The proposal, approved by deputies, provided for a bonus of up to 150% of the salary for agents who ‘neutralize criminals’ and was harshly criticized by entities who consider it an incentive for police lethality
With the justification of avoiding new expenses, the governor of , , vetoed the reestablishment of the so-called “wild west bonus”, a law amendment that awarded up to 150% of their salary to police officers who had distinguished themselves, among other actions, by “neutralizing criminals”, as stated in the text approved by state deputies.
Castro’s decision is published in Official State Gazette this Thursday (23) and refers to Law 11,003, resulting from Bill (PL) 6027/2025, authored by the state Executive itself.
Originally, the PL dealt with restructuring the staff of the State Secretariat of Civil Police, but when being processed by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj), the deputies included an amendment that determined bonuses for police officers ─ which could vary from 10% to 150% of the salary ─ “in case of seizure of large-caliber or restricted-use weapons, in police operations, as well as in case of neutralization of criminals.”
The term neutralization of criminals is used in official state communication for cases in which people are killed in confrontations with the police.
The amendment proposal was presented by deputies Alan Lopes (Liberal Party), Marcelo Dino (União) and Alexandre Knoploch (Liberal Party).
At the time of approval, Marcelo Dino declared that it was about valuing the police officer. “We presented a proposal that encourages our police officer to leave home leaving those he loves so much to protect those he doesn’t even know.”
According to the Public Security Institute (ISP), linked to the state government, from 2025 until September, Rio de Janeiro had 519 deaths due to “intervention by a state agent”. In the same period of 2024 there were 558.
90s
The amendment approved by Alerj attracted criticism from experts and human rights activists for reestablishing a practice that was in force in Rio de Janeiro from 1995 to 1998 and was suspended by Alerj itself due to reports of extermination.
The Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU) even denounced the illegality of PL 6,027, considering that it encourages confrontations with deaths, goes against the Federal Constitution and violates decisions of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (an autonomous judicial institution of the Organization of American States).
The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) in Rio de Janeiro also considered the PL unconstitutional with similar arguments. For prosecutors, it was “an obvious favor of increasing police lethality”.
MPF and DPU also state that the laws that provide for the creation of public positions, functions or jobs in direct and autonomous administration or increase in remuneration are the private initiative of the state governor.
Reason for veto
When justifying the veto, Governor Claudio Castro cites financial issues linked to control of the state’s cash flow. According to the Official Gazette, the veto “is necessary because it lists the adoption of measures that may result in the creation of expenses, constituting an affront to the rules established by the Tax Recovery Regime”.
To Agência Brasil, the state government added that “in addition to contradicting the rules of the Fiscal Recovery Regime, the proposal also violates article 63 of the Federal Constitution, which prohibits the Legislature from including measures that increase spending on projects that are the exclusive initiative of the governor”. “The veto seeks to guarantee the balance of public accounts and compliance with the rules that ensure the good management of state resources.”
Once a section of the law is vetoed, Alerj has the prerogative to evaluate the governor’s decision. If deputies choose to overturn the veto, the amendment will become law again. The Legislative House informed Agência Brasil that there is still no list of vetoes to be analyzed.
Lei
Law 6,027/2025 defines that the permanent staff of the Civil Police in Rio will be composed of the positions of police chief, forensic expert, criminal expert, papilloscopist expert, Civil Police officer, police pilot and scientific police agent.
The text also regulates the duties of each position and provides for the salaries and benefits granted to civil police officers, such as 13th salary, transportation allowances, disability, illness, food, additional payments for dangerous activities, length of service, remuneration for unhealthy activities, among others.
*With information from Agência Brasil
Published by Nícolas Robert
