One of the most beautiful cities in the hemisphere, Rio de Janeiro today is most often described as a city under siege. There is no question that violent crime has increased significantly over the past decade. The homicide rate for Rio, for example, has tripled in the last fifteen years, rising from 2,826 murders in 1980 to 8,408 in 1994. In 2003 the police force was responsible for 1,195 civilian deaths. In 2007 police force was responsible for 1,330 deaths. Something crazy to think about is in the U.S. there were 1,134 deaths by the police force and our country is 50% larger than Rio. After 2007 Rio hired new police officers that went through strategic training. A key ingredient of success was the emphasis on rewarding reductions in violent crime. This resulted in the number of deaths dropping by 46%.
The cause of this violence has been narrowed down to relations with criminal gangs and drug trafficking. Unfortunately, law enforcement efforts to control crime have relied on flagrant and numerous human rights abuses. Despite the good intentions of some public officials, most of Rio de Janeiro’s police remain abusive, violent, and corrupt. A recent survey was done and found that many officers experienced high levels of violence during childhood. Roughly 18% of respondents witnessed a homicide as a child. Another 25% were victims of a violent assault at a young age and 32% said they had a friend or family member murdered. It is widely known that previous exposure to violence can reproduce aggressive behavior. Another theory that spiked officers’ behavior is the state's public security budget was cut by more than 30%.
Brazil has emerged as an increasingly important transit country for cocaine. Much of the Brazilian drug trade is concentrated in Rio de Janeiro, where the lower levels of trafficking hierarchy are dominated by organized crime gangs ensconced in the favelas. The average homicide rate in the favelas would be around 50 per 100,000 inhabitants. Battles for turf and control among the gangs are frequent. Confrontations between the police and traffickers are often marked by inaccurate shooting. Innocent bystanders, primarily favela residents and Rio’s middle- and upper-class civilians have fallen due to deadly gunfire.
In Operation Rio, the army was deployed to help in the fight against drug trafficking gangs because of the violence and corruption of Rio’s police. Unfortunately, it did not include any efforts by state or federal authorities to address human rights violations committed by the Rio police. They’ve continued to violate fundamental human rights in the course of their routine law enforcement duties.
Works Cited
“Brazil: At Least 25 Killed in Rio De Janeiro Shootout.” BBC News, BBC, 6 May 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57013206.
Neuman, Scott. “U.N. Calls for Investigation as Police in Brazil Kill at Least 24 in Rio Drug Raid.” NPR, NPR, 7 May 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/05/07/994588467/u-n-calls-for-investigation-as-police-in-brazil-kill-at-least-24-in-rio-drug-rai.
“Police Killing Hundreds in Rio De Janeiro despite Court Ban on Favela Raids.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 18 Apr. 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/apr/18/police-kill-hundreds-rio-de-janeiro-favela-raids-court-ban.
Hi Luke,
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting when you mentioned the corruption of Rio's police force. I wonder how it got to be this way, and what steps will be necessary to remediate this serious issue.
Hi Luke,
DeleteThe fact that the US is 50% larger than Rio and we have around the same numbers for police brutality is insane. I appreciate that they have taken measures to reduce police based violence, I think that the US would benefit from the same sort of thing.
Hi Luke,
ReplyDeleteI think the detail in your piece about the army having to step in to assist Rio's effort to combat drug trafficking was perhaps the sharpest indictment of the police force in Rio. I thought I would mention that you might want to check your statistic in the first paragraph when comparing killings by police officers in the U.S. compared to Rio–I think you meant to compare the U.S. population to Brazil, not Rio.
The statistics you showed about crime in Rio de Janeiro is heartbreaking. The cocaine transit is feeding the drug epidemic. Rio de Janeiro is a mainstay for drug production and distribution. This harbors all the crime and homicides in the country. Great post, Luke.
ReplyDeleteTo reduce to crime rate, I wonder exactly what rewards did Rio implement to make the deaths drop by 46%.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to read that Rio is trying to reduce violence and train their police better. But the comparison between police deaths there and in the US, being 50% larger, was shocking. We think that that is a lot of deaths here in the US and get enraged by it. I can't imagine how the citizens of Rio feel.
ReplyDeleteThe rewarding police officers for understanding good behaviors as a law enforcement officer seems to have really worked in Rio, where it says crime dropped by 46 percent. That's a huge jump simply for positive reinforcement.
ReplyDeleteHi Luke,
ReplyDeleteI also wrote about the crime and violence in Rio, but I found it really interesting that you found that study that looks into the police officers previous experiences/history. As I was reading those statistics I thought about how most of the officers probably grew up in Rio as well, surrounded by the same violence that they are currently dealing with. From an outside point of view it seems obvious that they shouldn't combat drug trafficking and crime in the same ways that they have been for over 30 years, but to the officers they may just be doing what they witnessed police doing when they were young.
Good job!
With this violence against the youth of Rio you also have the loss of educational standards. Students have to deal with this violence on a daily basis and have to decide whether or not its safe enough to traverse to there school that day. This breeds a cycle of poverty of violence in the area and it will continue to happen unless something is done about the current generation growing up in Rio.
ReplyDeleteI am wondering as I read your post, Luke, about how similar this is to the poppy farmers in the Middle East. It seems like, from these two examples, that the drug trade is becoming more and more popular, and maybe a last resort for a lot of people because that's all they can do to survive. Maybe some further research into how those two areas relate to each other would be interesting.
ReplyDeleteBrazil has been going through a lot these days, no thanks to its leader, who much like some of our own believe in a very militant style of control. Ironic because many of their politicians remain corrupt. I read a Reuters article about a senator there hiding his money... Or should I say his assets? Linking the article below for any interested!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-corruption/brazilian-police-catch-senator-hiding-cash-between-his-buttcheeks-source-says-idUSKBN27024E