In an interview given to CNN , this Tuesday morning (12), the Secretary of Public Security of Rio de Janeiro, Victor Santos, anticipated the results of a survey carried out by the Public Security Institute (ISP). According to him, the study shows that police lethality in the state is higher in regions where there are higher rates of crimes against property committed with violence or serious threats.
According to the secretary, the use of firearms is generally used in such crimes. “In other words, if there are armed criminals operating in a certain region, the police, in order to maintain law and order, end up having a greater possibility of confrontation”, he explains.
A formula produced by ISP scholars was developed to correlate these indices. The full study should be published later this week.
In his speech, Victor Santos stressed that “the decision to confront is up to the criminal”.
The secretary also explained that police operations in Rio de Janeiro have five police officers for each criminal who is the target of the action. According to him, this would be an inhibitory factor for criminals to initiate confrontations.
“Often, they are under the influence of drugs, and end up not having this vision and react by attacking the police officer's life and, naturally, the police officer trying to repel this unjust aggression ends up mortally wounding the criminal”, he says.
Fighting factions
During the interview with CNN Secretary Victor Santos stated that different criminal factions dispute territories very closely due to Rio de Janeiro being very small.
“Every time we weaken a faction, the rival sees an opportunity to dominate that territory”, he explains.
Thinking about combating these criminal organizations, the secretary claims that the solution is complex: “We cannot think that there is a simple solution. We understand that financial reprimand is interesting to take away the financial power of these organizations”.
According to Victor Santos, the state counts on the help of the Financial Activities Control Council (Coaf) to monitor the financial movements of the factions. “Trafficking saw the opportunity for other revenues, other than just the sale of drugs.”
Another path forward is interstate cooperation. “Today we demand drugs and weapons from other states and other countries. Cooperation with other states is important”, he warns.
On the other hand, Victor Santos highlights that the actions of the factions in Rio de Janeiro are not the department's only concerns. “It is not the armed drug dealer on the hill with a rifle who ends up affecting our daily lives. This everyday violence, cell phone theft, theft and car theft, is what worries the citizens of Rio de Janeiro.”
(Published by Bruno Laforé)
Source: CNN Brasil
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