A guarda cívica : policiamento civilizador, criminalidade e conflitos urbanos na história social do Recife (1876-1890)

Abstract

The aim of this work is to propose an analysis of the Civic Guard, a demilitarized force apparatus, at work in the main parishes of Recife, intended to inhibit the deviations, conflicts and crimes, serving between 1876 and 1890. The story of the police equipment in Brazil has been a very complex and exciting topic for researchers who seek to analyze the social transformations and its forms of social control designed to hinder practices considered troublesome and criminal. The Civic Guard was a civil uniformed police apparatus, off-quarters, under the command of the Chief of Police, with the main priority to protect the four central parishes of Recife - São Frei Pedro Gonçalves (now Recife Quarter), São José, Santo Antônio and Boa Vista - which were the main target of urban improvements experienced by the city in the period screen. In 1880, the guard was extended to the Parish of Freguesia de Nossa Senhora da Graça, and in 1890 to Afogados. Several changes and improvements could be seen, however, population behavior, especially the poorer classes, had no major changes. Therefore, we believe that the Civic Guard was formed in one of the projects set to Recife in the nineteenth century in an attempt to fight crime and discipline the population, since the squares of the institution should behave civilized, polite and courteous to all, with the new way to behave in the urban environment. In our analysis of this police force - using as base police sources and the press - we will emphasize its activities in combating criminal offenses and practices, showing that in many instances the institution has completely distanced itself from its civilizing project.