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 CARDOSO, Marcus. “Respect, Dignity and Rights: Ethnographic registers about community policing in Rio de Janeiro”. in: Vibrant – Virtual Brazilian Anthropology, v. 11, n. 2. July to December 2014. Brasília, ABA. Available at http://www.vibrant.org.br/issues/v11n2/marcus-cardoso-respect-dignity-and-rights-ethnographic-registers-about-community-policing-in-rio-de-janeiro/

Abstract

Why did a community-policing unit enjoy initial positive reception among the residents of two favelas in the city of Rio de Janeiro? Based on an ethnographic study conducted from 2000 – 2007 I suggest that to respond to this question it is necessary to observe the meaning that the residents attribute to the presence and action of this police squad, and above all to the importance that certain local categories involving conceptions of rights and justice assume when they speak about the police. In this light, it is important to pay attention to the notion of dignity constructed and shared locally and the category respect, which they used repeatedly.

Keywords: demands for recognition, dignity, community policing, concepts of rights, favelas.