Brazil: Police reinforcements sent to Rio July 20

Event

Brazilian President Michel Temer authorized the transfer of 800 national security force officers and federal highway police to Rio de Janeiro state on Thursday, July 20, to help combat a rising wave of gang violence. The officers will join 200 other federal forces on the ground in Rio de Janeiro in the effort to reduce violent crime in and around the city.

Context

From January to May 2016, violence accounted for 16 deaths per day in the city of Rio de Janeiro. During the same period in 2017, the average number of deaths per day increased to 19.

There have been multiple citizen-initiated efforts to help improve security in Rio de Janeiro. Before the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, Amnesty International released an application to record firearm use in the city called Crossfire. A locally created app called Where There Is a Shootout marks where shootings are happening in the city in real-time to help citizens avoid active shootings. These initiatives, however, fail to address the accessibility of firearms, a main driver behind lethal violence. According to the Institute of Applied Economic Research, 71.9 percent of all homicides committed in Brazil in 2015 involved a firearm.

The recent deterioration of security conditions in Rio de Janeiro sheds light on the failure of the state's security polices, notably Rio's ''pacification'' strategy, which involves the deployment of Police Pacification Units (Unidade de Polícia Pacificadora; UPP), to establish a presence in particularly crime-ridden areas of the city, notably favelas.

Social tensions are also on the rise across the country due to the poor economic situation following the decline in commodity prices, a mounting political crisis since the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, state and business corruption scandals, and the implementation of austerity measures (impacting the police and other state bureaucracies).

Advice

Generally speaking, individuals present in Rio de Janeiro are advised to conceal signs of wealth to avoid attracting the attention of would-be thieves and avoid entering favelas (slums; often located in very close proximity to more affluent neighborhoods). Keep in mind that criminals are often armed; never offer resistance if assaulted.