The governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro, criticized the decree of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security that creates rules for the use of force by police officers across the country. He said that he will file a lawsuit with the Federal Supreme Court (STF) against the decree, which conditions the transfer of federal funds to compliance with the new standards.
For him, the limitation imposed on the use of weapons by police forces is a total lack of knowledge of the reality of the states.
According to Castro, the federal government lacked dialogue and skill in proposing changes without due discussion with the governors who, in the first instance, are responsible for drafting public security policy and its daily application.
The decree published by the MJ regulates the use of firearms and non-lethal instruments, approaches, home searches and the actions of criminal police officers in prisons.
“Within the Democratic Rule of Law, lethal force cannot be the police’s first reaction,” explained the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Ricardo Lewandowski.
“The progressive use of force must be implemented in a rational, conscious and systematic way. We can only use lethal force as a last resort. The police approach must be carried out without any discrimination against Brazilian citizens, starting with dialogue and , if necessary, the use of handcuffs within the regulations that exist regarding this instrument of restraint of people, eventually evolving to the use of non-lethal weapons, which do not cause permanent bodily harm to people”, added the minister.
Police violence
On Tuesday night (24), young Juliana Leite Rangel, 26 years old, was shot in the headduring an action by the Federal Highway Police (PRF) on the Washington Luís Highway (BR-040). She was going with her family to spend Christmas at her relatives’ house in Itaipu, Niterói, metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, when the car was hit by several shots fired by PRF agents. The girl is hospitalized in serious condition. The police officers responsible for the shooting were removed.
In early December, a São Paulo police officer threw a man off a bridge. The police allegedly ordered two people on a motorcycle to stop for investigation. When the pair refused to stop, a chase ensued. One boy was detained and the other, already subdued by the police, was thrown from the bridge by a police officer. According to witnesses, he survived with injuries.
At the end of November, medical student Marco Aurélio Acosta was killed by a gunshot by a military police officer during an approach.
Decree
According to the text, published in the Official Gazette of the Union, firearms can only be used by public security professionals as a last resort. The decree also establishes that a firearm cannot be used against an unarmed person who is fleeing; and a vehicle that violates the police blockade. In these cases, the exception is valid if there is a risk to the security professional or third parties.
