Deaths in Clashes With the Police Increase 49 Percent in Rio de Janeiro

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Deaths in clashes with the police increased 49 percent in July compared to the same month in 2018 and up 29 percent compared to June. Last month, 194 cases of this nature were recorded, representing six cases per day, according to data released yesterday, August 21st, by the Public Safety Institute (ISP), of the state government.

The number of “deaths by the intervention of state agents,” as it is technically termed, reached a peak of 176 cases in August of last year, during the intervention of the armed forces in Rio’s state security, and had been dropping, totaling 88 deaths in December of 2018.

In the first month of Wilson Witzel‘s government, which has vowed to confront criminals and advocates shooting people carrying rifles, deaths in clashes with the police rose to 159 in January, dropping from February to April, but rising again as of May.

In other criminal categories, ISP numbers showed a sharp reduction in homicide cases in July, with the lowest number of victims in the state since August 2015 (309), a decrease of 25 percent compared to the same period last year and six percent compared to June 2019. In the year to date, 2,392 victims have been recorded, the lowest figure for the period from January to July since 1991. In relation to the same period last year, the drop was 23 percent, or 709 fewer deaths in the state, when compared to the same period in 2018.

The violent fatality indicator, which covers murder, robbery followed by death, bodily injury followed by death and death by state agent intervention, decreased seven percent in July compared to the same period last year but increased six percent compared to June 2019.

In terms of street robberies, which include pedestrian, mass transit, and cell phone robberies, the reduction was eight percent in July, totaling 10,071 cases, representing 335 robberies per day. The complete numbers are available on the ISP website.