In the first eight months of this year, police in the state of São Paulo killed more people than the total recorded in the same period in 2022 and 2023. Up to August 2024, 441 people were killed by on-duty police officers, while in the previous two years, the victims totaled 423. The survey was conducted by the Sou da Paz Institute based on data from the São Paulo Public Security Secretariat (SSP).
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Total Victims
In the first eight months of this year, 441 people were killed by on-duty security force agents in the state, compared to 247 last year and 176 in the same period in 2022. This represents a 78% increase in deaths committed by on-duty police officers between January and August 2024 compared to the previous year.
Black People Are the Majority
Of the total victims, 283 were identified as Black (a combination of Black and Brown people), and 138 as White. This represents an 83% increase in the rate of Black victims and a 59% increase in the rate of White victims. Another 20 individuals had their race or color unreported when the official police report was prepared. In the previous year, 154 Black people and 87 White people were killed.
Santos and São Paulo
The city of São Paulo and the Santos region, in Baixada Santista, saw the highest increase overall. In the capital, the number of people killed by on-duty police officers rose from 76 to 118 between January and August. In the Deinter 6 area, which includes Santos and 22 other cities in the region, the number of deaths rose from 54 to 109. This area is covered by the Escudo and Verão operations, which together left at least 93 dead.
Analysis:
According to an analysis by the Sou da Paz Institute, São Paulo’s police forces have shown a marked increase in on-duty killings, with these deaths disproportionately affecting Black individuals, including both Black and Brown people. This pattern highlights a heightened level of police lethality, especially in the peripheral regions of São Paulo’s capital, metropolitan areas, interior cities, and particularly in the Baixada Santista region. Since 2023, with an escalation in 2024, public security policies in the state have resulted in a growing number of deaths.
This increase in police lethality has occurred even without new operations, suggesting that despite previous efforts to professionalize the use of force, this initiative has been discontinued. Between 2020 and 2022, there were significant advancements in the adoption of body cameras by the Military Police as part of a strategy to reduce violence and improve transparency in police actions. However, with the weakening of this program, current data reveal that the commitment to less lethal policing has been neglected.
Sources: A Folha de SP; Agência Brasil.
