The month of February, with Carnival and fewer days, registered 11 armed disputes between militia and drug factions in Greater Rio, four of which took place in Campinho, a neighborhood in the northern part of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The data appears in the monthly report released by the Fogo Cruzado Institute.
In the Campinho neighborhood, on Avenida Ernani Cardoso, called Nova Intendente, the parades of the access divisions of Rio’s carnival took place. The region has been in dispute for more than six months between traffickers and militiamen, especially in Morro do Fubá. The Fogo Cruzado Institute points out that even with deaths, no measures were taken to guarantee the lives of the local population, and that children and adolescents were prohibited by the Justice from parading in associations due to the risk of stray bullets. The samba schools União de Vaz Lobo and Urubu Samba even withdrew from parading because of shootings on the outskirts of Nova Intendente.
The report points out that another serious case of armed violence marked the carnival, this time in Magé, in Baixada Fluminense. On the 19th, a fight between a militia member and a civil police officer ended in a shootout, resulting in two people being killed, including a 9-year-old girl, and 19 wounded, including a pregnant woman, two children and an adolescent.
Inequality
For the regional coordinator of the Fogo Cruzado Institute in Rio de Janeiro, Carlos Nhanga, preventing samba schools from parading because of shootings shows how armed violence increases inequality in a city, since part of the population has more guaranteed rights than those who live in the most affected areas. He said that on shooting days, many people are unable to leave their homes for work, public transport is disrupted, and schools and clinics close. “The public power cannot treat this as normal”, said the coordinator, in the report.
According to Nhanga, the collected data are important for planning public policies that are effective in bringing security to the population. The Fogo Cruzado Institute now has a Historical Map of Armed Groups, which helps to understand the different dynamics of armed violence in Rio de Janeiro.
With these data, it is possible to know, for example, that the militia controls 49.9% of the areas dominated by armed groups. Carlos Nhanga believes that the Institute’s work, carried out in partnership with the New Illegalism Study Group of the Fluminense Federal University (Geni-UFF), can serve as a basis for projects to be designed with the aim of containing the advances of armed groups in metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. Without this data, he assessed that any police operation will not have any practical effect.
The State Secretariat of the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro does not comment on unofficial data. Likewise, the Civil Police State Secretariat (Sepol) points out that the institution’s performance is based on the tripod intelligence, investigation and action and on official data from the Public Security Institute (ISP).
February
In the month of February, there were 243 shootings in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro, according to the Fogo Cruzado Institute, revealing a 14% drop in records compared to the same period last year (282 shootings). Of the total mapped, 96 shootings (39.5%) took place during police actions or operations, against 89 in February 2022.
In all, 209 people were shot in Grande Rio in February, with 90 killed and 119 injured. The death toll fell 6% compared to February last year, but there was a 78% increase in the number of injured. Among the 209 shot, 127 (61%) were hit during police actions or operations: 43 of them died and 84 were injured. In February 2022, of the 163 people shot, 96 (59%) were hit during police actions or operations, resulting in 48 deaths and 48 injuries.
Compared to January, which accumulated 296 shootings, 81 dead and 84 injured, February had an 18% drop in shootings, although with an increase of 11% in deaths and 42% in injuries.
Map
The report by the Fogo Cruzado Institute points out that the municipalities in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro most affected by armed violence in February were Rio de Janeiro, with 159 shootings, 54 dead and 53 injured; São Gonçalo, 14 shootings, seven dead and nine wounded; Duque de Caxias, 13 shootings, three dead and ten wounded; São João de Meriti, 11 shootings, five dead and two wounded; Nova Iguaçu, 11 shootings, three dead and seven wounded. Among the neighborhoods of Greater Rio, the most impacted was Praça Seca, with 16 shootings, two dead and two injured.
Armed violence between the six regions that make up Greater Rio was more intense in the north zone of the capital, with 79 shootings, 15 dead and 31 wounded, and in the west zone, with 72 shootings, 34 dead and 21 wounded. Then came the Baixada Fluminense with 53 shootings, 19 dead and 49 wounded; the Metropolitan East, 31 shootings, 17 dead and 17 wounded; the central region of the municipality of Rio, seven shootings, four dead and one injured. In the south zone, only one shooting was recorded, with one person dead.
Profile
In cases of robberies or attempted robberies in February, 20 people were shot in Grande Rio, of which four died and 16 were injured. Ten security agents were shot in February in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro, seven of whom died and three were injured. In February 2022, nine security agents were shot, five of whom died and four were injured.
Also in February, 14 people were victims of stray bullets in Grande Rio, three of whom died and 11 were injured. Nine of the 14 victims were hit during police actions or operations. In the same month of 2022, seven people were victims of stray bullets.
The Fogo Cruzado Institute counted seven massacres in the Metropolitan Region of Rio in February this year, which resulted in 24 deaths. Four of these massacres took place during police actions or operations. In February 2022, five massacres were recorded, with 31 dead.
With regard to children, five were shot in Grande Rio in February. One died and four were injured. In February of last year, there were no children shot. Of the ten teenagers shot in Grande Rio in February 2023, three died and seven were injured. In the same month of 2022, three teenagers were shot: one died and two were injured. Two elderly people were shot in the Metropolitan Region of Rio in February: one died and one was injured. In February 2022, two elderly people were shot dead.
In the year
Adding the months of January and February of this year, there were 539 shootings/gunshots in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro, with 212 of these records occurring during police actions/operations, reveals the Fogo Cruzado Institute. In all, 374 people were shot in the first two months of the year, with 171 killed and 203 injured. In the same period of 2022, which concentrated 510 shootings, 161 in police actions/operations, 285 people were shot, with 160 dead and 125 injured. In January and February of this year, there was a 6% increase in shootings in general, 32% in shootings that occurred during police actions/operations, 7% in deaths and 62% in the number of wounded.
