SENSE OF PURPOSE AND RESPONSIVENESS: CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE JAPANESE KOBAN FOR THE SÃO PAULO STATE MILITARY POLICE

Resumo

This article explores some the disorganizations and reorganizations happening inside the PMESP´s organizational culture, after the adoption of community policing practices based on the Japanese Koban System. The emergence of a new (democratic) order, confronting the old (repressive) one, posed incongruent challenges on officer´s self-perceptions and daily routines. Many started responding by means of personal effort, performing social service activities. However, the idea of being a “social firefighter”, searching for the solution of deep social inequalities, seems to contain in itself a promise that many officers, especially sergeants, cannot accomplish. Some cultural traits from the Japanese model propose different angles to observe such dynamics. They suggest that a sense of purpose at the front lines of police work – and group cohesion that emanates from it – represents a strategic concern for the PMESP’s, on its endeavor towards becoming a more responsive institution.