Focusing on a community-policing pilot-project initiated in Kikuyu, a suburb of Nairobi, Kenya, the current paper seeks to create an understanding concerning local premises for community-policing implementation. It is based on a field study that combined participatory observations and semi-structured interviews to investigate how the management of the pilot-project on the one side and the local police officers on the other side perceives the latter’s professional duty in Kikuyu. These perceptions and their correlation were analyzed through an institutional approach, involving regulative, normative and culture-cognitive perspectives. Initially, the findings show that intentions held within the management about how to change police practice in Kikuyu correlated to a large degree with the understanding local police officers already posses concerning their professional duty. However, applying the institutional approach, possible discrepancies were found. Concerning this, while the regulative and normative aspects of how to police Kikuyu seem to correlate between the two groups, differences on the culture-cognitive level indicate that the management and the local police officers have differing perceptions concerning police practice. Conclusively, following a distinction between a proactive approach to policing, expressed by the management, and a reactive approach to policing, expressed by the local police officers, the paper issues a warning regarding how historical and current social structures might result in a misinterpretation and misuse of community-policing on the side of the local police officers, which could lead to contradictive and counterproductive end results following the continued implementation of community-policing.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / A perspectiva que orienta este trabalho faz uma anÃlise de discurso sobre as reformas policiais em Fortaleza (CE) na Era Vargas (1930-1945). Fundamentamos nossa anÃlise tomando como fontes principais os jornais locais, a Revista Policial e os RelatÃrios dos Chefes de PolÃcia, espaÃos discursivos de construÃÃo da legitimidade e credibilidade da instituiÃÃo policial em sua empreitada reformista na produÃÃo de uma ordem social. As reformas policiais realizadas nesse perÃodo, culminada com a construÃÃo do PalÃcio da PolÃcia Central, foram a tentativa prÃtica de uma ordem que vinha sendo demandada pela imprensa, proprietÃrios de estabelecimentos comerciais do centro da cidade, polÃticos conservadores catÃlicos e pelos âaltos funcionÃriosâ da polÃcia. O mundo da ordem/desordem foi nomeado, classificado e inventado discursivamente como aquele que se caracteriza pela presenÃa/ausÃncia da polÃcia. O desdobramento histÃrico desse processo foi repleto de descompassos, tensÃes, limites e insuficiÃncias de uma ordem fundada no investimento do Estado em reformas dos aparatos tÃcnicos-policiais no controle social da cidade e sua populaÃÃo. Em Fortaleza, desde entÃo, ordem social se confundiu com âsociedade policiadaâ. / The point of view that guides this work is a discourse analysis on reforms applied to the police force in the city of Fortaleza, State of Ceara, during the Vargas Era (1930-1945). The analysis is based on main sources from local newspapers, the Revista Policial (The Police Magazine) and Reports from Police Chiefs, which are discursive instances for the buildup of legitimacy and credibility involving the police institution in its reforming quest for production of social order. Reforms of the police structure that took place during this period, highlighted by construction of the Palacio da Policia Central (Palace of Central Police) were part of a practical attempt aiming at establishing an order that had been claimed by downtown stores, catholic conservative priests and âhighly placed public servantsâ attached to the police force. The world of order and lawlessness was nominated, classified and invented as a discourse that propounded presence and absence of police. The historical unfolding of this process is full of misunderstandings, tensions, breaking of deadlines and inadequacies of an order based on investments by the State involving reforms to the police-technical apparatus aimed at social control of the city and its population. Since then, in Fortaleza, social order is misapprehended as âpolice-controlled societyâ.

GONÇALVES, Daniel da Costa. A Insuficiência da ordem: discursos e reformas policiais (Fortaleza 1930-1945). 2011. 170f. – Dissertação (Mestrado) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Programa de Pós-graduação em Sociologia, Fortaleza (CE), 2011. / Submitted by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2013-10-24T13:50:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2011-DIS-DCGONCALVES.pdf: 2724291 bytes, checksum: e66c0b5caea0cfeee058da3681a1e896 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo(marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2013-10-24T17:25:21Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2011-DIS-DCGONCALVES.pdf: 2724291 bytes, checksum: e66c0b5caea0cfeee058da3681a1e896 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-10-24T17:25:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2011-DIS-DCGONCALVES.pdf: 2724291 bytes, checksum: e66c0b5caea0cfeee058da3681a1e896 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / The point of view that guides this work is a discourse analysis on reforms applied to the police force in the city of Fortaleza, State of Ceara, during the Vargas Era (1930-1945). The analysis is based on main sources from local newspapers, the Revista Policial (The Police Magazine) and Reports from Police Chiefs, which are discursive instances for the buildup of legitimacy and credibility involving the police institution in its reforming quest for production of social order. Reforms of the police structure that took place during this period, highlighted by construction of the Palacio da Policia Central (Palace of Central Police) were part of a practical attempt aiming at establishing an order that had been claimed by downtown stores, catholic conservative priests and “highly placed public servants” attached to the police force. The world of order and lawlessness was nominated, classified and invented as a discourse that propounded presence and absence of police. The historical unfolding of this process is full of misunderstandings, tensions, breaking of deadlines and inadequacies of an order based on investments by the State involving reforms to the police-technical apparatus aimed at social control of the city and its population. Since then, in Fortaleza, social order is misapprehended as “police-controlled society”. / A perspectiva que orienta este trabalho faz uma análise de discurso sobre as reformas policiais em Fortaleza (CE) na Era Vargas (1930-1945). Fundamentamos nossa análise tomando como fontes principais os jornais locais, a Revista Policial e os Relatórios dos Chefes de Polícia, espaços discursivos de construção da legitimidade e credibilidade da instituição policial em sua empreitada reformista na produção de uma ordem social. As reformas policiais realizadas nesse período, culminada com a construção do Palácio da Polícia Central, foram a tentativa prática de uma ordem que vinha sendo demandada pela imprensa, proprietários de estabelecimentos comerciais do centro da cidade, políticos conservadores católicos e pelos “altos funcionários” da polícia. O mundo da ordem/desordem foi nomeado, classificado e inventado discursivamente como aquele que se caracteriza pela presença/ausência da polícia. O desdobramento histórico desse processo foi repleto de descompassos, tensões, limites e insuficiências de uma ordem fundada no investimento do Estado em reformas dos aparatos técnicos-policiais no controle social da cidade e sua população. Em Fortaleza, desde então, ordem social se confundiu com “sociedade policiada”.