At the time of this interview Dr. Luiz Eduardo Soares was the Secretary of Municipal Valuation of Life and Prevention of Nova Iguacu, Rio de Janeiro. He has served in numerous government positions dealing with issues of policing and public safety and in academic positions at various prestigious universities. After completing his Ph.D in Sociology and Political Science and researching and teaching for 15 years at IUPERJ (University Research Institute of Rio de Janeiro), Dr. Soares was appointed to a research position in security policy at ISER (Instituto de Estudos da Religião). In 2003, Dr. Soares became National Secretary of Public Security for Rio de Janeiro. Since occupying this position, he has overseen the implementation of internal police reform programs, such as the UPP and GPAE.

At the time of this interview, Bruce Baker was a professor of African security and director of the African Studies Centre at Coventry University, U.K.  He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Sussex and master's and doctoral degrees from Coventry University in the U.K.  He has lectured at Coventry University and been a Research Fellow at Rhodes University in South Africa.  He ran research projects on security issues in a number of African countries and conducted research for government and private organizations in the U.K.  He wrote numerous articles and books, including "Escape from Domination in Africa: Political Disengagement and its Consequences" (James Curry, 2000), “Taking the Law into Their Own Hands: Lawless Law Enforcers in Africa” (Ashgate, 2002), and “Security in Post-Conflict Africa: The Role of Nonstate Policing” (Taylor and Francis, 2009). 

Silvia Ramos headed Rio de Janeiro’s Center for Studies on Public Security and Citizenship (Centro de Estudos de Segurança e Cidadania / CESeC). In this position, she actively oversaw the implementation of the UPP (Unidade Pacificadora da Policia) program. Silvia Ramos was a founder of the Brazilian Interdisciplinary Aids Association (ABIA) and was scientific coordinator of the Visiting Researcher Program of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in partnership with FAPERJ (Rio de Janeiro State Foundation to Support Research). She was a consultant to various nongovernmental organizations and advised the deputy secretary for public security in the State of Rio de Janeiro on programs to protect minorities and the environment. She is also on the board of directors for Altus global alliance, which focuses on public safety and justice. She earned a master's in psychology from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro.

At the time of this interview, Adrian Horn had a long career in the U.K. police, rising to the position of assistant chief constable. He left the police in 1994 to set up a policing consultancy. He has worked in a number of developing and post-conflict countries, and spent five years as the manager of the Department for International Development's Community Safety and Security Project in Sierra Leone. He worked closely with the Sierra Leonean police and Inspector General Keith Biddle during a challenging and transformational time for Sierra Leone.

From 2003-2011, Ana Toni was the representative of Brazil at the Ford Foundation, which works to help change structures and policies that increase inequality and social marginalization, in Rio de Janeiro. Previously, Toni served as the Country Director of ActionAid Brazil. She earned her master’s degree in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

At the time of this interview, Gail Teixeira was serving as a member of Guyana's Parliament as well as an adviser to President Bharrat Jagdeo on governance. Her comments center on her experiences as minister of home affairs from 2004 to 2006.

Aldo Civico served as press officer of the Municipality of Palermo and senior adviser to Mayor Leoluca Orlando from September 1991 to September 1995. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in the department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Rutgers-Newark and the co-founder and director of the International Institute for Peace. Previously, Civico worked as a free-lance journalist, reporting on social issues related to organized crime in southern Italy, and then as Director of the Center for International Conflict Resolution at Columbia University. For the last ten years, his work has focused on conflict resolution, particularly in Colombia, through ethnographic research and facilitating peace processes. Civico holds a doctorate in Anthropology from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Bologna, Italy.  

At the time of this interview, Andrew Hughes had over 30 years of experience as a police officer, including as a deputy chief police officer in the Australian Capital Territory Police and assistant commissioner in charge of operations for the Australian Federal Police. He served as a liaison officer at the Australian High Commission in London, working with U.K. and European counterparts primarily on issues related to organized crime. Hughes also spent over three years as the commissioner of police in Fiji, prior to the December 2006 coup. On August 9, 2007, United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon announced Hughes' appointment as police adviser to the U.N., a role that placed him at the head of U.N. Police peacekeeping operations.