In the city and wider state of Rio de Janeiro, stories of police brutality abound. In June, a security operation saw a police helicopter open fire in the Maré favela; seven people died in the raid, including a 14-year-old boy. From January to July this year, military and civil police killed 895 people. Human Rights Watch concluded that, at this rate, the state will have its bloodiest year in more than a decade.

In the face of such violence, one small project is trying to make a difference by placing an artist in one police department in the city. Tatiana Altberg accepted the invitation to work as an artist in residence for a year with some trepidation, especially because she works with children in the Maré favela who see a dark side to the police.

Altberg explains that people living in the favela see the police as highly confrontational agents of the state. “The perception is that they are mostly violent when they come to these parts of the city. They don’t have a good reputation and are seen as the enemy,” she says.

Tatiana Altberg was apprehensive of her work with the police when she started her artistic residency. Photograph: Gabi Carrera

The scheme, which started in January and is funded by the NGO Instituto República, and inspired by the Public Artists in Residence programme in New York, is the first of its kind in Brazil. The goal of the residency is for artists and public sector workers to learn from each other. In Altberg’s case, she decided to use art to change the way the police relate to each other as well as the way they interact with and perceive the public.

Altberg doesn’t see art as a solution to a problem. She describes the impact of her work as a crack in a wall through which a chink of light can shine through. “It’s something that comes very slowly,” she says. “I don’t think that art can resolve a social problem but the most important thing is that it can develop a way of dealing with life that can help with other issues.” She sees art as a way of facilitating dialogue, communication and relationships.

She started her residency by listening to the stories and experiences of police staff. One woman told her of the time she had to deliver a baby in the back of a police car, another remembered having to feed the baby of a dying crack addict, and one man recounted a car chase where he had to avoid shooting the kidnapped child in the vehicle they were pursuing. “I was very apprehensive and came with a stereotypical image of the police,” says Altberg. “But I’ve tried to put myself in their shoes. As I listen to their side of the problems and issues facing them, I’ve realised that it is very hard to be a police officer in Rio de Janeiro.”

Helio Moraes, a member of the police department does pinhole photography in Rio de Janeiro. Photograph: Tatiana Altberg

The police work in a building in a bustling and very violent and poor area of the city. There is not much beauty. Altberg’s work at the department has involved asking staff to write down, anonymously, a memorable moment from their lives. She has also started pinhole photography workshops. She set people the task of taking a picture of their world outside the department – and pinned the results on the walls of the dining area. The tasks allow police staff time to focus on something for themselves which is far removed from the violent nature and surroundings of their work.

According to Luiza Mello, the director of a company that produces art shows and the coordinator of the programme, the project is much needed. “In Brazil, people don’t have a good image of public servants,” she remarks. “They think that they don’t work and are corrupt.” The police are seen as violent; Mello likens the situation to a war which has been going on for a long time and won’t end any time soon. Changing this image is impossible in the short term. Instead, her vision is to try and improve public sector workers’ lives so that they can be better professionals.

One worker’s attempt at pinhole photography. Photograph: Célia Souza

Whether placing artists in public sector departments for a year will fundamentally change anything remains to be seen. Even those involved are unsure, as yet, of how and whether the project will have an impact.

Tatiana Lima, 34, a police captain, says Altberg has provided them with another perspective. “We live in a complicated landscape – one defined by crisis and violence,” she comments. “It’s a bad situation. The police have a very defined view of some people in society. This project is a way of showing police work in a different light and of understanding other people’s lives.” Lima, who is no longer on the frontline, would like to see this type of scheme introduced for all of her colleagues whose everyday lives involve fighting drugs, gangs and violence.

Mello acknowledges that the project, which aims to see two artists take up residency in a different area of the public sector each year, is in its early stages. She believes artists are problem solvers and can help public servants to see things in a different way and inspire them in their everyday lives. “It’s a start – a very small movement,” she says. “This is just the beginning.”