Understand why Águas de São Pedro is among the 44 cities with an excess of municipal guards in Brazil

Águas de São Pedro (SP) Aurélio Sal Águas de São Pedro (SP) is one of 44 Brazilian municipalities that allegedly fail to comply with the limit on the number of guards per inhabitants. This is what the study "X-Ray of the Brazilian Public Security Forces 2026" points out, released by the Brazilian Public Security Forum last Tuesday (4). The city has 14 municipal guards and should have a maximum of 11. This limit was established by the federal government with the General Statute of Municipal Guards in 2014. According to the law, cities with up to 50 thousand inhabitants can have a maximum number of guards equivalent to 0.4% of the population. In the case of Águas de São Pedro, the limit would be 11 agents, since the city has just 2,780 thousand inhabitants, according to the 2022 IBGE Census. ? Click to the g1 Piracicaba channel on WhatsApp GCM de Águas implements new system to speed up incident response and carries out training with the Campinas team Águas de São Pedro City Hall The Municipal Public Security Secretariat of Águas de São Pedro stated that the guard situation is regular. “Águas de São Pedro did not promote an increase in staff above the legal limit after the promulgation of Law No. 13,022/2014, it only maintained the number existing at the time, as expressly authorized by federal legislation itself”, he writes. The department also reported that 12 agents are active and that the other two are on leave due to health problems for an indefinite period of time. Ambient music and calm: what it's like to live in the city in the interior of SP without jail, wake or landfill Águas de São Pedro: what it's like to live in the city in the interior of SP without jail, wake or landfill Floating population The city hall also highlighted that the city is experiencing a peculiar reality. Although it has a fixed population of around 2,780 inhabitants, Águas de São Pedro is a Tourist Resort. During holidays, weekends and major events, the floating population can be five times larger, which increases the demand for security, according to the city hall. The Public Security Secretariat reported that, even with the maintenance of the old staff, it considers the current number of civil guards "below operational needs" and recognizes that it would need to increase the number of professionals to serve residents and tourists efficiently. Carnival parade in Águas de São Pedro (SP) Águas de São Pedro City Hall Advancement of the Municipal Guards in Brazil The "X-Ray" showed that the Municipal Civil Guards (GCMs) have consolidated themselves as the second largest security force in Brazil, behind only the Military Police and surpassing the Civil Police. Between 2023 and 2025, the number of guards in the country jumped from 95,175 to 107,457, an increase of 12.9%. Today, municipal corporations represent 13.1% of the entire national public security force. The state of São Paulo leads the absolute ranking, with 30,184 agents spread across 222 cities. In the g1 Piracicaba coverage region, there are 1,332 municipal guards. Piracicaba leads the ranking with 344 active agents. On the other hand, Ipeúna and Saltinho do not have the service. Municipal guards are growing in Brazil, and the Piracicaba region has 1,332 agents; see ranking by city