The uniform that weighs: perceptions about daily life and police work in the Operational Tactical Group of the PMDF
military police, policing, youth and police.
Police institutions are a crucial part of contemporary social life, and their capillary presence guarantees them a privileged place within the organization of social life. In this sense, this work sought to understand how military policemen from the Operational Tactical Group of two Administrative Regions of the Federal District (Planaltina and Ceilândia) organize their daily work and produce their practical action. The objective of this dissertation, in turn, was about the construction of the concepts of youth, criminality and territory, elaborated by these GTOP policemen. Through field research carried out in the two locations, with the execution of focal groups and interviews, it was possible to realize that police work is built from the symbolic interpretation that the policemen make about these themes, central matter of police action. Finally, throughout the work it was possible to conclude that the interpretations of the policemen are guided by the formation of practical police knowledge, which guides their notions about territory, crime and youth. The understanding of territory is impacted by the apprehension of the concept of public order, just as the notion of crime is also guided by a legalistic notion of reality. In relation to youth, policemen divide the moments of life between childhood, where there is admiration and respect, on the part of children, and youth, which would bring a possible conflictive relationship. However, policemen interpret this relationship with young people from a dualistic key, where the good youngster is seen as someone who likes the police and would not bring conflicts, and the criminal youngster who would confront and not show affection, admiration or even subservience to the police.