Brazilian Detective Chronicles

Book excerpt: How much is a life worth? Are some lives more or less important? For the investigators at the Homicide Division of São José dos Campos, the answer is, 'every life is worth it and represents a loss to those who love them.' 'Our day begins when yours ends…' It's truly a grim but fitting motto, as the dedication and commitment of the police officers are the deciding factor in surpassing the state average of 42% homicide clearance rate. The motto is fitting because the dedication and effort of these officers compensate for the well-known lack of infrastructure, the true bottleneck of all public services. Most people view public service (including the Police) as bureaucracy that hinders everything and favours those who merely seek a position. What they don't realize is that the position carries a responsibility and a duty of dedication that surpasses any private job. There is no overtime, no stomachache, no excuse. If the phone rings and the call is to attend a crime scene, even in the dead of night, every second counts. After all, it's not just another case or an inert body. It's a grieving family that awaits justice to bring some comfort. Conceptually, police investigation is a technical activity, rooted in the production and construction of knowledge about facts and people, solely for the purpose of providing procedural instruction through written reports. Naturally, this requires technical expertise to gather information and discernment to understand and transform it into knowledge, as well as writing skills to put an explanation of the facts, circumstances, and individuals involved on paper clearly. In other words, it's not for just anyone. In practice, investigation is an art, and Brazilian Detective Chronicles tells us a bit about this through real cases solved by the former Homicide Team of the General Investigations Department, now the 3rd Homicide Division of the Specialized Criminal Investigations Division of São José dos Campos. It's no wonder our city is a national reference. With an annual average of 80 cases in 2016, the team cleared 70% of homicides, even with a shortage of personnel and the precariousness of working conditions choking the investigative efforts. Today, the numbers are even better (less than 40 homicides per year and more than 75% of cases cleared), making São José dos Campos one of the best and safest cities in Brazil. In this book, through the account of real cases, we reflect on the causes of criminality and present some conclusions that necessarily depend on a government focus on public policies for education and youth promotion. The idea has always been to explain, in an accessible way, how investigations unfold and how we reached the level of national reference. It wasn't easy, but we tried to make the narrative as enjoyable and enlightening as possible. After all, this is our history, our vocation, and the reason we do not hesitate to move forward in the face of danger.