The Center for Studies on Public Security and Citizenship (CESeC) was created in the year 2000 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a research unit based at University Candido Mendes (UCAM). It is one of the first academic institutions fully dedicated to the field of public security in Brazil. It was founded by researchers with experience in public management with the commitment to develop projects that may contribute to the improvement of the criminal justice system and may subsidize public policies aimed at reducing crime while respecting human rights. Since 2013 CESeC has also been dedicated to drug policy reform through research and activism.