Rio de Janeiro offers US$1,000 bounty for each confiscated gun to curb criminal firepower

The Rio de Janeiro administration has initiated a R$5,000 (US$1,000) reward for each rifle seized by law enforcement officers, per an official decree published on Monday, 21.

The reward applies to officers who, during their duty or because of it, confiscate unregistered firearms, specifically rifles, regardless of making an arrest or detaining a minor found with the seized weapon.

Only operational rifles will qualify for the reward after due inspection.

Even though the decree is now effective, the Civil and Military Police Departments have 60 days to establish internal procedures to implement the incentive.

The reward money will be allocated from the respective departmental budgets.

Furthermore, the reward extends to officers who secure such weapons even while off-duty.

However, officers under disciplinary suspension won’t be eligible for the incentive during their suspension period.

In instances where multiple officers are directly responsible for the confiscation, the reward will be evenly divided among them.

Reward distribution and accounting will occur at the end of each six months.

Governor Cláudio Castro commented, “Through this initiative, our aim is to diminish criminals’ firepower further.”

“Rifles are warfare weapons; the more we remove from criminals, the lesser the need for our officers to employ force.”

According to the State Security Institute, 366 rifles were confiscated in the first half of this year, averaging two per day, marking a 64% rise compared to the same timeframe last year.

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