Networking in Latin America: Mexico and Brazil.......Mexico: Participatory responses to insecurity
These difficulties are compounded by the weakness of the judicial institutions, including the low level of training of police officers and corruption within the police, and the perceived lack of response from the justice system and impunity of perpetrators.
Official statistics provided by the Ministry of Public Safety (1) show a rate of about 1,400 offences per 100,000 citizens in 2003, a rate similar to the one reported in 1998. Thefts, family violence and aggressions are the most frequently reported offences. The rates of homicides committed by firearms or knives were respectively 9.0 and 5.9 per 100,000 citizens in 2003. However, most observers agree that these figures largely underestimate the reality of crime, mainly due to underreporting and to inadequate recording. At the time of preparing this article, we are awaiting a copy of the recent national victimization survey.
1] The following data is an excerpt from « Programa emergente de acciones para afrontar el fenomeno delictivo », available online at : http://www.ssp.gob.mx/buffer/bea/ssp/contenido/d3167/v1/programa_emergente.pdf
In addition, the number of inmates was about 183, 000 in 2003, exceeding by 23% the capacity of penitentiary institutions, and the cost of both justice and the police were estimated at 2,6 billion pesos. A study dating back to 2002, commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank, showed that the direct and indirect costs of crime and delinquency in Latin American countries represented on average about 14% of the Gross National Product (GNP).
Confronted with these public safety issues, the federal and state governments have developed prevention and citizen safety policies and programmes in the past two years. In 2004, the federal government adopted a programme of action to fight crime as well as a ten point plan to fight crime and insecurity. Crime prevention is at the core of this action programme, namely through an approach based on social development, education and family support.
“Los niveles actuales de Delincuencia en México nos señalan el terrible equívoco de depositar el control de esta exclusivamente en la multiplicación de recursos que se destinen a acciones policíacas. La verdadera estrategia de Seguridad Pública y Nacional deben necesariamente basarse en la PREVENCIÓN. Esta "Prevención" tendría que surgir a partir de una serie de instituciones que de manera conjunta encaminaran sus esfuerzos al Desarrollo Social, es decir, que únicamente en la medida en que nuestra sociedad se desarrolle social, cultural, religiosa, política y jurídicamente, nos encontraremos ante la oportunidad de disminuir los altos índices delictivos.”
The main guidelines of the national plan are the following:
• Citizen participation
• Transparency of information
• A culture of legality
• Support to the victims
To support the implementation of this national plan, the federal government has made a consistent budgetary effort, adding in 2005 some 1 billion pesos which were distributed among the various states of the federation. In addition to improving the police services (namely through training) and establishing services to help victims, these additional budgets aim to support actions at the level of federal states as well as the coordination process at the national level. They would also help organize a series of regional forums in order to determine priorities, guide actions related to citizen participation, and enhance the shared responsibility for the joint production of community safety.
Within this framework, the state of Queretaro (1,5 millions inhabitants) established in January 2004 the Secretariat on citizen safety. The Secretariat coordinates various government initiatives in the area of public safety, including road and civil safety. It has also formulated a crime prevention policy based on the principles of sustainability, transparency, accountability, capacity building, citizen participation and the use of knowledge to undertake the most efficient actions. In order to disseminate its policy and sensitize key participants to their role in the implementation process, the government organized last June the first Forum on Crime Prevention, which consisted in a week of training activities targeting participants at all levels, from federal government representatives to civil society organizations.
 Daniel SANSFAÇONand Margaret Shaw were invited to provide the training (pictured below and aside).
During the four days of intensive training, they held eight three-hour seminars targeting groups of 30 to 50 people. They also met with the written and electronic press to disseminate this policy and more broadly, to underscore the importance of prevention, and produce a balanced and sustainable response to crime and insecurity. The level of interest participants demonstrated during this week, whether police officers or researchers, elected representatives or high-level government officials, underscored the relevance of the State’s crime prevention policy. Reported crime rates in Querétaro are lower than the average rates witnessed by other states in the country. Yet, Querétaro is not immune to the prevailing feeling of insecurity conveyed by the national press. Participants in the Forum agreed that intervening now was key to preventing a degradation of the situation. While most of the participants had a good knowledge of social prevention and the challenges stemming from citizen participation in crime prevention, they were especially interested in learning from experiences from abroad. Above all, they were eager to gain a better understanding of effective coordination mechanisms and citizen participation in the implementation of this policy. ICPC would like to warmly thank its hosts in the state of Querétaro.
 In support of the implementation of its national policy on public safety, the federal government, jointly with the state of Veracruz, organized the first National Forum on public safety, education and family, which was held in Veracruz on July 27th 28th and 29th. On this occasion, Daniel SANSFAÇON was invited to present a keynote address. More than 1200 participants from all horizons participated in discussions and exchanges.
As had been the case in Querétaro, issues pertaining to concrete and effective citizen participation, enhanced transparency and accountability, and the means to implement efficient preventive action were at the heart of discussions. On this occasion, ICPC’s Acting Director General also had the opportunity to participate in a one hour TV show along with the Under-Secretary of public safety of the federal government and the Secretary of the Public Safety Council of the State of Veracruz. We would also like to warmly thank our hosts in the State of Veracruz.
