Police Accountability in Times of Right-Wing Rise: Analyzing Narratives and Strategies of Defense and Resistance to Police Brutality in Brazil

The aim of this presentation is to share the initial findings from our research on external mechanisms of police accountability in Brazil. Given Brazil’s status as the country with one of the highest incidence of police brutality globally, our research illuminates the relationship between three state entities - the Military Police, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Public Defender’s Office - and how their differing views influence their duties. We focus on two recent police operations on the Brazilian coast, “Operation Shield” and “Operation Summer,” to analyze the actions of agents involved in investigating deaths resulting from these police interventions. Through a qualitative analysis of police reports and judicial documents, as well as interviews with public agents, we have reached several key conclusions. Firstly, our research highlights a significant tug-of-war between democratic and anti-democratic positions within these agents. This conflict began during Brazil’s re-democratization process and persists today with evolving dynamics. Secondly, we observed that this dispute is reflected in the production of official documents. These documents often reveal underlying tensions and differing perspectives on accountability, as well as how different agents understand the role of public institutions in a democratic state. Lastly, our findings suggest that police and judicial practices can contribute to the dismantling of democracy when agents are influenced by anti-democratic ideologies. It is no coincidence that interest in police accountability has increased alongside the global rise of the right-wing, which has also escalated levels of police violence in Brazil. However, this does not occur in isolation; it depends on a lack of resistance from the entire group of public agencies. Our study has shown that such resistance is often present, particularly among public prosecutors and public defenders.