Police lethality in São Paulo has seen a significant increase under the administration of Tarcísio de Freitas, with a focus on deaths committed by military police officers on and off duty. Data from the Public Prosecutor’s Office reveals that, by November 2024, 673 people had been killed by the Military Police, an increase of 46% compared to the previous year. Recent cases, such as the deaths of student Marco Aurélio Acosta and boy Ryan Santos, have generated commotion and questions about police conduct. Meanwhile, the use of body cameras by the Military Police has returned to the center of debate, with the Supreme Federal Court requesting clarification on their implementation, amid criticism of the voluntary recording proposal presented by the state government.
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Deaths on Duty
The Military Police killed 673 people up to 17 November of this year, according to data from the Special Task Force for Public Security and External Control of Police Activity (Gaesp), of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of São Paulo. The number is 46% higher than the deaths resulting from police intervention recorded in the entire last year, a total of 460. Gaesp discriminates between deaths that occurred on and off duty. This year, there were 577 deaths committed by military police officers while on duty and 96 by off-duty officers. In 2023, there were 354 by on-duty police officers and 106 by off-duty officers.
High Lethality
The Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) administration has been marked by an increase in police lethality. In 2023, the first year of the current government, the state recorded a 19% increase in the number of deaths committed by on-duty and off-duty military police officers compared to 2022.
Unexplained Deaths
On Wednesday (20/11), medical student Marco Aurélio Cardenas Acosta, 22, was killed by a military police officer after being approached at a hotel in the Vila Mariana neighborhood, in the south of the city of São Paulo. Images from a security camera show the unarmed young man, shirtless, defending himself from the police. The family is questioning the government about the reason for the murder.
On 08 November, the boy Ryan da Silva Andrade Santos, 4 years old, was killed during a police approach in Morro de São Bento, in Santos. According to the police, the rifle shot that killed the child was “probably” fired by one of the officers during a confrontation with criminals. Witnesses to the crime dispute the official version and say the police fired at random.
New Cameras
On Thursday (21/11), the president of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Luís Roberto Barroso, ordered the government of São Paulo to provide new clarifications about the use of body cameras that were acquired by the state for Military Police officers. In April, the São Paulo Public Defender’s Office asked the court to analyze the use of the equipment in the state. The request came after the Tarcísio administration launched a notice for the contracting of 12,000 new cameras that would be activated voluntarily by the police, and not through automatic and uninterrupted recording.
Analysis:
The recent fatal shootings involving military police in São Paulo—such as the deaths of medical student Marco Aurélio Acosta and four-year-old Ryan Santos—have reignited the debate over police violence in the state. These incidents, coupled with the consistent rise in police lethality from January to September this year compared to the same period last year, reflect a troubling pattern. Experts suggest that the Tarcísio de Freitas administration is shaping up to deliver yet another year marked by excessive police violence, fueled by policy decisions that prioritize a heavy-handed approach to public security.
The sharp increase in deaths caused by military police officers, particularly those on duty, highlights what appears to be a political choice by the governor and São Paulo’s Public Security Secretary, Guilherme Derrite. This shift signifies a departure from previous strategies, with lethal force increasingly normalized as a state security tool.
Sources: O Globo [1], [2], [3], [4]; A Folha de SP.
