Evaluation of the operational viability of forensic units in Brazil: A hybrid approach based on the BWM and R-TOPSIS

Abstract

Public security is an area of increasing importance in Brazil, as society requires that public resources are managed more efficiently and effectively. Criminalistics is an integral and vital part of the Brazilian public security system and requires new management tools to optimize human resources, equipment, and facilities allocation. Faced with a challenging scenario of budgetary constraints in several areas in public administration, the search for innovative methods should be a priority for the forensic service sector managers. The current article presents a multicriteria decision model to evaluate the operational viability of 23 forensic units within the Federal Police of Brazil (PF). The framework used the hybrid approach BWM and R-TOPSIS. The proposed model led to the complete ranking of 23 local forensic units. Amongst the last positions in the ranking, it was possible to recommend merging or shutting down some units. The sensitivity analysis performed did not show abrupt variations in the original positions, confirming the robustness of the proposed solution. It was concluded that the model allowed resources optimization whilst not compromising the quality of the services provided to society.