GUARDAS MUNICIPAIS NO BRASIL (1988–2025): REGIME CONSTITUCIONAL, LEGAL E JURISPRUDENCIAL E BALIZAS OPERACIONAIS À LUZ DO STF E DO STJ

Abstract

This article presents a theoretical and jurisprudential review that analyses the limits and possibilities of the preventive and ostensive activity of Municipal Guards in Brazil in the light of the 1988 Federal Constitution, infra-constitutional legislation and the evolving case law of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the Superior Court of Justice (STJ). Methodologically, it adopts a legal-dogmatic, qualitative research design based on documentary analysis of constitutional and statutory norms, complemented by specialized literature on constitutional law and public security and by a systematic examination of leading judicial precedents. The article focuses on the General Statute of Municipal Guards, the Disarmament Statute, the Law on the Unified Public Security System, Constitutional Amendment No. 104/2019, Proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 57/2023 and precedents such as ADPF 995/DF and Theme 656 of general repercussion, with the aim of identifying the constitutional and operational parameters that shape the preventive role of Municipal Guards. The study concludes that the preventive activity of Municipal Guards is constitutionally legitimate when directed to the protection of municipal goods, services and facilities, carried out in an integrated manner within the Unified Public Security System and guided by objective criteria of intervention and standardized operational protocols, which strengthens legal certainty, reduces the risk of unlawful evidence and civil or criminal liability, and provides clear benchmarks for the formulation and assessment of municipal public security policies.