By Stephen Eisenhammer, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - The 22nd Police Pacification Unit (UPP) has been inaugurated for the favela communities of Adeus and Baiana, which neighbor Complexo do Alemão in Rio de Janeiro’s Zona Norte (North Zone), where pacification forces have struggled to curtail drug trafficking and violence. The inauguration was led [...]
Stephen Eisenhammer, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A member of the military police was photographed spraying a dog in the eyes with pepper spray while on patrol in the favela community of Rocinha, in Rio de Janeiro’s Zona Sul (south zone), Sunday morning. The incident has caused public outrage, with the photograph, [...]
By Stephen Eisenhammer, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Rocinha, widely considered Brazil’s largest favela community has been occupied since November as part of the pacification program. In recent months the favela has dominated the headlines again with an increase in violence though, and so it is welcome news that the community is hosting [...]
By Ségolène Poirier, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The first UPP (Police Pacification Unit) installation in Complexo do Alemão began on Wednesday, April 18th at two locations with a total of 660 military police officers set to patrol sixteen communities. The initiative is the first step in plans to install a total of [...]
By Zoë Roller, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Government and police officials are developing new anti-corruption measures, spurred in part by recent events in Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio’s Zona Sul (South Zone). A UPP (Police Pacification Unit) is slated to be installed in Rocinha this year, but in addition to the [...]
By Sarah de Sainte Croix, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Corporal Rodrigo Alves Cavalcante, a Military Police (PM) officer with the Batalhão de Choque (Shock Batalion), was shot and killed in Rocinha. He becomes the first police officer, and the ninth person in total, to [...]
By Zoë Roller, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A series of recent murders in Rocinha, including the shooting of the president of a neighborhood Residents’ Association, have lead police to speculate that the community is suffering from drug gang conflicts. The murder victims were all suspected of involvement with drug trade, and two [...]
By Lacy Edney, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The favelas of Rio have arguably represented a dangerous side of the Cidade Maravilhosa, but with the pacification efforts, several favela communities have become a safe and welcoming point of interest for tourists. For a long time all but the most adventurous of travelers would [...]
By Fiona Hurrell, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Rocinha is to be used as an initiation patrol ground for recent military police graduate officers. The move is said to be a temporary security solution put in place while the community is awaiting the installation of the UPP (Pacification Police Units). The last two [...]
By Ségolène Poirier, Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A 41 year-old community leader from Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio was killed on Monday afternoon. This is the sixth reported murder since the November pacification force has occupied the area, and took place even though police presence was increased last week in Rocinha. [...]
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