University of São Paulo: Survey shows profile of police candidates for elections in the State of São Paulo

The candidacy of police officers for positions in the Legislative Power has been growing since 2014, so USP’s Center for the Study of Violence (NEV) studied the profile and analyzed different characteristics of these candidates.

“Police legitimacy is one of the ways for the State to be more present in the lives of the population. The police are present throughout the territory, have contact with all types of public and it is a way for the State to represent itself there as well”, comments NEV researcher Renato Alves, one of those responsible for the survey.

He also analyzes the repercussion of large operations such as Lava Jato for the image of candidate police officers. “The police often have to be against hegemonies, they cannot make a decision in the heat of emotion to please a certain population. It is to guarantee law, order.”

Police officers profile
Candidates, most of the time, make it very clear that they are police officers in election advertisements. Analyzing the profile of the police officers who participated in the 2022 elections, it can be noted that the vast majority were male and white.

“The objective now is also to monitor a little what the positions of those elected are, which bench they belong to, how their performance was also”, comments Alves. The researcher also points out that the summary is important, because it gives a profile within the police, but also within society itself.

The study concluded that 200 police officers participated and 14 were elected, who were aligned to the right and the extreme right. Only one woman was among the elected and she already had a political career. All those elected are white and most were running for re-election.