NGO Study: Brazil’s Police Lethality Much Higher Among Blacks

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A study released on Wednesday, December 9th, by the Safety Observatory Network indicates that police lethality is much higher among blacks.

Data collected in five states – São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Ceará and Pernambuco – point out that the black population dies the most because of the police, either in absolute numbers or proportionally. The researchers’ attention was drawn to the glaring contrast in some cases, which clearly shows that racism is institutionalized.

Bahia was the most impressive, where 97% of the 650 people killed by the police last year were black. In Pernambuco, this figure was also alarming, reaching 93%.

“Today we can no longer say that there is a racial bias. We must state the exact name of this bias. We must say that there is racism by the state,” says Silvia Ramos, coordinator of the Safety Observatory Network and the Center for Safety and Citizenship Studies.

The researcher points out that the numbers relate only to deaths that occurred in police operations. “This type of violence problem is very specific. We are not talking about crimes against property, of homicides that occur in faction wars. We are talking about a law enforcement agent who produced a death, without considering whether or not it was later tried as self-defense,” Silvia points out. “We are looking at the color of these state-sponsored deaths, be it against a criminal or an innocent victim.”

In Rio de Janeiro, although 51% of the population is black, deaths by police in this group of people reached 86% in 2019 – in overall terms, the total number of deaths in police operations was the highest in three decades. In São Paulo, 64% of those killed by police last year were black.

Another data that alarmed researchers was found in Ceará: according to the survey, in 77% of cases the victims’ color had not even been reported. Among those that had, 87% were black.

“When a public agent fails to fill in data, such as the victim’s gender, age, or level of schooling, for instance, you may believe that this may demand some kind of research work. But not to report the victim’s color? It’s a combination of indifference, sloppiness and, much more seriously, of racism on the part of state agents,” says Silvia.

All data supporting the survey were collected through the Access to Information Law, and compared with the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) census. In this regard, the Safety Observatory Network criticizes the difficulty in obtaining the official figures.

“It is almost a battle we have to fight with each Security Secretariat. Although we have the Transparency Law, the Access to Information Laws, it is more difficult now than it was two or three years ago. It’s much easier to get data on other crimes than police violence. It seems that there is a directive not to disclose it,” Silvia Ramos says.

The Rio government stated that safety policy is based on police intelligence and technology. “Police action always involves the preservation of lives, as a rule. The numbers of the Public Safety Institute (ISP) confirm this: between January and October 2020 there was a 30.8% drop in deaths from state agents’ intervention compared to the same period in 2019,” the government said, adding that all deaths by state agents or otherwise are rigorously investigated.

The São Paulo Security Secretariat said it was unaware of the research methodology and clarified that the commitment of the state security forces is “to life, which is why measures for the reduction of deaths are permanently considered and implemented by the portfolio.”

“The number of people killed in clashes with State Police officers on duty has been consistently dropping in the State of São Paulo,” added the portfolio, detailing that October was the fifth consecutive month in which the indicator fell. Deaths committed by officers are “rigorously investigated,” the Secretariat said.

“The Bahia Public Safety Secretariat emphasizes that police operations are conducted following intelligence surveys and detection of criminal activity. The SSP also emphasizes that all cases resulting in deaths are investigated by the Inspector General’s Office and, if there is no evidence of confrontation, police officers are removed, investigated, and punished, if a criminal behavior is evidenced.”

The Safety Secretariats of the States of Ceará and Pernambuco failed to comment on the data.