Human Rights as a “thing and police case”

between continuities and discontinuities

Abstract

The present article deals with the changes which took place after the 80’s with the promulgation of the Democratic State of Rights. It discusses the importance of human rights in the police force as an indispensable tool to improve the standard of the relationship between the police force and society, by establishing as priority the population’s demands for “subjects who are holders of rights”. Within a context of continuities and discontinuities, the text questions the possibilities of a civilizing process stemmed from cases of abuse performed by police authorities.