This project aims to provide technical assistance to the City of Rio de Janeiro in creating a municipal public safety policy guided by data, scientific evidence and international best practices.

The project aimed to conduct the first experimental evaluation of hot-spot policing in Brazil, structured as a randomized controlled trial. The initiative was led by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in partnership with the Paraná Military Police and the State Public Security Secretariat. During the research, 422 street segments with high robbery incidence were identified, mapped using georeferenced data and advanced spatial analyses. Half of these segments were randomly selected to receive additional policing for three months, while the other half served as a control group to assess the project’s impact.

The project aimed to evaluate the impact of the expansion of the Rondas e Ações Intensivas e Ostensivas (RAIO) program of the Ceará Military Police, a specialized force focused on rapid patrolling with high-powered motorcycles and high-caliber firearms. The research involved a quantitative analysis of crime indicators and a household survey to understand the population’s perception of police performance, comparing RAIO officers with conventional military police. This survey included visual experiments using images of officers in both uniforms, with or without motorcycles and long guns, to identify which attributes the population values most regarding their sense of security and trust in police performance. For the empirical analysis, the fact that RAIO was expanded to municipalities in phases was used, allowing researchers to identify whether there is a systematic effect on crime reduction in municipalities once they receive this type of policing.