Crime in Rio

Since the mid-1990s, due to urban violence, the Rio is garnering space in the international press and, in recent years. The city has high levels of crime, in particular murder.  By the year 2007, in the metropolitan area there were nearly 80 deaths per week – most were victims of robberies, drug trafficking and stray bullets. Between 1978 and 2000, 49,900 people were killed in Rio, more than across Colombia in the same period.
Police working in slums
The police in Rio de Janeiro are violent; 1,063 people were executed in 2006 in the state; there were 1,195 people killed by police in 2003. Until April 2007, the average was 3.7 per day. By comparison, the U.S. police killed only 347 people throughout the U.S. during  2006. The police receive on average U.S. $ 874 per month, or the equivalent U.S. $ 10,488 a year. Low salaries and inadequate equipment mean the Rio police can solve only 3% of all murders that occur in the city.

However, recent research shows that violence is declining in the city. The “Map of Violence in Brazilian Municipalities 2008″ was a study conducted jointly by the Network of Latin American Technological Information (RITLA) and the Institute Sangare, with the endorsement of the Ministries of Health and Justice.  Released in January of 2009, it shows that in Rio, in January, the general rate of homicides per 100 thousand inhabitants declined 40% between 2002 and 2006, taking it from the 4th to the 14th position in the ranking of the country’s most violent capital.

In 2002, the capital fluminense recorded 62.8 cases of murder for every 100 thousand people. In 2006, after successive annual falls, this rate reached 37.7 – below the lowest measured for cities like Recife (90.9), Victoria (88.6), Curitiba (49.3), Belo Horizonte (49.2 ), Salvador (41.8) and Florianopolis (40.7).

Despite the salutary reduction in rates of crime, the River still ranks second with respect to the total number of homicides occurring in 2006, behind only Sao Paulo.  A previous report, released in October 2007 with the seal of the Ministries of Health and Justice, showed a lower reduction (17.5%) in rates of homicide between 2003 and 2006, a period in which the capital fluctuated from the 3rd to 5th place among the most violent in Brazil.

According to The Map of Violence in 2008, the rate of deaths by firearms also declined considerably (to the order of 30%) in the period examined.  In 2002, Rio recorded 52.7 deaths for each group of 100 thousand, while in 2006 the number dropped to 37.1.   As a result, the River ceased to bear third place in the list of capitals with the highest number of deaths in this category, falling to 8th place.

Taking into account for the entire capital only the average rates between 2002 and 2006, the city was in 9th position (with 44.8) for murders of the general population and the 7th (with 42) with respect to deaths by firearms. Within the realm of the 5,564 municipalities surveyed, it dropped by 124 (2002) to 445th place (2006) as to the rate of homicides, and 105 (2002) to 243rd (2006) in the rate of deaths by firearms.

Rio de Janeiro is a city of strong economic and social contrasts, showing large disparities between rich and poor. While many neighborhoods bear a Human Development Index corresponding to the Nordic countries (Gavea: 0970; Leblon: 0967, Jardim Guanabara: 0963; Ipanema: 0962, Barra da Tijuca: 0959), in others, there are levels well below the average municipality, such as the German Complex (0,711) or the Rocinha (0732).

Although classified as a major metropolis in the world, a significant portion of the 6.1 million inhabitants of the city lives in poverty. Most of its many suburbs consist of slums, urban areas usually built on hills, and living conditions, health, education and security are extremely precarious.  In the slums, public education and the health system are either deficient or absent.  This condition, together with the saturation of the prison system, contributes to the intensification of social injustice and poverty.

An original aspect of these favelas of Rio is their proximity to the most valued districts of the city, symbolizing the strong inequality that is characteristic of Brazil. For example, the luxury neighborhood of Sao Conrado is also where the favela of Rocinha is located, “squeezed” between the beach and the hills.