Rio de Janeiro Military Police says officers used body cameras when approaching young black men; police officer denies

After the Rio de Janeiro Military Police stated that the officers involved in the approach to a group of young black men, children of diplomats, were wearing body cameras, and that the images would be available for future investigations and inquiries, one of the officers denied the information in a statement. The incident occurred earlier this month.

3rd Sergeant Sérgio Regattieri Fernandes Marinho, who spoke for the first time in the investigation into the conduct of the soldiers, said he was without the equipment.

He was questioned for just over two hours at the Special Tourism Support Unit (Deat). The agent was accompanied by a PM officer and also by the Military Police Internal Affairs Unit.

One of the protocols that all military police officers in the state must follow is the mandatory use of body cameras. Failure to use the equipment is considered a serious offense by the police.

The images from the cameras are fundamental in the investigation process and would help the Civil Police to ascertain the facts and understand the dynamics of the police approach that is being denounced by the families of some of the young people as racist and brutal.

Delegate Danielle Bullus, who is investigating the case, requested the images from the Military Police, but as of Thursday (11), the request had not yet been met.

Questioned by CNN the Rio de Janeiro State Military Police Secretariat (SEPM) reported in a note that the investigation is ongoing and that the Corporation’s Internal Affairs Department has opened an investigation procedure to investigate the case.

The Military Police also reported that “it is worth noting that the SEPM does not condone misappropriation by its entities, and severely punishes those involved when the facts are confirmed. The Military Police continues to fully collaborate with the investigation carried out by the Civil Police.”