On Thursday, August 13, the first cohort of the Public Security Leadership Academy continued its immersion program in Medellín, Colombia. On the fourth day of activities, participants learned about different institutional approaches to addressing organized crime, covering topics related to criminal law, public security policies, integration between security and investigative forces, and the use of technology in forensic investigations.

The program began with a class by Professor Alejandro Gómez of Universidad EAFIT on Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure in Colombia, focusing on legislation related to combating organized crime and the activities of insurgent armed groups. The activity allowed participants to learn about aspects of Colombia’s legal framework and understand how the country’s justice system structures its response to different forms of organized crime.

Next, Alejandro Londoño Furtado, responsible for designing public security policies at the Medellín City Government, presented recent initiatives developed by the local government to address organized crime. Among the strategies presented was the use of the municipal budget as a mechanism to encourage the National Police to respond to demands identified by the municipality, as well as the creation of a Fusion Center in Medellín, aimed at integrating the efforts of different security and investigative forces in combating organized criminal groups.

The presentation also addressed the different criminal economies present in Medellín, including markets related to extortion and drug trafficking. Londoño Furtado also presented initiatives developed by the municipal government in partnership with educational institutions to measure the scale of these markets through household surveys, expanding the production of information on the dynamics of crime in the city.

In the afternoon, participants visited the headquarters of the Fiscalía Nacional in Medellín, an institution whose functions are broadly equivalent to those of Brazil’s Public Prosecutor’s Office in the criminal justice field. During the visit, participants attended an institutional presentation on the organization’s functions and main areas of activity.

The agenda also included a visit to the Fiscalía’s forensic department, where participants learned about the facilities and technologies used in forensic investigations. Among the tools presented was SUCOBA (Sistema Único de Comparación Balística), an in-house system developed for ballistic comparison and to support criminal investigations.

The activity was part of the Medellín immersion program of the Public Security Leadership Academy, an initiative promoted by Leme in partnership with FGV EBAPE and Universidad EAFIT. The program seeks to connect participants with local public security and criminal justice experiences, expanding their exposure to strategies for addressing organized crime, institutional integration, data production, and investigation.