COVERT POLICING: DOCTRINAL, LEGAL AND OPERATIONAL FUNDAMENTALS AS AN INSTRUMENT FOR PRESERVING PUBLIC ORDER

Abstract

This study analyzes Covert Policing as an instrument for preserving public order, examining its doctrinal, legal, and operational foundations within the context of Brazilian public security. The methodology is based on documentary and bibliographic analysis of technical, doctrinal, and legal sources relevant to the topic. The research shows that Covert Policing constitutes a specialized modality that transcends the limitations of traditional ostensive policing, characterized as an elective activity performed by military police officers in civilian clothes, with the primary mission of producing immediate operational information to support the rational deployment of ostensive policing. The study reveals solid constitutional and infraconstitutional support for its use by Military Police forces, based on the residual competence of state military corporations and the jurisprudential distinction between judicial police and investigative police. The analysis demonstrates the compatibility of this modality with Problem-Oriented Policing, evidencing its strategic potential in addressing contemporary challenges of criminality. The conclusions indicate that Covert Policing represents a legitimate and necessary instrument for fulfilling the constitutional mission of Military Police forces, contributing significantly to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of ostensive policing when properly regulated and implemented.