Between law and arbitrary rules: public order and police power in São Paulo (1890-1920)

Abstract

In a city marked by prominent town planning mutations and by an increasing demographic pressure, the action of the police showed it self fundamental between the available options to the public power in the task of management of that tense scene. The limits of the police action, nearly always situated between the dictates of the law and the convenience of arbitrary practices, will be discussed in this article.