Security & Strategic Review February 2009 (ISSN 1741-4202)

Police action in Rio de Janeiro claimed ten fatalities in a single day in early February, as governor Sérgio Cabral pressed ahead with his strong-arm anticrime drive which has brought down Rio state's murder rate by about 10% — but has also prompted renewed criticism of the Rio police for its trigger happy inclination. Almost simultaneously in São Paulo, the killing of a suspected robber by police led to violent protest riots, quelled by large-scale police repression that left many — mostly police officers — injured by gunfire.