Municipal policy for crime prevention: governance and implementation of the CEP Program in Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This article analyzes the Conjunto de Estratégias de Prevenção Program (CEP), a municipal crime prevention program implemented in Rio de Janeiro since 2021, with initial implementation in a pilot phase. The CEP seeks to reduce street crime in hot spots through a combination of urban requalification, public-space management, and the preventive presence of the Municipal Guard. The study examines the program’s design, its implementation arrangements and intersectoral governance, and discusses the political and institutional challenges associated with its institutionalization and scalability. An independent impact evaluation estimates reductions of approximately 32% in street crime and nearly 60% in theft during the first year of implementation. The article argues that organizational instruments of low administrative complexity—such as systematic territorial diagnostics, formal coordination routines, and operational standardization—can substantially reorganize municipal action in public spaces, but that their continuity and expansion depend on sustained political sponsorship at the strategic level.