This article presents questions derived from experience obtained through research into police inquiries in Brazil, coordinated by the author. Arguing that the police inquiry model in Brazil should not be confused with mere police investigation, the author maintains that in Brazil such inquiries combine roles and responsibilities proper to the police with roles that in other countries fall under the direct control of the Public Prosecution Service or the investigative court institute. Therefore, the Brazilian inquiry becomes an extraordinary instrument of power in the hands of police chiefs; a brief that tends to prevail throughout the whole legal and incrimination process.
Police Inquiry; Incrimination; Police; Criminal Procedure; Brazil
