Rio State Records Lowest Monthly Number of Homicides in 30 Years

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The state of Rio de Janeiro showed a 19 percent drop in the number of murders recorded in July this year, compared to the same month in 2019. There were 313 deaths in July 2019 and 255 in July this year. This was the lowest number for the indicator since official records began in 1991 by the Public Safety Institute (ISP).

There was also a ten percent reduction in murders in the first seven months of 2020 compared to the same period last year. From January to July this year, there were 2,153 victims compared to 2,403 in the same period in 2019.

Indicators of other violent crimes also registered a drop. When compared to 2019, the number of intentional lethal violent crimes, such as murder, robbery followed by death and bodily injury followed by death, decreased 11 percent from January to June and 20 percent from July. The number of deaths by intervention of state agents dropped by 24 percent in the first six months of 2020 and by 74 percent compared to July.

The number of cargo thefts has also decreased. There were 3,100 cases in the first six months of 2020 and 544 in July. This represents a decline of 34 percent over the first half of 2019 and 21 percent over July. As for larceny, i.e. robbery followed by death, there were 47 victims recorded in the first six months of the year and seven in July. Compared to 2019, there were 34 fewer deaths between January and June and six fewer in July.

The number of street robberies fell by 42 percent compared to the first half of 2019 and by 40 percent compared to July. As for vehicle thefts, there were 15,616 incidents in the first six months of 2020 and 1,819 in July. When compared to last year, there was a 37 percent drop over the year and a 43 percent drop over July.

However, there was an increase in the records of fraud, 67 percent more in July than for the same month in 2019: 6,058 cases this year, the highest figure since offcial records began. The number of online fraud crimes increased from 339 cases in July 2019 to 1,616 in July this year, almost five times more.

Crimes during quarantine

Between March 13th, when social distancing began in Rio de Janeiro State, and July 31st, there were substantial reductions in the level of violence against women reported in State Secretariats of Civil Police stations: 50.8 percent in the number of women victims of moral violence; 49.4 percent in property violence; 45.5 percent of victims of psychological violence; 34.6 percent of cases of sexual violence; and 34.2 percent of victims of physical violence. The crimes specified by the Maria da Penha Law also reported a decrease: 35.3 percent.

Despite the drop in recorded cases, the proportion of more serious crimes occurring at home increased. In the period researched in 2020, 66.4 percent of the crime of physical violence (60.1 percent in 2019) and 66.6 percent of sexual violence (57.7 percent in 2019) occurred in the home.

The number of calls to the ‘Disque Denúncia’ (Report Hotline) Call Center decreased by 17.2 percent for cases of violence against women. On the other hand, calls received by the 190 Service of the State Police Secretariat regarding crimes against women reported a 13 percent increase over the same days last year.

However, a more detailed analysis of this period shows that since late May, the record of female victims has been increasing, and in July this year the numbers are once again nearing the level seen in 2019. The number of calls to the 190 Service and the Disque Denúncia remains relatively stable in the last months of the isolation period.

In the monthly analysis, three more victims of feminicide were recorded in July 2020 compared to the same month last year: eight cases this year against five in 2019. The total number of crimes with female victims recorded under the Maria da Penha Law declined by ten percent in July (5,007 in 2020 and 5,592 in 2019), but compared to June 2020, there was a 19 percent increase. Rape of female victims recorded stability in July when compared to the same month last year. There were 330 female victims in July this year, six fewer than in July 2019.