Most People in Brazil Fear the Military Police, Shows Datafolha Survey

07/31/2015 - 10h31

A Datafolha poll from last Tuesday (28) shows that 62% of the residents of cities with over 100,000 inhabitants are afraid of aggression by the military police.

The survey was organized by the Brazilian Forum on Public Security, which brings together researchers. They interviewed 1,307 people in 84 municipalities in all regions of the country. The margin of error is three points.

In 2012, when a similar survey was carried out, 48% of respondents reported to fear the police. That year, however, inhabitants that lived in cities with 15,000 or more inhabitants were interviewed.

"People feel that they will be a victim of a criminal or the corporation itself," says Renato Sérgio de Lima, a lecturer at Fundação Getúlio Vargas and vice president of the Forum.

Among those who reported to fear the Military Police, most are young, poor, self-assessed black residents of Northeastern Brazilian states.

The Datafolha survey also showed that 81% of respondents are afraid of being murdered. In the 2012 survey the rate was 65%.

Of those who are afraid of being killed, 49% said they believe they may be victims of homicide next year. In 2012, this rate was 29%.

Studies have shown that high rates of murders have migrated from major centers in the Southeast, like Rio and São Paulo, to the Northeast since the 2000s. Black victims are the majority.

According to the latest Public Security report, data from 2013 suggests that every ten minutes a person is killed in the country. The Brazilian rate that year was 25.2 murders per 100,000 inhabitants.

Translated by CRISTIANE COSTA LIMA

Read the article in the original language