The Community Safety Councils (Conselhos Comunitários de Segurança, CCS) are gateways for the public to participate in the police institutions of Rio de Janeiro state, which is split into the Civil Police (Polícia Civil) and Military Police (Polícia Militar).

These councils are part of the Police’s strategy to implement a proximity policy, considered a key component to solve many conflicts in public security by counting on help from residents to identify and solve local problems. 

The CCS hold regular meetings with two main goals:

1. Police report to the public the safety index of the neighborhoods
2. Locals debate about the main issues and possible solutions to create safer neighborhoods

The Connected Security Councils project is a partnership between ITS and the Institute of Public Safety (Instituto de Segurança Pública, IPS), which is responsible for coordinating the CCS. The project also has support from the Security and Culture Studies Center (Centro de Estudos de Segurança e Cultura, CESeC).

The objective of this project is to develop technology tools that increase the capacity of Rio de Janeiro state councils, aiming to raise social engagement, public diversity, and create an ongoing dialogue with the police forces.

In the context of a network society, where technology is ever more present and distributed, it is essential to modernize institutional spaces of social engagement and political decision-making, such as the Community Safety Councils. Thus, the project was developed to strengthen the dialogue between civil society and the public security sector.

The main tool developed during the project was ChatBot Alda, which talks with residents of Rio de Janeiro state through Facebook Messenger. It supports the coordinating body of the CSS in its management and broadcasting for more than 60 councils in the state.

The main tasks of Chatbot Alda are:

-Increase public awareness of the CSS’ existence and its operations;

-Mobilize and provide necessary information for residents to participate more actively in neighborhood council meetings;

-Collect suggestions of topics that should be debated by the public.

The Connected Security Councils project is a successful partnership between ITS and the public sector for developing civic technology. It demonstrates the importance of establishing channels for dialogue between the government and civil society to modernize Public Administration management and its potential to create collective benefits for communities.

Access and speak with Alda here.