Feche o portão, tem um "estranho" na rua: o controle da vizinhança na busca pela segurança

Abstract

The present scientific paper has its main goal to study the community relations and the development of the public security policy “Rede de Vizinhança Solidária Program” in a neighborhood in the south of Uberlândia/MG. The social perception on the increase of urban violence, which includes crimes, assaults, attacks on the body, and so on, builds up insecurity among citizens and the spread of a culture of fear which distorts customs and human relations with their daily lives. Seeking for security, part of citizens of Uberlândia adopts the strategy of developing practices through a solidarity network in order to enhance the feeling of security and cut down on the crime rate as well as increasing integration and strengthening brotherhood among the neighborhood residents to take over control. The program has been seen as a partnership between police action and the active participation of the civilian population who has the support of private security products to make the monitoring of the location where they live to inform neighbors and the Military Police about the presence of unknown people and who seem suspicious of committing a crime in the neighborhood. Thus, the State transfers part of the responsibility of ensuring access to security for civil society. The analyze relies on fieldwork and addresses issues such as: spatial segregation, stigma, fear, heterophobia, criminal policy, practices of informal control and private security, modern individualism and community building.