“Police 24 hours a day”, says ombudsman about PM who denied help to young black man

A video that circulated on social media shows a police officer refusing help and attacking a young black man who is threatened by an armed man. In an interview with CNN, the São Paulo police ombudsman, Claudio Aparecido da Silva, explained the ombudsman’s work in the case of the military police officer.

According to Claudio, the procedure installed by the ombudsman has two objectives. The first is to forward the images of the case to the internal affairs department. From there, the internal affairs department investigates the facts and evaluates the police officer’s stance at that time. The second is to identify the armed man. After identification, the man will be submitted to police authorities. “The man made a serious threat against that young man and not only against the young man, but he threatened everyone who was present”, states the ombudsman.

The investigation into the police officer, who has already been identified, is the responsibility of the internal affairs department, which will also investigate which rules the PM broke. “She is subject to a regulation that determines that she is a PM with or without a uniform, 24 hours a day”, explains Claudio.

Duty of the PM

The São Paulo police ombudsman also explains what the military should have done within its legal duty: “According to the standard operating procedure, it should protect the victim, identify the victim and the perpetrator, and forward them to the police district ”. Claudio considers the police officer’s attitude to be “very serious”. “Her attitudes put many people at risk and she put the Military Police institution to the test, tarnishing the image of the institution. She will definitely not receive a lenient punishment.” According to the ombudsman, there is the possibility of the professional being removed, but due to the seriousness of the facts, she could suffer more severe punishments, such as expulsion from the corporation. “Her inaction was very serious and the repercussion of the video itself shows this.”

Lives at risk

During the interview, Claudio reinforced that the case happened in a busy place, at the exit of the subway. “She should have acted not only to protect the young man, but to protect all the people who were there at the scene.” The ombudsman also comments on the seriousness of the threat: “A person in that emotional condition pointing a gun at people could not only injure that young man, but also other citizens present”.