Favela Pacification and Pacification of the Pacifying Police: The Importance of Mediation in Community Policing

• In Event: 095 - Section on Community and Urban Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 17. Policing and Crime

Abstract

Previous work considers Rio de Janeiro’s trafficker-dominated favelas as brown areas – territories that exist within a democracy where the state apparatus is virtually ineffective and informal, highly efficient mafia-like groups operate. Rio’s favela “pacification” program represents an attempt by the state to consolidate control via the establishment of a Pacifying Police Unit (UPP). In this paper, I take advantage of this opportunity to investigate brown areas in transition. What explains the successful transition in some favelas but not in others? I concentrate my ethnography and interviews in two communities sharing a UPP that represent extreme cases of success in terms of the program’s reception by residents. I find that the mediation of respected local organizations helps acculturate police to the community and minimize offensive police behavior. This mediation is effective due to the high level of closure in the local network, which increases emphasis on personal reputation and respect. Residents are receptive to police who comply with local norms of respect. These findings emphasize the importance of considering local network characteristics of brown areas in order to understand the persistence of informal domination or successful transition.

Author

• Stefanie Israel, University of Notre Dame