EYES OF THE LAW?
A study on the praças of the Corpo Municipal dos Permanentes in the city of Corte in the years 1831-1850
“Praças”; Order; Permanent Police Corps
The creation of the figure of the "praças" in the Permanent Police Corps in the Empire had a clear objective: to maintain social order. The structuring of policing gained strength from 1831 with the establishment of the Municipal Permanent Corps and the process of creating penal and criminal codes. The aim of this research is to analyze the aspects of the lives of these workers, the praças, who served as frontline agents in policing the streets of the Court city between the years 1831 and 1850. Additionally, this study seeks to view the praças from a perspective that goes beyond seeing them merely as repressive apparatus of the state, but rather, to consider them as individuals with their own desires and aspirations, and to recognize their individualities.