Abstract
The article sought to understand the arguments and reasoning that underlined the political speeches supporting the Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC) no. 14/2016, which transforms Penitentiary Security Agents (ASP) into police officers. The study selected speeches by parliamentarians in the Federal Senate during the vote, producing the legislative document analysis and a survey of justifications used for its approval. Four main arguments were identified: the agents’ professionalization; the possession of weapons; the reclaimed control of prisons by public authorities; and the response to the prison system “crisis.” These speeches were not grounded in research and data, but on common sense and the main idea of the ‘fight against factions,’ placing itself in a global transformation process of ideas about crime control and punishment, marked by the historical and structural asymmetries and inequalities that permeate Brazilian society.
Keywords:
Prison; Correctional Officers; Penal Populism; Penitentiary Police; Criminal Factions