Municipal Guards (Guardas Municipais)

General Information

Municipal Guards in Brazil act to protect the municipalities and are under the jurisdiction of the city mayor (prefeito).

They are essentially the police component of the council – a uniformed force responsible for parks, city halls and other properties belonging to the city council.

They are a civilian agency but are recognized as police officers by the public. There is a grey area in terms of their recognition as police officers by other organizations.