Prisoners Spend Days Handcuffed in Vehicles in Front of Police Stations in Porto Alegre

By Xiu Ying, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The precincts on duty in Porto Alegre have again maintained prisoners in cars.

On Sunday night (21st) there were 12 people detained until 6:30 pm in police cars parked in front of the Police Palace, where the 2nd Police Station is located.

At least three prisoners were reported to have been in this situation for five days while nine other prisoners were kept in the building’s cells.

In the 3rd DPPA – Police Department of Emergency Care – in the Navegantes neighborhood, North of the state Capital, there were another 12 inmates in vehicles, in addition to the five detained in the police station cells.

Military police officers monitor the prisoners and consequently fail to do policing on
the streets.

There were five police officers in front of the Police Palace in the morning. In the 3rd DPPA there were four.

The Penitentiary Services Superintendency states that it is seeking to locate vacancies within the prison system.

According to the state government, the deficit in the prison system of Rio Grande do Sul exceeds 13 thousand vacancies.

“This is not a new situation, it has been ongoing for a few years and it undermines
not only the Military Brigade but also the Civil Police and the Penitentiary
Services Superintendency.”

“Consequently, we are involved in functions that are not under our responsibility. We do it in a sense of cooperation in order to try to ease the problem”, says Captain Martha Richter, a service officer of the Capital Police Command (CPC).