Questão nº 27
Questão de Língua Inglesa · CEBRASPE CÂMARA DOS DEPUTADOS 26 PLF 2026 (nº 27)
The role of the police in a healthy democracy is radically different from their role in authoritarian societies. In autocratic regimes, the police serve mainly to protect not the people, but the regime. The police are therefore typically politicized, with appointments being part of the patronage system that rewards regime loyalists. Police officers spend a great deal of time spying on the populace to unmask political opposition; crime against citizens is less of a concern. Abuse and corruption are usually rife, because police are not held accountable for their actions. Rather, political leaders tolerate abuses by the police in return for police loyalty to the regime.
By contrast, in democratic societies the primary mission of the police is to protect citizens against crime and disorder, including illegal or corrupt behavior by officials. In democracies, police have carefully circumscribed roles that require close and positive relations with ordinary citizens. The use of arms and pursuit of criminals are rare and take up only a tiny fraction of police time. Instead, police officers spend the vast bulk of their time building relationships with the community through patrols, community-enhancing activities, and listening to citizens. The goal of democratic policing is to build a web of relationships between the community and the police that helps to control crime by making police aware of the persons and activities in the communities that they are assigned to protect and by inclining citizens to trust and cooperate with police. This also achieves the primary goal of making citizens feel secure in their daily activities, thereby fostering a climate that encourages increased legitimate business activity, investment, and planning for the future.
Concerning the previous text, judge the following items.
In the fragment “police have carefully circumscribed roles that require close and positive relations with ordinary citizens” (second paragraph), “ordinary citizens” are people who represent the average citizen in a democratic society.
Resposta comentada
O conceito-chave aqui é "ordinary citizens" = cidadãos comuns, ou seja, pessoas que não ocupam cargos de poder, não são policiais nem autoridades — são o cidadão médio, a população em geral que vive no dia a dia da sociedade. No contexto, o texto contrapõe esses cidadãos comuns aos "oficiais" ou ao regime, mostrando que a polícia democrática trabalha para eles, e não contra eles.
- Correta: Certo. O texto diz que a polícia democrática precisa de "relações próximas e positivas com cidadãos comuns", e a definição de "ordinary citizens" como "pessoas que representam o cidadão médio" é exatamente o sentido usado no fragmento — o texto está falando da população geral, não de um grupo específico.
Fica de olho: a banca pode trocar "ordinary citizens" por "all citizens without exception" (todos os cidadãos sem exceção) — aí viraria errado, pois o texto fala do cidadão comum/médio, não de uma totalidade absoluta que incluiria até criminosos ou agentes do Estado.
Fonte: CEBRASPE CÂMARA DOS DEPUTADOS 26 PLF 2026 Técnico Legislativo – Especialidade: Policial Legislativo Federal. Reproduzida para fins de estudo.