Crime in Brazil• I will be able to describe inequalities

that exist in crime and responses to it by the Government and other organisations.

Crime in Brazil• Crime has become an

increasing problem in recent years in Brazil.

• Violence has become the main cause of death amongst Brazilians in the last 20 years.

• Firearms are believed to be the biggest cause of death among Brazil’s youth.

Above: A victim of Rio’s drug wars of 2009.

Crime in Brazil• Currently, anyone over

25 years of age can buy a firearm provided that they pass background checks.

• Over 60,000 firearms are sold every year.

• According to the Small Arms Survey there are an estimated 17 million guns in Brazil – 49 per cent held legally, 28 per cent held illegally and 23 per cent used to commit crimes.

Crime in Brazil• Fact File

• About 39,000 people in Brazil are killed by guns each year – that is one person killed every 15 minutes.

• UNESCO ranks Brazil second in deaths by guns, with 21.72 per 100,000 people a year. Venezuela proportionately has more, with 34.3 per 100,000, but Brazil has more in absolute numbers.

• More than one in eleven Brazilians has a gun - about 17m guns in a nation of 186 million.

• 72 per cent of guns used in crimes in Rio de Janeiro state between 1999 and 2005 were registered to "law-abiding citizens" or to police or the armed forces and had been stolen by criminals.

• Gun-related deaths fell 8 per cent in 2004 after a voluntary disarmament campaign.

• Police said 67 per cent of guns used in rapes and 58 per cent in murders were store-bought.

Crime in Brazil• In Brazil, crime is

concentrated in urban areas (favelas in particular).

• Those living in favelas are likely to be targets of violence and gun crimes. They are also more likely to commit crime.

• Some people equate living in favelas as living in a war zone. Many residents still do not leave. ‘It can rain bullets here, but I won’t leave’ was a famous remark made by a mother of four in an interview for the BBC.

Gun Buy Back Scheme• Progress has been

made in Brazil in reducing the number of people killed by guns.

• One method used is the gun buy back scheme. Since June 2004, more than half a million weapons have been handed back in to the police. In return they receive cash.

Gun Deaths in Brazil

Deaths by firearms in Brazil (thousands)

Changes to Law Concerning Guns

• President Lula passed the Disarmament Act on the 22 December2003.

• The new law restricts the carrying, ownership and sale of firearms.

• The minimum age for purchasing firearms was raised from 21 to 25 years.

• Any private citizen who applied for a gun permit now needs to prove that the gun is necessary for their profession or for personal protection.

Referendum on Gun Ownership

• On the 23 October 2005, Brazilians voted on whether to ban the sale of firearms and ammunitions to the general public.

• Referendum Question: Should sales of firearms and ammunition be prohibited in Brazil?

• The government and the Catholic Church were for the ban on the sale of firearms but the ‘Yes’ campaign failed to convince the general public that a ban would reduce the number of gun deaths.

Referendum on Gun Ownership

• The ‘No’ campaign did well in convincing Brazilians that even if they did not want a gun, they should defend their right to buy one.

• The ‘No’ campaigners also argued that criminals do not buy guns legally in shops as they have to go through strict background checks. They tend to buy guns illegally on the ‘black market’ so having a ban on the sale of guns would have very little impact given that they get them illegally anyway.

Should sales of firearms and ammunition be prohibited in

Brazil?

64% No

36% Yes

The referendum results show that a clear majority (64 per cent) were against the ban on the sale of guns. An estimated 120 million Brazilians cast ballots in the referendum. Voting is mandatory for people between the ages of 18 and 70, but Brazilians as young as 16 can vote.

Community Policing

• The community policing scheme was introduced in 1999 (before Lula came into power) by the then governor of Rio de Janeiro, Anthony Garotinho, in an attempt to reduce violence and police corruption.

• Community policing was established in the favela of Vila Cruzeiro, Rio de Janeiro, following a horrific attack on an investigative TV reporter by drug dealers.

• The idea behind community policing is co-operation. Police officers have to win the respect of locals in order to make any impact. This is in stark contrast to Rio’s traditional style of favela policing, which involves sending in squads of trigger happy police officers who are heavily armed and fire at gangs only to retreat minutes later when under heavy fire themselves.

A Blow for Community Policing…

• 2005, Brazilians witnessed the death of five people. They were burned to death on a bus by drug gangs. The attack was carried out by traffickers from a local favela in revenge for the death of another member of their drug faction. One of the victims was a 1 year old girl and her mother.

• Those responsible for this brutal act were found dead on a nearby street. They were killed by a rival drug gang called the Comando Vermelho (Red Command drug gang).

• While many believe that the police should be co-operating with the rival gang for information, the police hold a completely different view.

• The huge effort that went into community policing all but disappeared when 50 heavily armed police officers tore into Morro da Fé favela in Penha, where they believe the fifth suspect is hiding. For them, the need for firm policing is greater now than ever.

A Blow for Community Policing…

Brazilian Police Force• It is often said that

Brazilian police officers are ‘trigger-happy’.

• However, human rights organisations like Amnesty International research into those areas where they believe human rights are being abused.

Brazilian Police Force

Civilians killed by Police (Jan 2002 – Oct 2002)

The chart below clearly demonstrates Brazil’s deadly police force. Many police officers who kill civilians are unpunished. Criminal juries must try all murder cases, however, police who kill civilians may never go before a jury because of the way they report the crime in official investigations.

Civilians killed by Police (Jan 2002 – Oct 2002)

When officers first open investigations, they register the crime as ‘death resisting arrest.’ A survey conducted in São Paulo during 2005 reported that 52 per cent of civilians killed by police officers were shot in the back and 25 per cent received five or more bullets. Based on those statistics, it is difficult for police to conclude that the majority of civilians killed by the police died resisting arrest.

Case Study: Jardim Angela

• Jardim Angela, a community of 300,000 stretched out over the hills in São Paulo, was dubbed the most dangerous neighbourhood in the world in 1996 by Brazil’s Veja magazine.

• That year, 5000 residents in the neighbourhood marched to protest the increase in violence caused by turf wars between drug gangs.

Case Study: Jardim Angela

• The surge in killings led to the creation of anti-violence organisations such as the Institute of Peace.

• In 2005, there were 31 murders in the area, down from rates as high as 306 in 2001.

• Brazil’s effort to reduce murder is having its best success in São Paulo, the nation’s largest city. São Paulo had 3944 murders in 2004, down from 5010 in 2003 and 6091 in 2000.

Murders in state of São Paulo per 100,000

Clearly, some progress is being made in reducing the murder rate in Brazil.

PP Questions on Crime in Brazil

• 2006 7(c) – Support and Oppose• 2007 9(c) – Selective (prisons)

• Describe, in detail, the inequalities faced by many people in Brazil (8)