Better said than done: Policy frameworks for the local management of security

An analycis from the actors and tools

Abstract

This article makes a systematic review of the main changes that have occurred in the international literature on the design of public policies for the local management of safety and coexistence, with emphasis on understanding the differences or possible gaps between the theoretical frameworks declared and the implementation models. To this end, 64 cases of public policy at the global level are analyzed in order to understand the instruments and actors that are effectively used in implementation. The evolution of policy approaches from public security and the state to human security, including citizen security, is expressed in terms of actors in the greater role of local authorities, communities, entrepreneurs, NGOs and private security forces, in the change of territorial scale and the evolution of the relationship between social integration and security in the sphere of central governments. In relation to policy instruments, there has been a transition from monopolistic capacities of direct governance of the police and justice to tools for urban improvement, community participation, management of citizen perceptions and social integration. The lessons learned for Latin America from the transition process towards citizen and human security approaches are related to complementing urban improvement efforts, civilizing the police, expanding participation to the social sphere, so as to truly address the closing of gaps and the fight against the control of local governance by illegal groups.