CNA brings together experts on a panel on rural security

"The CNA can contribute and be an interlocutor between rural producers and the police to reverse the situation of insecurity in the countryside", stated the president of the Brazilian Agriculture and Livestock Confederation (CNA), João Martins, on the first day of debates of the 2nd Panel on Rural Security promoted by the entity on Wednesday (2).

The event brought together experts from the Military Police of 14 states and the Federal District, who presented actions aimed at rural policing and exchanged state experiences, in addition to discussing the creation of a network of contacts between corporations.

João Martins highlighted that the CNA's closer relationship with public security bodies and the government contributed to the sharing of information that helped combat crime in the countryside.

“We lived in an unsafe environment like the city. However, since then, we have managed to raise awareness among the government and we have news that there has been a reduction in crimes in some states”, he highlighted.

The panel intends to promote government policies on public security and disseminate successful practices, such as that of Goiás, which created georeferenced rural patrolling and the Rural Command and Control Center in 2017, pioneering initiatives in the country.

“We opened the range of public security in the countryside. Today we protect not only rural producers, but the state's economy. Where the program is implemented, we have already reduced the rate of robberies and thefts by 60%. We have the massive involvement of producers, a very strong safety net and the results are significant. Our challenge is to expand it to the entire state as soon as possible”, said Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Moreira Galvão, from the Goiás Military Police.

In Rondônia, the rural patrolling program was built based on the Goiás model, but adapted to the local reality, highlighted Major Robson Brancalhão, from the 7th PM Battalion. According to him, due to the territorial extension, there are difficulties in policing in the field. However, the corporation has managed to overcome the problems with help from rural producers.

“We overcome difficulties through partnerships with producer and livestock associations, which help with the acquisition of satellite and radio phones and the creation of WhatsApp groups with producers so that we can identify and suppress crime. A meeting like this is interesting because it is a process of maturity in the sense of understanding that crime has no borders and this coordination is fundamental.”

The captain of the Military Police of the Federal District, Rafael Cunha, highlighted the importance of proximity to the rural community for the work that the corporation has been carrying out since May last year with the Rural Guardian program.

“In a systematized and organized way, the program has been bringing excellent results since its creation. Our program is very recent, but we have already achieved significant results with a 57% reduction in crime rates. We reached more than 180 registered properties and used WhatsApp for direct contact.”

The CNA develops several actions to assist public authorities in creating public security policies in rural areas, such as the Rural Crime Observatory, which carried out a data survey on the topic and promoted pilot research on rural victimization with 141 rural producers from DF.

According to the survey, almost 2/3 of the producers interviewed have already been victims of some crime. The CNA's intention is to carry out this survey periodically and expand the research to all states in the country.

On Thursday (3), the debates continue with presentations by the Military Police and the panel's submissions with work proposals to advance the topic.