“We are going to arrest everyone”, says Secretary of Security of RS amid looting

In addition to the calamity caused by heavy rains, the population of Rio Grande do Sul is also facing a wave of looting in homes, stores and even threats against rescuers.

In response, the state's Secretary of Public Security, Sandro Caron, said that authorities will arrest anyone who commits criminal acts.

“We have seen people committing theft, robberies, break-ins at this time of crisis. But we’re going to arrest everyone,” he said in an interview with Rádio Gaúcha, on Tuesday (7).

According to the secretary, the Military Brigade and the Civil Police were directed to prevent possible looting attempts, crimes against property and possible disorder.

When speaking on the topic of public security, during a press conference, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite (PSDB), said that he requested the support of 400 soldiers from the National Security Force. This Wednesday (8), the first hundred officers must present themselves for action.

In addition, Leite ordered the opening of a notice for the More Effective Program, which allows the temporary hiring of police officers who are in reserve.

According to him, 1,000 agents will be employed. The governor explained that this force does not operate on the streets, but in places that need security (such as shelters), freeing other agents to take to the streets.

“We will put in full force for public safety. […] We will maintain order in the state. And we will arrest and punish those who use a dramatic moment to carry out scams or commit crimes. Let’s be firm to prevent crimes in these conditions,” he said.

Authorities have been receiving information about criminal acts since the weekend.

In an interview with CNN this Tuesday, Colonel Márcio de Azevedo Gonçalves, commander of the Metropolitan Police Command (CPM) said that since last Saturday (4) reports of looting have been made by volunteers helping to rescue victims.

“We immediately placed military police officers in the water permanently to carry out this patrolling. We managed to mitigate these effects. We had two armed individuals arrested on Sunday,” said Gonçalves.

Reinforcement

On Tuesday, the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, authorized the sending of another 100 men from the National Force to Rio Grande do Sul to reinforce public security.

In total, there are 944 federal employees – including police officers, highway police officers and National Force agents – who work in the region. In addition to the agents, the forces also made available a large number of equipment such as helicopters, rescue boats and watercraft.

Reinforcement for the state also comes from the Federal Police (PF). Yesterday, the corporation increased the sending of agents to Rio Grande do Sul to work on the security of cities and critical structures, mainly in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre.

Police officers will also provide support to rescue citizens stranded by floods.

Among the structures considered critical that the PF will reinforce security is Salgado Filho International Airport, in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul.

The PF will also act on the overt security of cities to prevent crimes and also guarantee support for volunteers who carry out operations even at night. Among the corporation's sectors are members of the Tactical Operations Command (COT), which provides training in crisis management.

According to the PF, 350 employees, including police and administrative agents, were mobilized to flood areas throughout the state.

Emergency resources

In addition to the announcements about public security, Eduardo Leite also announced, during a press conference on Tuesday, the allocation of R$200 million in emergency resources to face the crisis.

The funds will be allocated to areas such as Civil Defense, Social Assistance, Health and Infrastructure.

Check the values:

• R$70 million in Fund-to-Fund transfers to municipalities for emergency actions;
• R$50 million through the Volta por Cima program, benefiting 20 thousand families registered with CadÚnico;
• R$10 million for affected hospitals with emergency needs;
• R$40 million to recover and unblock roads;
• R$30 million in Social Rent, covering 75 thousand families.

Tragedy

The number of deaths confirmed as a result of the rains that hit Rio Grande do Sul since last week rose from 90 to 95, according to a report released by Civil Defense early Tuesday evening. In addition to the deaths, the state has 372 injured people and 131 missing people.

Four other deaths are under investigation. In other words, it is still being determined whether these people died due to the rain or other causes.

In total, 1,443,950 people were affected. Of these, 159,036 are homeless and 48,799 are in temporary shelters.

The storms affected 401 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul. According to governor Eduardo Leite (PSDB), the number is four times greater than what was recorded in September last year, when the state was hit by the passage of an extratropical cyclone. At the time, 54 people died.

*published by Pedro Zanatta, from CNN.