Uma polícia para os sertões: a formação da guarda local em Pernambuco (1874 – 1878)

Abstract

In the 1870s, some laws led to a reorganization of the police service in the province of Pernambuco. Among them was Imperial Law No. 2395 of September 10, 1873, which altered the organization of the National Guard and prohibited it from exercising police functions. This institution was created in 1831 to guard the constitution, the principles of freedom and independence, as well as to ensure compliance with the laws, the preservation of order and public tranquility and the maintenance of the integrity of the Brazilian empire. It should also act by assisting the army in defending the borders and coast. (BRAZIL, 1837) However, in the Pernambuco province, and in other provinces, as the historiography shows, the “citizen militia” was essential to the smooth running of the police service - especially in the distant interior regions, where the detachments of the Corp of Police were insufficient or even nonexistent. Therefore, in order to try to fill the institutional void left by the National Guard's prohibition to carry out policing activities, the provincial deputies created by law No. 1130 of April 30, 1874, a new police apparatus for the Pernambuco province: the Local Guard. Thus, this article aims to understand the processes that led to the constitution of this police force: an institution organized without military structure and barracks and which, from 1874, was responsible for maintaining public tranquility in the cities located in the Pernambuco backwood.