Seeing Participatory Decision-Making in Action: Visit to Diadema, Brazil
A two-day visit to the City of Diadema in the Metropolitan area of Sao Paulo, Brazil in June, gave a glimpse of the energy, commitment and community involvement of this city, which has achieved some remarkable reductions in crime and violence over the past four years. Margaret Shaw of ICPC was invited to visit Diadema at the invitation of Mayor José de Filippi Jnr., to see first hand some of the projects which have helped to contribute to these achievements, including the Participatory Budgeting process.
Closing the bars at 11:00 p.m (above) and Municipal Police (below)
 Diadema (pop. 383,600) is an industrial city with the second highest population density in Brazil. In 1999 it had the highest level of homicides in the Metropolitan area, with 31 reported cases a month. It is now ranked at 18th, after the implementation of a comprehensive community crime prevention strategy with an integrated series of ten interventions. Mayor Filippi presented the interventions, and the outstanding results achieved, at the Workshop on crime prevention organized by ICPC in Bangkok at the 11th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (see the May issue of the International Observer). The first intervention was to create a municipal department for social policies and public security, to coordinate all action between the different agencies involved, and to set up a system to map all criminal activities in the city. Regina Miki, the Secretary for Social Defense, plays a very active role in the community safety strategy, including regularly monitoring the nighttime closure of bars and restaurants (another of the ten interventions) and, like the Mayor and all Secretaries in his cabinet, attending the roster of participatory budgetary meetings.
 Participatory Budgeting – ‘intense democratic interventions’
Orcamento participativo – or participatory budgeting – began in Diadema in 2001. These public sessions provide a direct and permanent link between the mayor’s office and the population of the city. There are two types of meetings: informative and deliberative, the first allowing the Mayor and his Cabinet to explain the city’s financial resources and potential plans and priorities, and the second allowing citizens to vote on those priorities and how specific funds should be spent in their region and within the city as a whole. To date some 19 plenary sessions have taken place in the 14 regions of the city, on five themes – education, culture, sports and leisure, citizenship and social inclusion, housing, health, and planning and environmental issues.
(Photo right: Secretary for Social Defense and Crime Mapping)
The meeting in Centro-Sul region on June 11th began at 7.0pm and ended with electronic voting at 9.30pm. The community hall was packed, there were spectators, including many teenagers, lining all the railings on the three floors above the hall, and the Mayor and other members of the City Council spoke and responded to questions. Then speakers from the floor were invited to present their proposals for the use of the allocated municipal budget, and were often cheered on by neighbours unfurling banners in support. Summaries of each proposal were entered onto a large screen, and residents asked to vote for their chosen project for Centro-Sul, and that for the city as a whole. In addition, candidates for counsellors to represent their area gave short speeches, and two were elected. They serve for one year. Throughout the evening, participants’ children were cared for in a programme which ended in the playgound outside. It was an extraordinary demonstration of both citizen and municipal engagement in the future of their city.
Centro-Sul participatory budgeting session
On the subsequent evening, the Secretary for Social Defense took part in another public consultation meeting to discuss violence prevention and launch the new city safety and security plan Diadema em Paz (Diadema for Peace). The plan, with its 15 commitments, has been developed by the City in collaboration with the NGO Instituto Sou da Paz (Institute for Peace), and a series of informative public discussions is now taking place.
From Apprenticeship Programmes to Urban Renewal
Among the projects visited was the Young Apprentice Project which aims to provide alternatives to youth gangs and the drug trade, targeting vulnerable 14 and 15 year olds in high risk neighbourhoods. It offers them professional training and education, sports and cultural activities, enhancing their social, advocacy and leadership skills, providing a monthly income of $50US, and work placements with local businesses and industries in partnership with the City Council. Other projects included the Casa Beth Lobo, which since 1991, has provided services and shelter to support women victims of domestic violence; a neighbourhood elementary school attended from crèche on-wards, and with a newly re-equipped library; the ACER Activity Centre in Eldorado, a particularly deprived area of Diadema, established by two NGO’s CARF-UK and ACER (Association for the Support of Children at Risk which has been working with street children in Sao Paulo since 1993). The Centre provides a range of programmes including support, education, and social and cultural programmes such as Brazilian martial arts and dance, and film. It targets the most at-risk children and their families, but on principle never turns any local children away.
Casa Beth Lobo
Finally, a favella which had recently been rebuilt replacing the wooden shacks and putting in drainage, electricity and road access, is part of a pilot programme to improve the exteriors of the new brick and cement houses. In partnership with a local construction business, the City contracts with householders who share the costs of stuccoing their houses. The results include much improved houses, local employment and skills attainment, and now other neighbours who are following suite and overall, the development of a greater sense of care and pride among residents of the neighbourhood.
More information about Diadema’s community crime prevention strategy can be found in ICPC’s recent publication Urban Crime Prevention and Youth at Risk: Compendium of Promising Strategies and Programmes from around the World (see publications section of ICPC’s web-site). Diadema also published an information booklet in English and Portuguese for the UN Congress. See also the city web-site http://www.diadema.sp.gov.br
Institute Sou da Paz www.soudapaz.org; CARF-UK (Children at Risk Foundation) http://www.carf-uk.org; ACER (Association for the Support of Children at Risk) http://www.acerbrasil.org.br
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