Crime in Brazil
Brazil has come a long way through out its chaotic history, from being a colony, to gaining its independence, to being a democracy, to having an authoritarian military regime, to having a democracy today. Despite this great progress, Brazil still has many problems with crime through out the country. The major Brazilian crimes include drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, murder for hire, human trafficking, fraud, corruption and black marketing. In the past, Brazil’s homicide rate has be over twenty homicides per one hundred thousand inhabitants, which places the country in the list of top twenty countries ranked by homicide rate. Of course, the country is very large and this homicide rate varies widely; there are some regions that have much lower rates than others. The U.S. Department of State reports that a majority of Brazilian crimes are not solved.
The most serious areas of crime in Brazil are located in Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Slvador, Recife, and Porto Alegre. These regions have the highest homicides rates by aggression in the country. A homicide rate of twenty-four homicides per one hundred thousand residents as well as muggings, kidnappings, robberies, and gang violence are not uncommon. Corruption and police brutality are just as widespread. There are inefficient public services related to security, health, and education which severely decrease the quality of life in these regions. In Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, organized crime is well organized and major criminal organizations like Amigos dos Amigos, Comando Vermelho, and Primeiro Comando da Capital operate openly. In 2006 alone, over forty-six thousand people were murdered. This is a reduction compared to 2005 however. Computer hacking and internet fraud also have strong presence in Brazil. In fact, eighty percent of the world’s hackers are from Brazil.
There are great efforts being made to combat the crime rates in Brazil, and many tourists locations in the country are just as safe as other Western destinations. In 2004, the National Public Security Dorce or NPSF was established by the Ministry of Justice to act in emergency situations. The organizations in controlled by the National Security Bureau. It brings together the Federal police and the best police states to create a powerful group of elite police officers that is similar to the American SWAT team concept. It was inspired by the peace forces of the United Nations. By setting up the troops, the federal government wanted to prevent the transmission of the Armed Forces and assist the state police in the fight against crime.
Another elite group of the Military Police is called BOPE or Batalhao de Operacoes Policiais Especiais, which means Special Police Operations Battalion. These elite groups exist in Sao Jose, Brasilia, and many other cities. The most infamous and famous of these groups is the BOPE-PMRJ. PMRJ refers to the military police force of Rio de Janeiro. This group attempts to break barricades constructed by drug traffickers, extract officers and civilians injured in confrontations, act on high-risk arrest warrants, rescue hostages, suppress prison rebellions, and conduct special missions in difficult terrains.