SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – With an increase of 17.8 percent in September, the number of intentional murders rose for the third consecutive month in São Paulo, according to statistics released on Monday, October 26th, by the Public Safety Secretariat (SSP). The records on armed robbery, rape and property crimes have improved.
In nine months, this is the sixth time that the homicide indicator has worsened in the state, which contrasts with the records of recent decades, when São Paulo had been steadily declining its murder rates. According to the SSP, 238 homicides were reported last month, compared to 202 over the same period in 2019.
Considering the year-to-date, the increase in murders stands at 7.1 percent so far. Since January, 2,128 cases have been recorded by the São Paulo police. Last year there were 1,986. According to the portfolio, the current rate stands at 6.82 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, still the lowest in the country.
According to Colonel Alvaro Batista Camilo, State Police Executive Secretary, the majority of murders committed in São Paulo are linked to drug trafficking, alcohol abuse and also to firearms. “Murders occur far from police actions, typically in more peripheral areas or in favelas, where the police are unable to act directly. Thus we work indirectly, conducting operations against drugs, alcohol and guns,” says Camilo. “The nature of murder leads the police to fight it indirectly.”
For the executive secretary, this year’s rise may be related to conflicts intensified by social isolation due to the coronavirus. “We had an increase in interpersonal cases, in other words, committed by people who knew each other. This is an indicator that clearly links this to the pandemic,” he says. “There have also been many executions, which are due to drug trafficking.”
Amid the escalation in deaths, police captains were instructed to study each case, understand the current dynamics of murders, and develop specific strategies in each region, according to Camilo. “We have seen variations since the start of the year, sometimes with an increase in the interior, sometimes in the capital,” he says.
In the city of São Paulo, after rising in August, the rate remained stable with 52 murders recorded in September, the same number as in 2019. In the sum of the first ten months, the indicator rose by 4.2 percent, totaling 493 reports. Last year there were 473 over the same period.
Property crimes retreat
The State also recorded 15 armed robberies in September – six fewer cases than in 2019. Rape notifications dropped by 13.6 percent, from 1,201 to 1,308 in the state.
Unlike homicides, property crimes continued to decline, according to the SSP data. In the case of thefts, there was a 25.4 percent decline. There were 40,969 incidents, compared to 20,571 in September 2019.
There was also a 25.5 percent decline in robberies, with 15,225 reports in the month, compared to 20,433 in the preceding period. In turn, 2,249 vehicles were stolen in September – a drop of 31.7 percent compared to 2019.
“Crimes against property were a major concern,” says Camilo. “The police are still very much on the street, the operations have not stopped.” According to the executive secretary, this year 77 rifles, over 8,000 firearms and 2,300 tons of drugs were seized. The arrests total 131,000 in São Paulo.
Lethality drops in the quarter, but it is too early to speculate on a downward trend
According to the portfolio’s statistics, the number of people killed in alleged clashes with the police fell in the last quarter. In the year to date, however, São Paulo still has a worse result than in 2019.
There were 162 cases of lethality between July and September, most of them involving the State Police. There was a 19 percent drop over the same period in 2019, when 200 people were killed by São Paulo’s security forces.
Of the total of last semester, 125 occurrences involved State Police officers on duty and 27 others off duty. With respect to the Civil Police, there were ten records: eight on duty and two off duty.
The year-to-date figures show that there were 676 deaths resulting from police intervention in 2020. This represents an eight percent increase compared to last year, when 626 cases had been recorded.
“The cases are declining, but it’s still too early to talk about a downward trend. I know that the State Police Command is working very hard to use non-lethal weapons and the progressive use of force,” Camilo says. “In São Paulo, 73 percent of the people who shot at the police are alive because they were either arrested or escaped. We need to reduce the number of clashes. This is not failing to act. It’s using intelligence to anticipate the criminal.”