Health and public safety have consolidated themselves as the main concern of Brazilians for 2026, according to Datafolha. But while we discuss policies based on goals, indicators and historical series, security remains dominated by performative speeches and fragile statistics.
To control biological diseases, since 1991, we have had Datasus (Informatics Department of the Unified Health System), which processes, checks, aggregates and makes practically everything related to public health in the country available in a truly accessible way.
In theory, there is a parallel in public security: Sinesp (National Public Security Information System). In practice, however, we are a long way from something equivalent to Datasus. Today we depend on the herculean work of organizations like the Instituto Sou da Paz to consolidate reliable and truly understandable monitoring of crime in the country.
The first structural layer that hinders us is the lack of standardization in the accounting and dissemination of criminal incidents, which makes it impossible for us to take an x-ray of the national reality. Despite the advances resulting from years of efforts by experts inside and outside public authorities, the states still resist real membership and integration is still in its infancy.
In an interview with the column, the former national secretary of Public Security believes that the main obstacle is the resistance of governors, who fear losing control of the narrative over the management of public security in their states.
For Samira Bueno, executive director of the Forum, the periodic availability of anonymized microdata (details of occurrences with the sole exception of the identification of victims and perpetrators) is also essential. While statistics aggregated by region or neighborhood, for example, help to understand general trends, microdata by street are essential for the surgical and integrated operations that demand.
Many city halls, for example, are not even able to access this level of information to guide basic prevention actions, such as improving lighting and redistributing civil guards. The frequency of publication is imperative: what is the point of making decisions today based on the reality of a year ago?
The standardization and availability of microdata are also essential for us to independently evaluate electoral speeches on reducing crime. Aggregated data is much easier to manipulate. Methodological changes at the stroke of a pen deliver victories to governors without this necessarily being reflected in the lives of citizens.
The most effective way to overcome the political barrier would be to condition federal transfers on adherence to the unified taxonomy and the sharing of microdata. But today there is not enough money in the National Public Security Fund to compel the richest states. “Our problem today is in the South, Southeast and Center-West, which do not depend on federal funds”, says Sarrubbo.
It’s an epidemic. And, as such, it must be faced like all others: with reliable and real-time data.
In the coming months, every candidate will promise to reduce crime. The question society should ask is simple: will you publish the data so that we can verify your speech? Anyone who doesn’t respond has no credentials to promise any results.
LINK PRESENT: Did you like this text? Subscribers can access seven free accesses from any link per day. Just click the blue F below.
