Minister Edson Fachin, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), denied on Tuesday (06/06) an appeal by the Rio government to leave the special battalions of the Rio de Janeiro police (BOPE and CORE) outside the schedule for installing body cameras. Fachin maintained the decision of the STF taken in 2022 that determined the immediate establishment of a timetable for all police units in the State of Rio de Janeiro, with priority for carrying out operations in favelas, to adopt body cameras.
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New Transparency System
The minister also established that the State would have to adopt a new transparency system to guarantee access to the data in the records, to allow sharing with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office and also verification by relatives of possible victims of security agents.
Last Year
Last year, the Supreme Court ordered the government of Rio de Janeiro to draw up a plan to control deaths in police operations and established that actions must be justified, carried out during the day and have ambulances present when there is a possibility of armed confrontations. It was also determined that police officers should have cameras attached to their uniforms to ensure greater control.
State Government
The government of Rio appealed and asked for a waiver of forecasting the installation of equipment for the special forces for external audits and/or for public disclosure of their actions. He alleged that there is a risk of not only revealing the police officer’s identity, but also exposing the techniques and strategies used in these operations. Therefore, it would be up to the State to evaluate the adoption of equipment for these police units.
Investigation
The minister also considered that the provision of information on equipment records only after the conclusion of the disciplinary process violates the understanding of the plenary of the Supreme Court and rules disciplined by the United Nations, in the sense that whenever force is used, agents must make a report to be forwarded immediately to the Public Ministry.
New Protocol
Fachin gave the Rio government 30 days to adopt a protocol to guarantee: access in cases where there are ongoing investigations the immediate sending of the media to the MPRJ; regular availability to the DPERJ and effective access to the victims of the incident and their families, through their legal representatives. Within this same period, the State government will have to develop transparency measures, keeping the measures taken to comply with the Supreme Court’s decisions on the internet, in addition to documents and other administrative acts that relate to the action.
Our Analysis:
Experiences like the one in São Paulo point out that cameras do reduce police lethality. Security specialists warn, however, that the cameras, by themselves, do not solve the problem if they are not part of a larger lethality reduction program, with well-established goals and efficient control by civil society. Data shows that deaths due to police intervention dropped by 32% between 2020 and 2021, the year in which military police officers began to wear cameras attached to their uniform in SP. There were 705 deaths in 2020, against 480 last year, according to an annual report by the São Paulo State Police. Although there is an ongoing program to install recording equipment in police vehicles and police uniforms in Rio de Janeiro, the measure is aimed only at conventional battalions. Police chiefs alleged that the use of cameras hinders the work of police officers from the Special Operations Battalion (BOPE) and the Shock Battalion, who often operate in favelas, the most violent areas of the state.
Source: G1
