The reaction of right-wing governors to this is yet another testament to the stupidity that has been gaining prominence in a country that is increasingly ignorant, violent and abandoned.
In São Paulo, , the favorite of Bolsonarism, finance and ruralism to run for President in 2026, insists on showing evidence of brutality. Not just in public security, although with special effort in this area.
He appointed as his secretary a former police officer who is proud of having killed “bums” and likes to repeat, in his shocking lack of preparation, the rhetoric of the torture apologist who inspires him, the infamous .
In symmetry with the escalation of police lethality encouraged by the state government, macabre cases have appeared in the media, thanks to security cameras and smartphones. Taxpayers can see their taxes applied to illegal and racist public initiatives.
The pattern is repeated in other states, even those governed by the left or center parties. And it is also supported by the Brazilian Army, which, in 2019, fired 257 shots at a car driven by musician Evaldo Rosa.
He was in the company of his wife, son, father-in-law and a friend. Of this total, 62 projectiles hit the car and 9 hit the victim’s body. How to explain such a decision?
Similar cases are recurrent.
Even though this is a minority of State agents, the repetition of occurrences such as shots in the back and cowardly murders is frightening and calls for measures. It should be noted that neglect generally affects the poorest, people whose lives seem to be worthless in their country.
The decree came in response to this unsustainable state of affairs. Its recommendations are already included in international conventions signed by Brazil, in current legislation and in police training programs.
The intention is to detail the legal regulations and generate incentives for the rules to be applied, making access to national public funds conditional on their compliance.
The norms are basic: the prerogative to use force by the State must respect proportionality, on a scale in which the use of a firearm is a last resort, only permissible when others of “less intensity are not sufficient to achieve the intended legal objectives”.
Police officers should not shoot at unarmed people, shoot in the back, or target vehicles blindly.
There is nothing extraordinary or innovative about this. Despite the political and ideological reaction of Tarcísios, Zemas and Ratinhos, other governors supported the device, as well as a significant group of former security secretaries.
The allegation that there would be undue interference by the federal sphere in a state responsibility has no basis.
Today’s Brazil is experiencing a dramatic situation in terms of crime control policies, with serial abuses, corruption and infiltration of factions in republican institutions.
To make matters worse, sectors of the population, if not the majority at least the rude and ignorant portion, support brutality, attacks on poor neighborhoods and the motto that a good criminal is a dead criminal.
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