Inside Brazil’s most dangerous police force, where killings surge and accountability is scarce.
This is the sad reality under Sao Paulo’s current police. The police force became more deadly in 2023 after a new governor took office.
Beatriz lost her son and husband to police violence. Her four-year-old son, Ryan, died from a police bullet. Police shot her husband, Leonel, months earlier.
Police told Leonel to drop his crutches and run. When he did, they shot him. The killings by police greatly increased in Sao Paulo.
Many blame Governor Tarcísio de Freitas, who took power in January 2023. Since then, police violence has gotten worse and it impacts already struggling communities.
Camila, a human rights director, says the governor defends violence. He stopped measures that controlled police, like body cams.
An off-duty cop killed Gabriel for stealing soap. Gabriel slipped while leaving the store, and the cop shot him in the back 11 times. Footage led to the cop’s arrest.
Another cop threw Marcelo off a bridge after stopping him on his motorcycle. The cop threw him into a polluted river.
Marcelo survived, and Luan Pereira, the cop involved, lost his job after attention grew. Another cop fatally shot Marco, a medical student.
Marco hit the officer’s car mirror. After a struggle, the cop shot Marco, who died in the hospital on November 20.
Tarcísio de Freitas became governor in 2023 and may run for president in 2026. His campaign had violent language, and he opposed police body cameras.
Camila said body cams reduced killings with two thirds fewer killings between 2019 and 2022. De Freitas cut funding for cameras.
He appointed Guilherme Derrite to Public Security. Camila says Derrite believes good cops have murdered people. Derrite worked for ROTA, known for deaths.
He was investigated for 16 deaths and bragged about being fired for “killing too many bandits.” Leaders’ words are understood as orders, Camila explained.
Police said they understood it as orders to shoot, emphasizing that it’s about the leaders in charge.
Sao Paulo seemed better from 2019 to 2022, as killings by police dropped significantly. Camila finds the current situation unbearable.
She says the new governor threw away all that work and believes his promises only protect their image. She sees only empty promises.
An officer got arrested for throwing Marcelo from the bridge. Camila emphasizes it isn’t just about that one officer, and the whole chain of command must be held accountable. Many cases don’t get attention, she states.
The killings are not random, and Brazil has a racist situation. Black people in poor areas are often the victims since Sao Paulo matters due to its potential to spread trends.
Between January and September 2024, police killed 496 people, according to the State Department of Public Security. This a 75 percent increase compared to last year.
130 people died in Sao Paulo city, and 109 died in Baixada Santista. Comparatively, London had only one police killing.
The recent violence followed deadly police operations, such as “Escudo” and “Verão,” which killed many civilians. These operations were revenge for cops killed, so more people are dying for a reason.
De Freitas said body cams were useless and cut their funding by 37%, despite these cameras helping reduce deaths before.
De Freitas faced pressure to change after the incidents and recognized that there were mistakes, Camila said. However, so far, there are empty promises.
Camila wants a police regulator scrapped because it originally held police accountable well. De Freitas made a parallel regulator linked to Derrite, she says.
This new regulator lacks independence and reassures police about abuses. Even after pressure, he hasn’t revoked it.
Camila also says sack Derrite and enforce body cams. Instead, he supports Derrite and will replace the working body cams with new ones that won’t run all the time.
Organizations like Conectas fight the violence. They took the body cam case to court and won, and NGOs sent a letter to the Organization of American States.
They warn about the growing brutality. The church also spoke out against the police motto: “The only good bandit is a dead bandit.”
Father Julio Lancellotti sees violence against the poor which comes from those who should protect people He says the violence is planned.
Father David Santos says people support Derrite due to misinformation and mentioned an inhumane solution. He clarifies that inhumane solution is killing poor people.