Survey Shows Increase in Violent Deaths in Brazil in 2014

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The number of violent deaths in Brazil totaled more than 58,000 last year, with 160 deaths occurring every day, according to a survey released on Thursday by the Brazilian Public Security Forum. The number is 4.8 percent higher than that registered in 2013, a fact that has received wide international attention, since city of Rio de Janeiro is hosting the Olympic Games next year.

The survey took into consideration persons who died as victims of homicides, robberies which ended in death, manslaughter and police killings.

The greater part of the violent deaths were registered as homicides, but what has gotten the attention of local media is the fact that the second largest number of violent deaths occurred during police actions.

In 2014 police and security officers killed eight persons per day in Brazil, for a total of over 3,000 deaths over the year.

The Northeastern state of Bahia is the state that account for the highest number of violent deaths in the country, followed by Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

The state of Alagoas was first in the number of intentional violent deaths (homicides) while São Paulo, although high up on the list of total number of victims, registered the lowest rate of violent deaths per inhabitants. The state, however, has the highest number of cases of deaths caused by police action in the nation, 965 cases last year.

The Brazilian Public Security Forum conducts the annual violence survey based on information available from the public security departments of each state.