Agencia de Gobierno Electrónico y Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento

10 - National Public Security Plan

Brief description of the commitment: The National Public Security Plan (PNSP) 2025–2035 is a strategic instrument of the national government designed to develop effective, efficient and fair policies that address the main structural challenges in security matters.

This implies:

• Guiding the policy in a coherent, planned and evaluable manner.
• Addressing security issues comprehensively, while involving all relevant stakeholders.
• Reporting interventions with the best available scientific evidence.
• Promoting the participation of relevant actors and agreements that guarantee legitimacy and continuity in the long term.
• Guaranteeing transparency and accountability, aligned with the Human Rights approach.

Organization leading the commitment: Ministry of Interior.

Supporting Institutions/Organizations: Presidency of the Republic.

Responsible for the commitment: Emiliano Rojido, Advisor on Public Security Policies. Contact: emiliano.rojido@minterior.gub.uy

Technical Manager: Carlos Pimienta, APIPE. Contact: carlos.pimienta@minterior.gub.uy

Stakeholders: The following actors will be invited to participate in the Security Meetings:

1. Government: the three branches of government, various national government agencies, and subnational governments.
2. Civil Society: non-governmental organizations, academia, and companies in the productive sector.
3. Political system: all political parties with parliamentary representation.
4. Other actors: International agencies.

Implementation period: September 2025 - June 2029.

Problem definition

What problem does the commitment address?

Public safety is one of the most urgent and complex challenges Uruguay faces today. Although the country has seen improvements in various social indicators, crime, especially its most violent forms, has steadily increased in recent decades, with human, economic, and social costs.

What are the causes of the problem?

The causes of violence and crime are multiple and complex, but can be grouped into four major explanatory models, which are not mutually exclusive:

• Structural factors such as poverty, inequality, rapid urbanization, and unemployment have traditionally been identified as predictors of violence and crime.
• The inefficiency of the criminal justice system. The low rate of crime elucidation, impunity, and the precarious condition of the prison system contribute to conflicts not being resolved through legal means. The ambiguous role of the State contributes to this, as in many cases it responds with excessive institutional violence, which can exacerbate the situation.
• The influence of facilitating factors such as the availability of firearms and alcohol consumption, which aggravate the consequences of interpersonal conflicts.
• The presence of organized crime, especially in the form of armed groups that dispute territories or illegal markets, generating abrupt increases in homicides and corruption.

Description of the commitment

What has been done so far to solve the problem?

Security policies in Uruguay have been fragmented, and their impact has not been evaluated. Despite some isolated efforts, the lack of a comprehensive, sustained, and evidence-based strategy has hindered significant progress in crime prevention and control. This situation persists despite the ruling political party and a gradual increase in budgetary investment, deepening public frustration and creating fertile ground for the emergence of populist security proposals.

What solution does it propose?

The solution proposes a National Public Security Plan (2025-2035), an unprecedented instrument in the country designed to address security problems in the medium and long term. Its objective is to offer a strategic approach that strengthens the State's capacity to prevent and control crime, guarantee peaceful coexistence, and reinforce public trust in security institutions.

In adherence to the principles of open government, two specific commitments are made:

1. The National Public Security Plan (PNSP) should be designed through the collaborative participation of diverse relevant stakeholders, including government agencies, political parties, organized civil society, academia, and the productive sector. This dialogue is based on the acknowledgement that public security is a collective endeavor.
2. Establish mechanisms to ensure accountability to the public. This will be achieved through the development of a monitoring and evaluation strategy and by holding regular follow-up meetings with the participation of the various stakeholders involved in the process.

The design of the PNSP is organized into 5 phases that seek to balance politics, technical aspects and the construction of social legitimacy:

1. Diagnosis: initial preparation of a technical report as a trigger for the process (March to June 2025 - Phase already completed).
2. Security Meetings: A broad space for dialogue to deepen the diagnosis, identify priorities and outline interventions (July to December 2025).
3. Technical proposal: programmatic construction based on evidence and contributions from social dialogue (July 2025 to January 2026).
4. Policy proposal: definition of final priorities considering aspects such as regulatory, financial and operational feasibility (January 2026).
5. Social validation: closing the design process with a record of consensus and dissent, and institutional commitment to its implementation. This aims to provide the PNSP with social legitimacy and political support beyond government terms. (February 2026).

Implementation will begin in March 2026, along with the application of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. These mechanisms will allow for measuring the degree of compliance with the plan, making adjustments to its management, informing decision-making, and strengthening democratic control and accountability to the public.

What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment?

The National Public Security Plan is not a set of isolated measures or one that arises from reacting to specific problems. It is a structured framework for action that defines objectives and lines of intervention to guide the security policy in a comprehensive, coordinated manner, focused on structural challenges and sustained over time.

The National Public Security Plan seeks to contribute to the formulation of effective, efficient, and fair security policies that address the main structural challenges in this area. Specifically, it aims to:

• To consolidate an integrated, standardized and transparent criminal information system that allows informing policies and facilitating the production of knowledge and innovation in public safety.
• To improve the territorial and population targeting of prevention policies, optimizing the use of resources and increasing their effectiveness.
• To repress purposely, concentrating crime control efforts on the most violent or dangerous individuals and groups.
• To strengthen the investigative capacity to reduce impunity levels and address complex crimes more effectively.
• To promote a profound reform of the prison system and prioritize tertiary prevention, with the aim of reducing recidivism and promoting social reintegration.
• To strengthen the institutions of the criminal justice system, and in particular, to guarantee the integrity and professionalism of the public force.
• To promote a shared vision of public safety as a collective commitment, strengthening the participation of state, social and community actors in building sustainable solutions.

Taken together, these results will contribute to a fairer, more transparent, and people-centered security policy, in line with the principles of open government.

Commitment analysis

How will the commitment promote transparency?

The National Public Security Plan (PNSP) aligns with the principles of open government by promoting transparency in information management, citizen participation, and accountability for results achieved. It also fosters coordination among government institutions, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector, acknowledging that security is a shared responsibility.

How will the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions? 

It promotes participation through the development of a broad space for dialogue to deepen the diagnosis, identify priorities, and outline interventions.

Finally, the PNSP promotes innovation in public policies through the use of empirical evidence, continuous learning, and the design of solutions adapted to dynamic and complex contexts.