Brazil & Southern Cone - February 2020

Brazil’s police force is notoriously violent, with the high number of homicides committed by the police in Rio de Janeiro usually held up as an example of this. The phenomenon is not restricted to Rio city and state, however. São Paulo, the country’s largest metropolis with a very low (by Brazilian standards) homicide rate of 5.47 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, is also suffering from a surge in police brutality.

On 1 December 2019, nine young people aged between 14 and 23 years old were trampled to death during a ‘baile funk’ party in Paraisópolis, one of São Paulo’s largest favelas. The confusion which led to the deaths was the result of an operation by the military police (PM), who reportedly entered the baile funk in pursuit of armed individuals, and allegedly used rubber bullets and tear gas against partygoers in self-defence.

Police accounts of what happened of course differed from those of residents and partygoers, who say the police ambushed them and used unnecessary force. But the operation was met with widespread criticism of police tactics, and notably of their systemic criminalisation of favela culture. The police officers concerned have been confined to desk duty while an investigation into their actions is underway, and São Paulo state governor João Doria was eventually forced to admit that a review of police protocols was necessary.  

The tragic episode opened up an opportunity for dialogue between favela residents and the authorities over policing tactics, as well as drawing attention to the Brazilian police’s socio-racial bias in their use of excessive force – which is increasing, even as crimes in general are falling. Data released by the São Paulo state public security secretariat on 24 January shows that the state recorded 2,778 homicides in 2019, its lowest figure ever and down from 2,949 in 2018. The homicide rate for the whole state now stands at 6.27 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. However, deaths at the hands of the police have increased by 11.9% to a total of 733 in 2019.

The first weeks of 2020 have also seen incidents of non-lethal police brutality. Human rights groups denounced the police’s response to protests demanding free public transport in São Paulo city, organised by the Movimento Passe Livre (MPL) throughout the month of January and which have been marked by the police’s rough handling of demonstrators and arbitrary detentions.

Following repression at an MPL demonstration on 16 January, human rights organisations Article 19, Conectas Direitos Humanos, the São Paulo state council for the defence of human persons (Condepe) and the Instituto Brasileiro de Ciências Criminais (IBCCRIM) released a statement in which they “strongly condemn the police violence used against protestors and communicators”, noting in particular the use of force against women and raising concerns over the impact of this violence on the freedom of expression and right to demonstrate. 

Rio’s homicide statistics

Rio de Janeiro state’s Instituto de Segurança Pública (ISP) has released crime statistics which show a persistent and sharp increase in lethal police violence over recent years. The homicide rate for deaths at the hand of the police in the state stands at 10.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2019, up from 3.9 deaths in 2015 and 6.6 in 2017, the year wilful homicides and overall lethal violence peaked at a rate of 31.6 and 40 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively. The rate for wilful homicides fell to 23.2 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2019. Public security experts stress that the drop in violent crime cannot be attributed to increased police lethality.