From: CRE Brazil
For Torquato Jardim, who participated in a seminar at Correio Braziliense on Tuesday (August 15), Military and Civil police career advancement should be based on merit.
On Tuesday, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Torquato Jardim, defended the “depoliticization of the police.” According to him, a more effective police in the fight against crime will only be possible if the rise in the career is by merit and not by state political agreements.
“To depoliticize means to say that career advancement will be by merit, only merit. Do not ask a state representative, do not ask someone important [to support your advancement]. This is destroying the military police at crucial stages in policies and public safety in Brazil. We need to return to the system of merit in our country’s military and civilian police. Military Police Command cannot be based on favors,” said Jardim during the seminar “The Brazil We Want – United in stopping contraband and criminalization,” held in the Newspaper’s auditorium.
The minister’s speech came at the same time he analyzed and highlighted areas in police action in the country that needed improvements based on evaluations. “Another important challenge is reliability. There can be no leaks,” he said, adding that the practice undermines entire operations.
On the main theme of the seminar, contraband, Torquato Jardim said that combating this crime involves a better knowledge of the commercial flow of merchandise and the nuances of illegal trade. “It has no spontaneous generation. Is it drug trafficking? Do you have money laundering? Probably so, but the important thing is that you need to know who is financially backing it and how it is getting in. It is necessary to strangle and burden the backer’s cost benefit. We have to break the advantage of the wrongdoing,” he said.
Despite this, the minister acknowledged that the challenge is to make the fight against illegal practices a priority in the budget. “A political fund for public safety is needed. It is not an expenditure; it is an investment. The return is much greater than the investment in public safety. We must create a permanent national force,” he said.
Jardim pointed out that the informal (grey) economy is high, despite having a downward trend: “the underground economy is 16% of GDP.” In the minister’s view, the effort to end contraband depends on variables that go beyond the state. “It’s not just a call for government action; it is also an action to be taken at the frontline, getting ethical work from the entrepreneur.”
Drugs
According to the minister, in the last 20 days, the Federal Highway Police seized an average of four tons of marijuana a day. “The numbers are impressive. The more you press, the more illicit merchandise appears,” he said. “The stolen cargo in Rio de Janeiro has been reduced by 30% in recent days. This performance comes from 60 days of work,” he adds.
Torquato also stated that the main precaution in combatting crime is silence. For the minister, combat programming must be as quiet as possible to achieve the goal. “Day, place and target have to be as undetectable as possible,” he said.
