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Lawsuits Against Police Officers Skyrocket in Rio de Janeiro

07/25/2017 - 12h04

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LUCAS VETTORAZZO
LUIZA FRANCO
FROM RIO

The Military Justice Oversight Committee in Rio, which is subordinated to the state's Court of Justice, filed 149 lawsuits against military police officers and firemen for crimes committed this year, such as corruption, extortion and robbery.

The number of lawsuits filed in 2017 up until April alone have already reached the number of lawsuits filed last year in its entirety, while the amount of money that investigations have tied to bribes, extortion and theft during the first four months of 2017 have already exceeded the amount for 2016.

According to a survey conducted by Rio's Court of Justice, the lawsuits that have been filed pertain to six categories: active corruption, passive corruption, extortion, kidnapping, theft and aggravated robbery.

In late June, 66 police officers from the São Gonçalo precinct, in the Rio metropolitan area, were arrested after being suspected of conspiring to traffic arms and offering personal security services to drug dealers.

An investigation came to the conclusion that Military Police officers even "raided" a spot where drugs were sold and took over dealings.

Family members of police officers that were interviewed stated that, due to a worsening of work conditions, cases of corruption have tainted police officers who had always been considered honest.

Certain family members stated off the record that in some of the UPPs (Pacifying Police Units) in the northern district of Rio, police have started to negotiate with drug dealers in order to stay alive because of how outnumbered they are.

They accept bribes because if they don't have vests, weapons and cars, there's no point in "exchanging gun shots with bad guys", said the wife of a Military Police officer.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

Read the article in the original language

Ricardo Moraes/Reuters
Residents react near bodies of whom police say are drug traffickers, during a police operation in the Cidade de Deus favela, in Rio de Janeiro
Residents react near bodies of whom police say are drug traffickers, during a police operation in the Cidade de Deus favela, in Rio de Janeiro

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