ABOUT
The high rates of interpersonal violence related to murders committed mostly with firearms, the lack of planning for structural changes in recent decades, the ineffectiveness of the excessive use of force and heavy-handed strategies (which result in institutional violence and impunity), and the absence of disaggregated, updated and reliable official data and figures on violence, make it necessary to transform citizen security in Venezuela.

The increase in gun deaths, the lack of adequate public policies, and the large number of victims who find neither justice nor comprehensive reparation in Venezuela are causes for concern for Amnesty International.

Therefore, through the Reengineering of Citizen Security project, analyses, proposals and experiences are gathered to lay the path for the transformations in public policies needed to reduce firearm-related homicides.

In order to lay the path for the necessary transformations, we created a knowledge community consisting of specialists in different aspects of public security, who participate in exchanges and write publications containing diagnoses, analyses, recommendations and proposals based on national and regional experiences.

We also offer training in police management and good practices to police officers and justice officials, where we provide tools to increase the efficiency and quality of processes designed to lower murder rates, and to prevent and punish abuses that may constitute human rights violations.

Finally, we promote public debate by sharing findings and proposals, holding events and giving workshops on citizen security and human rights to youth and university students, who have the skills to achieve high impact advocacy.

We must work towards and demand that citizen security be addressed in another way, that the use of short-term measures that do not reduce firearm deaths be abandoned, and that the best examples and practices in the country and the region be integrated.
Reengineering of Citizen Security will seek to influence decision-makers towards the transformation of the citizen security system and the creation of comprehensive, adequate and life-saving public policies in Venezuela.