Efficiency of judicial police in Ananindeua-Pará: analysis of homicide investigations in the context of Operation Anonymous.

Abstract

The principle of efficiency imposes on Civil Police forces the obligation to pursue quality standards and tangible results. In this sense, homicide investigations reveal the capacity of law enforcement agencies to control one of the most severe manifestations of social violence. Thus, this article aims to evaluate the efficiency of the response of the Pará State Civil Police to homicides, based on the analysis of police inquiries within the context of Operation Anonymous, carried out by the specialized units of the Pará Civil Police in 2019 and 2020 as a strategy to repress private militias. Regarding methodology, this is an applied, quantitative, exploratory, descriptive, and documentary research. The locus of investigation is the municipality of Ananindeua, located in the Metropolitan Region of Belém, state of Pará, Amazon, Brazil, within the analytical framework of the police operation. As a method, exploratory analysis of descriptive statistics was adopted, along with an assessment of police efficiency through a comparative analysis between police units, using two indicators: the Completion Rate, which measures investigative effort, and the Completion Rate with Identified Perpetrator, which measures elucidative outcomes. As for the results, the research revealed a scenario of inefficiency in homicide investigations, despite Operation Anonymous having contributed to a reduction in homicide occurrences during the same period. The police units were more focused on the effort to close cases than on clarifying the homicides. Finally, the study highlights the need to increase resources for police units, as well as to adopt more qualified repression strategies.