Police actions in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas cause, annually, a loss of at least R$14 million to community residents. The data is from the research Favelas in Mira do Tiro: Impact of the War on Drugs on the Economy of the Territoriesreleased this Monday (18), by the Center for Security and Citizenship Studies (CESeC).
According to residents, as a result of the actions, they are often prevented from going to work or have to close local businesses, in addition to having their establishments and products damaged in exchanges of gunfire and interruptions in the supply of essential services such as electricity and water.
“It’s a lot of money and it’s money that’s needed. It’s the cost these people are paying for a war they didn’t ask to be in. It is the cost caused by violent and disorderly actions by the State itself”, said sociologist Rachel Machado, research coordinator at CESeC.
The research was carried out with 400 residents of Complexo da Penha and 400 from Complexo de Manguinhos, both in the north of the city. The two territories were those with the highest incidence of shootings resulting from police actions between June 2021 and May 2022, according to data from the Fogo Cruzado Institute, which gathers information on armed violence in Rio de Janeiro and other locations.
303 traders from the favelas Vila Cruzeiro, in Penha, and Mandela de Pedra, in Manguinhos, were also interviewed, the most affected by the exchanges of gunfire within these complexes.
The data show that 60.4% of residents of the Penha and Manguinhos complexes, who carried out paid activities, were unable to work due to police operations that took place throughout the year preceding the survey. They report that they lost, on average, 7.5 days of work, the equivalent of a week and a half or 2.8% of a year with 264 working days.
Considering that the average income of the population over 18 years of age in these territories is R$1,652 per month, the work that is no longer carried out due to police actions generates an annual loss of R$9.4 million. This value is added to the losses resulting from the replacement or repair of goods damaged by violent actions, which reach R$4.7 million per year in the two complexes.
The study then estimates an annual loss of approximately R$14 million as a result of police actions.
“The operations take place in the morning, when children are going to school, when children are doing their activities and people are going to work. Many residents were left without work, prevented from leaving their homes and also reported losses due to property that was damaged, destroyed and needed to be repaired or replaced due to shootings, due to police actions”, said Rachel Machado.
The survey also shows that 56.6% of residents reported being prevented from using transport; 42.8% of carrying out leisure activities; 33.3% receiving orders; 32.3% were unable to attend medical appointments, and 26% were unable to study.
Business closed
With the participation of residents, the research mapped all 367 establishments in Vila Cruzeiro and Mandela de Pedra. Of these, 303 were still in operation at the time the questionnaires were administered. For local businesses alone, adding losses from the reduction in sales and services and repair and replacement costs, the total loss from police operations was estimated at R$2.5 million per year, which represents 34.2% revenue from these projects.
Shootings involving security agents caused the temporary closure of 51.3% of establishments in Vila Cruzeiro and 46.3% in Mandela de Pedra in the 12 months prior to the research. In both favelas, 51.2% of the enterprises had a decrease in their sales and/or services.
In Vila Cruzeiro, 18.7% of traders had goods damaged or destroyed as a result of police actions in the 12 months prior to the survey. In Mandela de Pedra, this percentage was 9%.
“This impact that traders reported is a very big impact and it is not just on the day of the operation that they close and lose their revenue for the day, the day after the operation the favela does not behave normally. People die, there is a climate of anxiety, violence and insecurity. So, there is a loss not only at the specific moment of the operation, but also a few days later”, said Rachel Machado.
Incalculable losses
The research is the fourth stage of the Drugs: How Much It Costs to Prohibit project. Previous research has focused on the impacts on the public budget, on education, with the closure of schools, and on health, both with the closure of posts and on the mental and physical health of populations in conflict areas.
Rachel Machado explained that this stage of the research calculates the losses that can be valued. But, according to her, it is important to remember that the constant operations and violence in the favelas leave marks that cannot be estimated. “There are costs that these people incur, which they often pay with their lives, which we do not calculate, which are not repairable losses. These people lose their lives and these operations cause a lot of pain, a lot of suffering,” she said.
According to the state government’s Public Security Institute (ISP), 1,327 people died in actions by security forces in the state of Rio de Janeiro in 2022, equivalent to 29.7% of all violent deaths (intentional homicides, deaths resulting from police action, robbery followed by death and bodily injury followed by death) recorded in the year, which totaled 4,473.
According to the Fogo Cruzado Institute, in the last 7 years, between July 2016 and July 2023, police actions and operations were the main reason for victimizing children and adolescents. During this period, 112 children and adolescents were killed and 174 were injured.
Also according to the institute, since the beginning of this year, 100 public security agents have been shot in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. Of this total, 44 died and 56 were injured.
“We know that these territories are majority black and it is these mothers who mourn the death of their children in these actions. We often have children who are killed in these police actions. The bill doesn’t add up, it’s not worth it for a so-called war on drugs that, in reality, causes suffering and pain for the favela territories and for the mostly black people who are there. It is a war that is territorialized and that does not meet its specific objective, which is to reduce the circulation, trafficking and sale of drugs, but which, on the other hand, causes pain, suffering and death, in addition to the economic impacts that we mentions in the research”, assesses Rachel Machado.
Other side
The State Secretariat of Military Police of Rio de Janeiro (SEPM), said, in a note, that the corporation’s actions are planned “based on intelligence information, being guided by technical criteria and the provisions of current legislation, with the concern the preservation of lives is central.”
SEPM said that, together with the state government, it has been investing in training, improving working conditions for police officers and in equipment “so that the corporation’s actions are increasingly technical and safe for its members and society”.
Another measure that has been taken by the department is the use of individual operational cameras used by police officers on duty. At the Integrated Command and Control Center (CICC), according to the secretariat, there is a system that allows real-time monitoring of police officers who are using the cameras, making it possible to know their exact location and have contact with them, if necessary.
SEPM reported that all 39 area battalions across the state have already received body cameras, as have some specialized units.
The State Secretariat of Civil Police (Sepol) said, in a note, that it carries out detailed prior planning, based on intelligence information, including location mapping, in all operations. “The institution’s actions always prioritize the preservation of lives, both of agents and citizens,” he said.
Sepol reported that it also has the Central Intelligence Agency, the largest state public security agency in the country, which advises on strategic and operational decision-making in the fight against crime.
“Working in communities is part of the actions to combat crime and is fundamental work, since criminal organizations use the resources arising from criminal practices to finance their territorial domains, with the restriction of freedom of residents of the regions occupied by them”, said Sepol.
The information is from Agência Brasil
The post Police actions in favelas cause losses of R$14 million per year appeared first in Jornal de Brasília.
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