control in Rio de Janeiro.
The program began with a class by Professor Michael Weintraub of Universidad de los Andes and a researcher affiliated with Leme, on trust and legitimacy in policing. The discussion focused on public trust in security forces as an essential resource for police work, particularly for obtaining information about crimes and criminal groups. Evidence was presented on which policing practices strengthen or undermine this trust and affect the public’s willingness to cooperate.
Weintraub highlighted a procedural justice experiment conducted with the National Police of Colombia, in which officers were trained to adopt neutral and respectful interaction protocols, resulting in increased public trust in the institution. The presentation also discussed Brazilian experiences that have contributed to strengthening trust in security forces, such as the adoption of body-worn cameras by the Military Police of São Paulo and the creation and activities of RAIO (Ronda de Ações Intensivas e Ostensivas), a specialized unit of the Military Police of Ceará.
Next, researcher and public manager Andrés Preciado, who specializes in security and crime, reviewed the trajectory of negotiations conducted by Colombian governments with armed groups, with an emphasis on the process that led to the peace agreement and demobilization of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). Based on this experience, the presentation discussed the Total Peace policy of Gustavo Petro’s government, which extended the focus on negotiation to armed groups of a criminal nature. The analysis pointed to weaknesses in this policy and showed how some of them stem from the limited incorporation of lessons accumulated by Colombia through previous negotiation and demobilization experiences.
In the afternoon, participants held a debriefing session on the immersion. The session brought together much of what had been developed throughout the four months of the program and gained further depth from the week of shared experiences in Colombia. The knowledge accumulated and the trust built among participants enabled a particularly rich exchange between professionals from different institutions, who would rarely have the opportunity to discuss the challenges facing Rio de Janeiro with such openness and depth. The discussion led to concrete adjustments to the projects developed by the groups and renewed participants’ motivation regarding the possibilities of addressing the state’s public security challenges.
Part of the group also took part in a meeting with representatives from Medellín’s Secretariats of Security and Youth. During the meeting, they presented the Parceros program, an initiative that uses an integrated and multidimensional approach in some areas of the municipality to prevent violence and the involvement of children and adolescents in criminal activities.
The class schedule concluded on Friday, but the immersion itself ended on Saturday, August 15, with a visit to Comuna 13, a Medellín territory historically marked by violent conflict that today presents a very different reality, with visible policing, urban infrastructure, and a high circulation of residents and tourists.
The activity allowed participants to closely observe a territory whose characteristics and challenges share similarities with those found in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, but where it was possible to overcome one of the most serious problems currently faced by the state: armed territorial control that restricts movement, the presence of public authorities, and access by other external actors.
The immersion in Medellín was part of the first cohort of the Public Security Leadership Academy, promoted by Leme in partnership with FGV EBAPE and Universidad EAFIT. Throughout the program, participants learned about academic and institutional experiences related to public security, organized crime, criminal justice, violence prevention, and the development of evidence-based strategies.
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