Brazilian police and firemen from all over the country, about 1,000 of them, marched through central Brasília, the Brazilian capital city, and hold a demonstration in front of the Congress. The objective, they say, is to make House representatives and senators aware of the problems employees in the public security sector face.
They want demilitarization, changes in work hours, a national salary base and a single career path. They are organized in a kind of union, an association, the Anaspra, which is headed by Cabo (corporal) Patrício who is now an assemblyman in the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District (Brasilia) and was formerly a member of the Military Police.
Cabo Patrício says he and his fellow marchers want to implement the decisions made at the National Conference of Public Security that took place in August in Salvador, Bahia. He says that if that can be done it will improve working conditions in the corporations.
The demonstrators want the approval of the Proposal to the Constitutional Amendment No. 300-A, 2008 (PEC 300), which provides for a single base salary for the whole category.
Cabo Patrício, who is from the ruling Workers Party (PT) stressed that the creation of a national minimum wage will motivate the police and will result in advances in the field of public safety.
“It’s important that the military police earn well in every state of the federation. Now, it is also important to have one career, in which the military police should be treated with respect,” he added.
According to the vice president of the Special Committee that analyzes the PEC 300, representative Paes de Lira, the event’s goal is to raise the House awareness so that they expedite the analysis of the matter.
“We got the commitment of House’s president, Michel Temer, who upon receiving the application, supported by 313 representatives, promised to fight to put the matter to be discussed right at the start of the legislative session in February. It is important that it is now. We don’t want to go into Carnaval and let things cool.”
In Brazil there are two law enforcement corporations, the Military Police and the Civil Police, not to mention the Federal Police, the FBI.
They are supposed to divide duties and share information. That does not always happen. Frequently, as is the case with US intelligence groups, there is fierce competition, much overlapping and little understanding.
With regard to this problem, Anaspra wants to unite the two forces – one pay scale (the higher one) and one career path (the better one). And the Military Police would stop being a military entity and be civilian.
