Police Violence, Provisional Imprisonment and Control Mechanisms - an Analysis of the Implementation of Custody Hearings in Brazil

Brazilian society is still characterized by the abusive use of violence by public security forces. The interactions between civil society and the police are still marked by abuse of power, lack of criteria for the use of force and distrust, which produce high rates of police killings and police victimization, evidence of an authoritarian model of police. In addition, research has shown the increasing participation of the military police as an institution responsible for prisons in Brazil, through the arrest warrants in the act, which have been converted into pre-trial detention until a future criminal conviction. The present research aims to compare data on flagrante arrests and police violence practiced by the Military Police of the State of Rio Grande do Sul during the years 2016 and 2017, based on records made by the Human Rights Reference Center of the Public Defender's Office RS, with data of reports of police violence presented at custody hearings in the region of Porto Alegre. Through the analysis of the collected data, it is sought to identify the context in which arrests occur, and the elements that characterize the cases of police violence, as well as the referral given by the judicial institutions for the reported cases.