This study addresses public security in Rio de Janeiro from the perspective of civic culture, following along the lines of Alexis de Tocqueville (2000), Almond and Verba (1963), Putnam (1993), José Álvaro Moisés (2010), and Elisa Reis (1995). More specifically, it seeks to understand the result of various police reforms which modeled themselves on community policing without truly changing the structure of the State s public security institutions. The study will attempt to place CONSPERJ and the Rio de Janeiro Community Security Councils within this content in order to understand why this model was chosen and what it managed to change regarding public security policy in the state. The study also seeks to understand the role that civil society plays in RJ public security policy decisions. Many studies have already focused on the cultural and structural difficulties faced when attempting police reform in the state, and a study on how civil society influences this process can provide an important perspective on public security in the state as well as potential models for a fairer, less oppressive model of public security.