Within 24 hours, two serious events involving police violence were recorded in São Paulo. In the first, a military police officer (PM) threw a man off a bridge, in Cidade Adhemar, in the south of the capital. In the other case, a police officer, who was off duty, killed, with a shot in the back, a 26-year-old boy who had robbed a market, in Jardim Prudência, also in the south zone.
The incidents led the State’s Secretary of Public Security, Guilherme Derrite, to release a statement on social media stating that the PM’s years of legacy cannot be tarnished by unprofessional conduct. “Police officers do not shoot in the back in a robbery without a threat to life and do not throw anyone over a wall. For good police officers who should not bear the burden of irresponsibility on the part of some, there will be severe punishment.”
Governor Tarcísio de Freitas also spoke out on social media, stating that the case will be “rigorously” investigated and punished.
In the case of the man thrown from the bridge, the Public Security Secretariat (SSP) reported that two sergeants and 11 corporals and soldiers will be removed from the streets until the end of the investigation. They all belong to the 24th PM Battalion, in Diadema, in the metropolitan region of the capital. “The institution vehemently repudiates the illegal conduct and launched an investigation to investigate the facts and hold all agents accountable. The Military Police reiterates its commitment to legality and does not tolerate misconduct”, the secretariat said in a note.
The case happened in the early hours of Monday (2) during an approach. The police allegedly ordered two people on a motorcycle to stop for investigation. As the pair refused to stop, a chase began in which one boy was detained and the other was thrown from the bridge.
According to the boy taken to the police station, the man thrown from the bridge is believed to be alive, but has not yet been located by the Military Police Internal Affairs. All police officers wore body cameras, the images of which will be used in investigations into the action.
Cleaning supplies
In the other case, Gabriel Renan da Silva Soares, aged 26, was killed by 11 shots fired by a military police officer who was off duty. Soares had stolen cleaning products from a supermarket in Jardim Prudência, slipped while escaping and was shot. PM Vinícius de Lima Britto claimed to have fired in self-defense. Also in this case, the police officer was removed from duty until investigations into his conduct are completed.
The São Paulo Public Security Secretariat reported that the victim’s relatives were interviewed and that efforts are underway to identify and qualify the witness who bumped into the victim as he fled the supermarket, moments before being hit by the gunshots. The Military Police monitors the investigations, providing support to the Civil Police.
The note also says that, if the investigations point to the criminal liability of the military police officer, administrative measures will be adopted, including the possibility of disciplinary proceedings that could result in his exclusion from the Institution.
Ombudsman
The São Paulo Police Ombudsman’s Office also spoke out and, in a statement, criticized the police officers’ conduct and demanded action.
The main excerpts of the note, signed by ombudsman Claudio Silva, are as follows:
“The first case, already handled by this Ombudsman’s Office, regarding the death of Gabriel Renan da Silva Soares in the Oxxo parking lot in Jardim Prudência, in the South Zone of the capital, on November 3, dismantles the official version with the videos showing the young black man being executed with 11 shots in the back by a military police officer supposedly off duty, but who evidently could have been there on an unofficial “duty”, which is prohibited. The investigations will tell us what the police officer actually did at that location.”
“In the second case, images show a military police officer throwing a man from the top of a bridge in the South Zone of São Paulo in the early hours of this Monday. The other police officers present at the incident, who could have acted to prevent the inexplicable gesture from occurring, did nothing, however.”
“Both cases, with sad and avoidable outcomes, are eloquent regarding the lack of control of the troops, combined with the feeling of impunity that affects these agents – it remains to be asked who granted it, as it is known that in the PM, hierarchy is the main dogma.”
