Analysis of official criminal statistics in Brazil: a comparative study to the German model

Abstract

The apparent position of secrecy as modus-operandi of the Brazilian criminal statistics - in other words, the lack of transparency of the public control, and the difficult accessibility and reliability of data - emerges from a poor and insufficient classification, organization and disclosure of official data. Considering the model of "integrated criminal science" and the criminal sociology point of view, which deals, by its nature, with the gathering of statistics and with its interpretation, this research intends to organize and clarify the official institutions that are currently responsible for the production, publication and storage of National criminal data. Therefore, it aims to understand which method and operability is applied, as well as establishing a three-way relationship between criminal statistics, criminal policy and its adequacy to the constitutional model, especially regarding the right of information.This research uses a comparative method, confronting the Brazilian practice and the German Kriminalstatistiken. The importance of studying the German criminal statistics relies on the status of Germany as birthplace of main influential theories and criminal sciences, as well as center of application of statistics for the development of constitutional and institutional control. Nowadays, Germany provides information systems that link different institutional actors - particularly, the recognized Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistiken (PKS) - and it also provides planning and integration of actions, under which statistics are recognized as management input.