Even with Operation Shield underway, a significant increase in violent crimes was recorded in the Baixada Santista region between August and September 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. The survey is by Instituto Sou da Paz based on data from the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP).
Baixada Santista covers the cities of Bertioga, Cubatão, Guarujá, Itanhaém, Mongaguá, Peruíbe, Praia Grande, Santos and São Vicente, all on the south coast of São Paulo.
According to the data, the worsening of crime indicators was intense in the four municipalities that were the scene of Operation Shield last year. During the period, the cities of Santos, Guarujá, São Vicente and Praia Grande had a significant worsening in the occurrences of rapes, thefts in general, completed and attempted homicides, robberies and robberies in general between August and September of last year — the period in which the operation — when compared to the same period in 2022.
The research highlights the 84.2% increase in attempted murders and 335% in cargo thefts, which jumped from 20 incidents in August and September 2022 to 87 during the Operation Shield period. Homicide cases increased by 7.7% in the region and there were 25% more incidents of rape in the same period.
When data from all cities in Baixada Santista are analyzed, there is a reduction in intentional homicides in the months of August and September 2023. However, the numbers show that there was a significant increase in murders in the region in the months following Operation Escudo.
Four months before the operation, the region recorded 18 cases of intentional homicides — those in which there is intent to kill. Two months earlier there were 18, and during the operation 22 incidents were recorded. However, four months after the end of the operation, between December and January of this year, the number jumped to 29.
The same phenomenon occurred in relation to other crimes, such as vehicle theft and robberies in general, which four months after the operation registered a higher number of occurrences in the Baixada municipalities than that recorded in the previous months.
Lethal operations in Baixada
Operation Shield was launched on July 27, 2023 and ended in September with 28 deaths. The action ranks third among the most lethal operations of the São Paulo Military Police, behind only the Carandiru massacre, in 1992, and Operation Verão, which was launched this year, and which has left 48 people dead since January 26th.
Both operations were launched after the death of military police officers in the region.
Operation Shield of 2023 mobilized, in addition to the Baixada police force, around 600 police officers from other regions of the state, in a total of 15 battalions, including Shock battalions and BAEPs from the capital and interior, and focused on peripheral neighborhoods of Guarujá, São Vicente and Santos.
At the beginning of this month, the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), stated that entities that defend human rights could “go to the UN, to the Justice League, whatever the hell” because he didn’t “give a damn” ”. The speech took place after organizations reported police abuses committed during these operations to the UN Human Rights Council (United Nations).
For the executive director of the Sou da Paz Institute, Carolina Ricardo, despite the large number of personnel transferred to Baixada Santista, the result was an increase in several violent crimes in the region, which does not improve the lives of the population.
“On the contrary, even though under the justification of combating organized crime in Baixada Santista, these operations are not having concrete results in the dismantling of criminal organizations and have not even managed to reduce the high crime rates in the region,” he stated.
Wanted by CNN the SSP stated that operations to combat organized crime carried out in Baixada Santista resulted in the arrest of important drug trafficking leaders in the region and the seizure of drugs.
Check out the SSP note in full:
“The operations to combat organized crime carried out in Baixada Santista, between July 28th and September 5th, 2023 and from February 3rd of this year, resulted in the arrest of important drug trafficking leaders in the region. Furthermore, more than two thousand criminals were arrested by the security forces, of which 810 were wanted by the courts; 220 illegal firearms and 1.6 tons of drugs were also removed from the streets, causing significant damage to criminal activities in the region.
This strategy to combat crime, combined with the intensification of investigative work and preventive and overt policing actions by local teams, results in positive impacts in the long term, as the region's own indicators demonstrate. In 2023, the Baixada Santista region showed a reduction in homicide cases (-18.1%) and a significant increase (9.5%) in the number of offenders arrested and apprehended, totaling 11,246 criminals detained. The theft rate, which registered an increase of 12% in the first half of the year, closed the second half with a reduction of 2.5%, after the operation and the actions mentioned. There was also a slowdown in robberies following the intensification of policing. Other indicators, such as vehicle theft and rape, also saw important drops in the period.
As for cargo theft, the department has concentrated efforts to combat this criminal type. The region has unique seasonal and geographic characteristics, which influence crime indicators, in addition to being home to the largest port complex in Latin America. Security forces have worked together, using intelligence and technology, to combat cargo theft. In the three main cities in the region (Santos, São Vicente and Guarujá) there was a drop in five incidents in the first month of this year, compared to January 2023. Another example of the effectiveness of the police's work was the recovery of a load of cigarettes valued at R$7.2 million and the arrest of 17 suspects, in January this year, in Cubatão.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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