The Rio de Janeiro Military Police project to use cameras with facial recognition to combat crime should begin operating in Copacabana, in the south of the city, on New Year’s Eve this year. The traditional Rio neighborhood is experiencing a wave of violence, with records of violent robberies and vigilante actions.
According to the corporation, this will be the first stage of implementation of the state’s ‘Urban Video Monitoring Program’, which consists of installing cameras with facial recognition software along the entire coastline, from Leme to Pedra de Guaratiba, and on the main expressways and tunnels, which must also have license plate reading software.
The estimated value of investment in the new technology is R$84 million. The main purpose of the cameras is to recognize — and warn the police — about the presence of people with outstanding arrest warrants in monitored locations.
On the other hand, the use of this tool in the context of public security is questioned. In São Paulo, the Public Ministry requested the suspension of the Smart Sampa Program, which provided for the installation of cameras for this purpose, after a request from city councilors in the capital pointed out that experts concluded that the technology had a discriminatory nature, since research showed that, in other Brazilian locations where it was implemented, 90.5% of people arrested using facial recognition were black.
The Rio PM already has the 190 Integrated program, where cameras from public and private institutions and individuals send images and signals to the corporation’s Integrated Command and Control Center.
According to the data, there are already more than 200 thousand pieces of equipment operating in the state. To participate, the company or person must register and have a good internet signal and a system capable of storing images for 30 days.
“For the Military Police, the greater the number of registered equipment, the better for the Corporation, which will have its monitoring capacity expanded, and for society, which now has a more qualified security service”, says the PM in a note.
Wave of violence in Copacabana
The Rio government announced, this Wednesday (6), that it will improve security actions in the Copacabana neighborhood, in the South Zone of Rio, following the recent episodes of violence. Residents of the neighborhood came together and created groups of vigilantes, who take to the streets hunting thieves, after a 67-year-old businessman was knocked out, on Avenida Nossa Senhora de Copacabana, when trying to defend a woman who was the victim of a dragnet.
According to the administration, one of the main measures will be the installation of a security corridor in the region. The corporation’s vehicles will be distributed from 6pm to 11pm along Avenida Nossa Senhora de Copacabana, one of the main roads in the neighborhood. After 11pm, the vehicle corridor will be repositioned along Avenida Atlântica, on the Copacabana waterfront. The intention is to improve the safety of residents and tourists who frequent the boardwalk and kiosks.
In addition to the corridor, the Military Police announced better distribution of policing, in general, in addition to intensified approaches.
Source: CNN Brasil
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