The Justice Ministry confirmed on Wednesday (11/10) the sending of 300 National Force agents to the state of Rio de Janeiro. The announcement comes shortly after State Governor Cláudio Castro asked the federal government to reinforce agents for patrolling the state’s roads and highways. The state administration seeks to block the entry of weapons and drugs, and thereby contain organized crime. The shipping information was confirmed by the executive secretary of the Justice and Public Security Ministry, Ricardo Cappelli.
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Operation on Highways
The Justice Ministry confirmed the sending of National Force agents to Rio de Janeiro, reinforcing that they will act primarily on federal highways under the coordination of the Federal Highway Police. He also said that the planning is being carried out in partnership with the Rio de Janeiro government. The intention, according to the governor, is to block the entry of weapons and drugs, as well as the circulation of criminals. The announcement was made after a meeting between Castro and the Attorney General of Rio, Luciano Mattos, when the two discussed ways of acting together to combat crime, between the state security forces and the Public Ministry.
Model Chosen
The federal government defined the National Force’s operating model in combating crime in Rio de Janeiro. The National Force will operate under the supervision of the Federal Highway Police. There will be no shared command with state forces, much less joint operations in favelas, for example. The federal government will act on the roads, at airports, reinforce the Federal Police’s intelligence sector and ask for help from the Navy to control ports and Guanabara Bay. The modeling for the use of federal forces was done carefully, to avoid associating the image of federal reinforcement with the security policy of the Cláudio Castro government. There were three risks assessed by the government in the studies to aid Rio:
– Firstly, the leadership of the federal government assessed that joint action between the National Force and the state police would make the PT government become a partner of Castro’s security police.
-The second factor was the conclusion that there were no conditions for shared command between the federal and state governments, due to the “infiltration of crime” in the police. Fighting police corruption has never been a priority in the state of Rio.
-Third, the Federal Public Ministry questioned the executive secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Ricardo Capelli, whether the sending of 300 men from the National Force would be within the guidelines of the constitution, which guarantees the monopoly of force to the State, but also the right to life of the civilian population living in areas dominated by crime. As there was no time to meet the requirements, it was assessed that there was a very high legal risk for Capelli.
Moment of the State Governor
The setback for Cláudio Castro comes at a delicate moment, when he is under siege by his own allies in the Legislative Assembly. Deputies from the allied base are demanding control of Public Security, in a movement that has already been dubbed by the opposition as New Cangaço. The president of Alerj, Rodrigo Bacellar, is the one who commands the troops to take over the Security Secretariat.
Transfer of Criminals
During the meeting with Rio’s attorney general, Castro discussed joint medicines. One of them will be the transfer of heads of criminal organizations from state prisons to federal units. The other would be some measure to financially stifle these gangs, including fighting those who launder money for them. Regarding the transfer of prisoners, there is still no list or date for this to happen. The names will be passed on by the police to the Public Ministry, for an individual analysis of each case. Castro said that the MP’s participation in this work is essential so that, in the future, the legality of the transfers is not questioned.
Analysis:
The operation announced by the local government is based on the models of former operations already implemented in Rio de Janeiro during previous periods of crisis: reinforcement in the number of personnel, additional equipment and special focus in some areas, which will be the target of consecutive police operations. All of them have had short lived results. By repeating the same tactics, the present state government expect to have different results. This outcome is unlike. Criminals have learned how to adapt themselves to the intensification in operations by moving to other areas in the state or even to other states. Furthermore, armed confrontation has limited results, with low financial impacts to the gangs. Finally, authorities do not seem willing to correct a series of issues already verified in law enforcement forces, such as increasing corruption and inefficiencies.
