Typical duties performed by the judicial police are administering and securing administration offices of the judicial branch, courts and prisons, providing physical security to judicial officials such as judges, criminal investigators and prosecutors, transportation of defendants and prisoners between courts, jails and law enforcement offices and other duties linked to enforcement of criminal law.
It is common for criminal investigation duties, usually under the direction of a prosecutor's office or an examining magistrate, to be performed by the judicial police branch instead of a criminal investigation department within a standard police force, but it does not commonly participate in other forms of law enforcement, such as enforcement of traffic codes.
[4] The function of the Judicial Police dates back to 1619, when the alcaides, carrying out their activities in the towns of the Colony, carried out measures to arrest evildoers, always accompanied by a clerk who would draw up a report of what had happened for later presentation to the magistrate.
Under the terms of article 144, paragraph 4, of the Constitution, "the civil police, led by career delegados, are responsible, except for the those under jurisdiction of the Union (Polícia Federal), for the functions of the judicial police and the investigation of criminal offenses, except military ones.
The Public Prosecutor's Office may request additional measures to better investigate a case in order to file a criminal action.