A study released on Wednesday, 9, by the Security Observatories Network proves that police lethality is much higher among blacks.
Data collected in five states – São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Ceará and Pernambuco – point out that the black population is the one that most dies by the police, either in absolute numbers or proportionally. The striking difference in some cases drew the attention of researchers, which makes it clear that there is institutionalized racism.
The number that most impressed was that of Bahia, where 97% of the 650 killed by the police last year were black. In Pernambuco, this figure was also alarming, reaching 93%. “Today it is no longer possible to say that it has a racial bias. We have to say the exact name it has. You have to say that there is racism on the part of the State ”, says Silvia Ramos, coordinator of the Network of Observatories on Security and the Center for Studies on Security and Citizenship.
The researcher points out that the figures refer only to deaths that occurred in police interventions. “This type of violence problem is very specific. We are not talking about crimes against property, homicides in faction fights. We are talking about a law enforcement officer who produced a death, without considering whether he was later tried as a self-defense or not ”, points out Silvia. “We are looking at the color of these state-sponsored deaths, whether against a criminal or an innocent victim.”
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