SUMMARY
São Paulo reached its lowest homicide rate in 24 years — 5.9 per 100,000 inhabitants — marking a milestone in long-term public security efforts. Robberies dropped by over 15%, and cargo thefts fell 22%, showing notable progress. Still, challenges remain: an average of 502 cell phones were stolen daily in the capital, and robbery-related deaths rose by more than 20%. While drug use declined in the historic Cracolândia area, it reemerged in new city zones. These contrasts point to the need for targeted, data-driven strategies across urban and regional contexts. Meanwhile, in terms of business security and personal protection, this fact highlights the particularities of the local security scenario, which helps to mitigate risks more efficiently.
Introduction
Throughout 2024, the state of São Paulo continued to lead national efforts in crime monitoring and reduction, showcasing both advances and persistent challenges in public security. While several key indicators — such as intentional homicides, property crimes, and cargo theft — showed meaningful improvement, the overall security landscape remained complex, marked by regional disparities and shifting criminal dynamics.
The decline in intentional homicides, reaching the lowest rate in 24 years, highlights the long-term impact of developments in social dynamics due to the emergence of new relevant stakeholders in the criminal world, in addition to intelligence-led policing. Similarly, property crimes such as robbery and theft fell significantly, particularly in the capital, though new patterns emerged — including rising crime in peripheral districts and the persistence of cell phone and vehicle thefts in high-traffic areas.
Beyond aggregate numbers, 2024 also revealed pressing challenges. Robberies followed by death increased in the capital and metropolitan regions, generating public concern. Cell phone thefts, although down overall, surged in specific neighborhoods. Drug use in the historical Cracolândia area declined, but displacement led to the spread of user clusters within other city zones.
Crime data presented in this report are sourced from the São Paulo State Public Security Secretariat (SSP-SP).
Intentional Homicide
Under the administration of Governor Tarcísio de Freitas, the state of São Paulo recorded 2,517 intentional homicides — a 3.38% decrease compared to 2023 — continuing a long-term downward trend. At 5.9 per 100,000 inhabitants, this marks the lowest homicide rate in 24 years — a sharp decline from 35 in 2001. In the capital city, São Paulo also reached a historic low: 498 homicide victims in 2024, the lowest number since the beginning of official state records.
Experts stress that the regulation of the conflicts naturally present within the criminal world and in the peripheries established by the emergence of the First Capital Command (PCC), in addition to its hegemony in São Paulo state, as the only criminal organization active inside and outside prisons, led to a strong and never seen before decrease in intentional homicides since the 90’s. At the same time, authorities partially attribute the overall drop in homicides to increased investments in public security, including police recruitment, the implementation of advanced surveillance technologies, and strategic operations like the “Muralha Paulista” program. Enhanced investigations, greater police presence, and the expansion of video monitoring systems have also been highlighted as key tools in reducing lethal violence.
Yet, improvements have not been uniform across the state. While cities such as Campinas recorded a 10.7% decline in homicides, other regions saw increases, such as Araçatuba (up 12.7%) and Bauru (up 8.9%).
Even within the capital, disparities remain. Data from the first two months of 2025, which reported 95 homicide victims, shows that lethal violence continues to be concentrated in peripheral districts. Neighborhoods like Capão Redondo (East Zone) and Itaim Paulista recorded 19 and 13 violent deaths respectively, while Pinheiros and Jardins (both in the South Zone) had no homicides.
Police Lethality
Under the administration of Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), the state of São Paulo witnessed a sharp increase in police lethality in 2024. According to data from the Special Task Force for Public Security and External Control of Police Activity (Gaesp-MPSP), the Military Police were responsible for 737 deaths last year — a 60.2% increase compared to 2023, the first year of Tarcísio’s term. Of these, 640 were caused by officers on duty, while 97 occurred during off-duty incidents.
In contrast, the number of people killed by Civil Police officers decreased. Gaesp-MPSP reported 35 deaths caused by Civil Police in 2024 — 23 on duty and 12 off duty — representing a 25% reduction compared to the previous year.
This marks the second consecutive year of rising military police lethality in São Paulo, a trend closely associated with the current administration’s emphasis on aggressive policing tactics. Major security operations such as Operação Escudo (2023) and Operação Verão (2024), both in the Baixada Santista region, have drawn national attention for their impact. Recent episodes of military police abuse have further fueled public debate, including widely circulated videos showing officers throwing a man off a bridge and assaulting an elderly woman during a stop.
Robbery Followed by Death
Recent trends of overall crime reduction were reversed with a concerning uptick in robbery followed by murder. Though the increase from 163 to 166 victims seems slight, it reflects more alarming underlying trends, especially in the capital. São Paulo city recorded 52 victims in 2024, up from 43 the previous year—an increase of over 20%.
In Greater São Paulo, robbery-related homicides rose from 28 cases in 2023 to 34 in 2024, a 21.4% increase. Although the absolute numbers remain lower than in the capital, the region is closely connected to São Paulo city’s criminal dynamics.
While the absolute numbers remain lower than other types of violent crime, the brutality and randomness of robbery followed by death heighten public fear. Unlike intentional homicides, these killings occur during robberies and often target individuals with no prior connection to the criminals. Several high-profile cases in 2024, including the deaths of a traffic agent, a marketing professional, and two pedestrians in upscale neighborhoods, drew widespread media coverage, in part because the crimes were captured on video.
