Working in the field of public safety in Brazil is a challenge. Problems to be dealt with are many and complex, and public officials have been reluctant to offer efficient solutions. Public opinion is marked by confusion and lack of faith in public safety policies, thus holding back the needed impetus for change.

The overriding perception is that there is no way out, that the only remaining options are to react through fear, the discourse of accusation and the search for individual, isolating solutions. The creation of the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety stems from the need to counterbalance this perception. First and foremost, its premise is simple: that there are solutions to be found. In fact, a number of them are currently being carried out across Brazil by police personnel and public safety managers with strong and innovative leadership, by municipalities willing to take on the responsibility for the safety of their inhabitants, by academic centers and civic organizations dedicated to building new capacities and partnerships to confront the issue.

This optimism is expressed in the diverse composition of the Forum. Its members are public safety professionals from the police, academia and civil society who have been involved in many of the recent successful initiatives throughout the country. These experiences have shown that reducing crime and violence requires the involvement of a broad range of actors and agencies.

Acknowledging and valuing these experiences is a core mission of the Forum: to show the possibility and the necessity of trading dismay for innovation, discredit for integrated and shared action. Having a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and obstacles is no less important than having a clear vision of the array of possibilities. In other words, with such a clear premise, the solution will come as no surprise. Rather than dwelling on the problems, we need to embrace solutions, leverage them, make them visible and transform them into starting points for the affirmation of a new model of management and construction of public safety in Brazil; modern, democratic and efficient.

To this end the Forum, as a collective enterprise, is open to all potential partners, from police or government, academia, and civil society. Ultimately, we believe that this constructive and consistent union is the key to evolving from notable but isolated good practice, to effective, far-reaching and lasting change.