Brazil Security Overhaul Advances To Senate After Overwhelming House Vote

Overview

• Following a 487–15 approval in the Chamber, the constitutional reform now moves to the Senate, where União Brasil seeks to retain the rapporteurship.
• The substitute preserves state control of policing while formalizing an integrated national system and allows municipal guards to transition into community police forces.
• Measures toughen custody for leaders of criminal factions and for violent crimes against women and children, restrict sentence progression, and suspend voting rights for pretrial detainees.
• The text expands Federal Highway Police authority to railways and waterways and earmarks a gradual 30% share of betting tax revenue for national security and penitentiary funds.
• Experts criticize the lack of focus on money‑laundering investigations, highlight civil police understaffing, and caution that security policy could be politicized in the 2026 elections.