Unicamp will be part of a technical cooperation program with the City Hall, the Public Ministry of the State of São Paulo (MPESP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) — which aims to qualify the approach of the Municipal Guard (GM) together with young people and teenagers in Campinas.
Unprecedented in the State of São Paulo, the program was called “Guarda Amiga do Adolescente Campineiro”, having been developed based on an initiative by the University and the MP and the collaboration of the São Paulo Committee for the Prevention of Adolescent Homicides (CPPHA), which has the participation of Unicef.
Launched on Friday (3/3) at Campinas City Hall, the program provides training for the city's GM to protect young people and adolescents. Lasting 18 months, the partnership foresees three areas of action. The first of these is professional training, which aims to qualify GM's approach to young people and adolescents.
In the second axis, there are work routines and operational procedures, with an analysis of GM's current operating protocols and the proposal of more humanized models of the approach taken today by security agents.
Finally, the third axis will work on improving the relationship between police officers and young people, in addition to developing a pilot project in a certain region of the city.
The program is expected to reach approximately 600 municipal guards. According to professor Frederico Normanha Ribeiro de Almeida, coordinator of Unicamp's Policy and Criminology Studies Laboratory (PolCrim), the University will work on three fronts: training, protocols and relationship with the community.
The first focuses on the training content for police officers at the beginning of their careers and updating the training they undergo regularly.
A second step will be to work on reviewing the standard operating procedures and the booklets that are used internally to determine the procedures for approaching, apprehending the teenager and patrolling. A third front will be support for community relations programs, when a pilot project will be developed in a region of the city.
The University will also collect, systematize and analyze data to produce scientific diagnoses that serve as input for possible actions. According to the professor, the origins of the program date back to 2018, when the Human Rights prosecutor's office of the Public Ministry in Campinas contacted PolCrim because it had opened investigations into the practice of violence by security agents against apprehended teenagers.
According to the professor, the MP did not want to attack specific cases and, therefore, proposed a program that addressed the problem in a structural way. “These experiences work well when they are thought of at a local level. Look at reality; test, accumulate experience, anyway. We feared a stance of resistance, but that was not what happened. In fact, there was an opening”, says the professor.
“We know that this is a structural problem, and these specific solutions may seem small, but this is where we can see a capacity for intervention, and it is also an accumulation of experience. It is a local experience, but with the possibility of it being replicated and serving as a model for other Brazilian cities”, concludes the professor.
Peace culture
The general coordinator of Unicamp, professor Maria Luiza Moretti, signed the cooperation agreement on behalf of the University. “Unicamp is increasingly focused on integration activities with society, as it is part of this society”, said the professor. “This is an extremely important moment for the University. I can guarantee that all our efforts will go towards strengthening this agreement”, she stated.
“All bodies involved in this partnership can count on Unicamp in this project which, in fact, is an action to promote the culture of peace and good coexistence between people”, he added.
The mayor of Campinas, Dário Saadi, said that GM has been notable for its work in important moments in the city, such as the fight against crowds during the pandemic or in controlling major events, such as this year's carnival.
“We have a very qualified Municipal Guard, but this agreement will make the corporation even stronger, much more prepared and in a position to offer humanized treatment, especially for young people and teenagers”, said the mayor.
For the Human Rights prosecutor of Campinas, Daniel Zulian, the project can bring GM closer to society. “The project will bring the Municipal Guard closer to young people and break down the stigma of being just a repressive force, to become a protective force”, said the prosecutor.
Humanized approach
The head of the Unicef office in São Paulo, Adriana Alvarenga, said that the project will allow for a humanized approach on the part of security agents. “We know that training and qualification are essential for a more humanized and specialized approach between security agents and teenagers. Conflicts can be avoided if we better understand how the behaviors of boys and girls work during this stage of life and are committed to guaranteeing the rights of each of them”, says the representative.
State deputy and president of the São Paulo Committee for the Prevention of Adolescent Homicides, Marina Helou, said that the program is a pioneer in Brazil, and she hopes it can be replicated across the country. “Our absolute priority is to build a prevention policy. This is the most important thing we have to offer our young people and teenagers”, she said. “And we will work hard so that it is not just a one-off action, but becomes a permanent national public policy”, he concluded.
