By Philip Sever, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO – Allan Turnowski was appointed as the new head of the Civil Police last Wednesday (April 22nd). Previously State Director for Police Special Operations where he fought organized crime and drug trafficking, Turnowski’s ceremony took place at the Civil Police academy in Cidade Nova.
He replaces Gilberto Ribeiro who was head of the Civil Police for nearly two and a half years. Ribeiro oversaw one of the most successful periods in the Civil Police’s history with record low rates of homicide and car burglary during his reign.
Ribeiro resigned on April 17th due to the controversial implementation of an online security portal which will make police officer’s details available on the internet. Ribeiro considered the portal a breach of trust between the politicians and police on the street.
The security portal provides a database of all police officers currently working in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Its aim is to make information on police officers open to public scrutiny therefore making the police more accountable. A bill for data integration has been signed by Governor Sergio Cabral in the Decree 41786, published in the Official Gazette on April 2nd.
The implementation of a security portal is a requirement of the International Olympic Committee, which is in Rio for meetings on the city’s application for the 2016 Olympics. Access to data about civil police, military police and federal police will be made available if the project goes ahead as planned.
In his first speech in the new role Turnowski stated that in the next 90 days a committee will be put together to study the foundation of such a database. The committee will decide what information can and cannot go into it, and the Secretary for Security, José Mariano Beltrame, shall give the final go ahead before any information is made available.
The new Head of the Civil Police also announced the creation of two new departments, one administrative, one operational.
The latter will be headed by Carlos Alberto Oliveira and be in charge of police operations and security. Oliveira was previously in the Ministry of Public Order and was responsible for the formation of the current Shock of Order campaign. He also worked closely with Turnowski whilst commander of the Delegation for the Repression of Arms and Explosives (Delegacia de Reprassao as Armas e Explosivos).
The administrative department will be the responsibility of Rodolfo Waldeck with the task of taking care of finances and personnel. Waldeck previously worked as an intelligence coordinator.
One of the most important bodies of the Civil Police, the Corregedoria, will now be headed by José Augusto Pereira de Souza whose tasks will include monitoring corruption and malpractice by Civil Police Officers.