Property Crimes
Significant progress was made in reducing property crimes. Robberies fell by 15.1%, dropping from 228,028 incidents in 2023 to 193,658, while thefts decreased by 3.5%, from 576,278 to 555,821 cases. These declines reflect the state’s focus on visible policing and surveillance, particularly in areas with historically high crime rates. While robberies saw a sharp drop, the more moderate reduction in thefts suggests persistent challenges in curbing non-violent but opportunistic crimes.
The capital followed a similar pattern. Robberies decreased by 13.6%, from 133,324 to 115,172, and thefts by 3.7%, from 250,825 to 241,369. Despite the improvement, São Paulo city still accounted for nearly half of the state’s robberies and over 40% of thefts — a reflection of its population density and commercial activity.
However, the geographic distribution of these crimes reveals different dynamics. In the first two months of 2025, robbery hotspots were concentrated in outlying districts rather than in the central region. Pinheiros (602 cases), in the West Zone, Campo Limpo (582) and Capão Redondo (539), both in the South Zone, recorded the highest numbers of robberies. Theft, on the other hand, remained heavily concentrated in the central area, likely due to the intense movement of people, commerce, and public transport.
All other regions of the state also experienced notable reductions in robberies and more modest, yet consistent, declines in thefts. The downward trend in property crimes was therefore not limited to the capital but reflected broadly across São Paulo’s interior.
Cell Phone Thefts and Robberies
Reports from the capital city indicated 183,362 cell phones were stolen or robbed—an average of 502 per day, marking a 7% drop from 2023. This is the second-lowest total since 2017, similar to levels during the COVID-19 pandemic, when crime declined due to social restrictions.
Despite the overall improvement, some neighborhoods saw increases. Bom Retiro, in the central area, recorded a 53% surge, with 3,978 phones taken. Pinheiros, in the West Zone, saw nearly 6,000 incidents, up 9% from the previous year. Statewide, nearly 318,000 phones were stolen—a 6% decrease from 2023.
Vehicle Robbery and Theft
A significant reduction in vehicle robberies was reported, with cases dropping 15.4% from 37,471 in 2023 to 31,696. This downward trend was mirrored in the capital, which saw a 16.2% decline. However, when it comes to vehicle thefts — where the vehicle is taken without direct confrontation — the situation is more complex. Statewide thefts remained virtually unchanged, decreasing by only 0.3%, while the capital actually experienced a 4.6% increase, rising from 40,519 to 42,384 incidents.
Complementary data from the vehicle tracking company Ituran, cross-referenced with official statistics, paints a nuanced picture. Certain vehicles — particularly popular hatchbacks like the Hyundai HB20, the Volkswagen Gol, and the Chevrolet Corsa — remain top targets. Although most of the top ten models saw declines in theft rates, two models bucked the trend: the Fiat Strada and the Fiat Mobi both recorded increases of 29% and 10%, respectively.
The concentration of thefts is especially pronounced in specific neighborhoods within the capital, such as Tatuapé, Ipiranga, Vila Matilde, Itaquera, and Penha, where thefts account for nearly 92% of all vehicle-related crimes. Analysts have noted that many of the most frequently targeted cars are between two and five years old, indicating that both availability and market demand continue to drive this type of crime.
Cargo Robbery
São Paulo remains the state most affected by cargo theft in Brazil, accounting for 45.7% of the total financial losses nationwide. Although this represents a slight decrease from 49.6% in 2023, the figures confirm São Paulo’s long-standing centrality in the country’s cargo theft landscape. According to official state data, the number of reported cargo robberies dropped from 6,063 in 2023 to 4,711 in 2024 — a 22.3% reduction. Most incidents occurred not on highways, but in urban areas, which accounted for 32.8% of the state’s losses. The most targeted types of cargo were diversified goods, food products, and electronic components which are easy to resell.
In the city of São Paulo, cargo robbery has become a daily concern. The capital registered 2,257 cases in 2024, compared to 2,819 in 2023 — a drop of nearly 20%. Yet, the city still accounts for almost half of the state’s total. On average, São Paulo recorded 12 incidents per day, with higher risks during nighttime operations and on Mondays, when logistics flows are at their peak.
Outside the capital, other regions in São Paulo also reported significant losses, although on a smaller scale. Cities like Jundiaí and Guarulhos stood out nationally for their losses, often linked to their proximity to logistics corridors and distribution centers.
Cracolândia
São Paulo’s infamous “Cracolândia” in Campos Elísios witnessed a sharp decline in visible drug use. On Rua dos Protestantes—historically the most concentrated area—morning crowds fell from an average of 511 users in 2023 to just 144 in 2024. The afternoon and evening counts followed a similar trend, dropping from 467 to 149. The decrease in user concentration in the traditional Cracolândia zone, however, has not signaled a broader reduction in drug use across the city. Instead, new clusters of drug users have emerged in other parts of the capital, including Avenida Jornalista Roberto Marinho in the South Zone and Rua Doutor Avelino Chaves in Vila Leopoldina, West Zone. Despite the displacement, state-run drug treatment services report no drop in demand. According to the director of one central care hub, the number of drug-dependent and homeless patients continues to rise. The state also recorded a historic 4.6 tons of crack cocaine seized between January and November 2024, an indicator of persistent drug circulation.
