The institutionalization of community participation in the context of policing has become increasingly common in Latin America as a means of addressing the seemingly intractable increase in crime and insecurity. The creation of formal spaces for community participation in security differs markedly from how police forces have historically operated. Moreover, opening spaces for citizen input and oversight could potentially limit an executive’s control over the police, an important political tool. Why, then, do politicians sometimes turn to “participatory security” when reforming the police? This article argues that politicians choose participation as a safety valve to disaggregate societal discontent, particularly when police-society relations are fractious and police capacity and resources are low. Drawing on qualitative evidence from Buenos Aires Province, São Paulo State, and Colombia, this study demonstrates that participation can serve a range of strategic purposes, which, in turn, shape the institutional design of the participatory mechanism.

中文翻译：

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参与作为安全阀：拉丁美洲通过参与式安全进行警察改革

在拉丁美洲，警务背景下的社区参与制度化已变得越来越普遍，作为解决看似难以解决的犯罪和不安全增加的一种手段。为社区参与安全创建正式空间与警察部队历来的运作方式明显不同。此外，为公民提供意见和监督的空间可能会限制行政人员对警察的控制，这是一种重要的政治工具。那么，为什么政客们在改革警察时有时会转向“参与式安全”呢？本文认为，政治家选择参与作为消除社会不满情绪的安全阀，特别是在警察与社会关系不稳定且警察能力和资源不足的情况下。