Heavy-handed police raids like the one that claimed dozens of lives in Rio de Janeiro Tuesday have only ever bolstered the drug gangs they are meant to curtail, according to Brazilian organized crime expert Carolina Grillo.
Tuesday’s operation saw 2,500 heavily armed officers descend on two poor neighborhoods in Rio’s north to flush out members of the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) gang.
Clashes between security forces and gang members left at least 119 dead, according to an official count, in the deadliest such operation to date in the city known for its idyllic beaches, samba and sun, but also an epidemic of armed violence.
Grillo, a sociologist and coordinator of the Group for the Study of New Illegalities (GENI) at Rio’s Federal Fluminense University, spoke to AFP about the futility of such police actions, according to her own research.
Q: What is the state of organized crime in Rio?
A: Comando Vermelho is the main drug trafficking faction (in Brazil) and the armed group that has grown the most in recent years.
It operates nationally but is based in Rio, where it recently surpassed the militias (paramilitary groups) in territorial expanse.
Q: What was the goal of Tuesday’s operation?
A: To attack what are considered the headquarters of Comando Vermelho in the Alemao and Penha favela complexes, where the “donos de morro” — local leaders of the group who are at large — reside.
Most of the Comando Vermelho leaders are already in prison.
Q: How do residents view the gangs?
A: It varies by territory, but generally, residents suffer much more from crossfire between traffickers and police or in faction wars than from living alongside these groups.
People carry out their routines relatively peacefully except during times of war or police operations.
Q: What results do the police operations have to show?
A: The policy of armed incursions into favelas and outskirts has only made things worse. And mass arrests only increase the influence of factions because they control the prisons.
But operations with many deaths and arrests tend to bring electoral gains, as a poorly informed population ends up believing in an inefficient and cruel strategy.
Q: In what can this failure be seen?
A: Comando Vermelho is the only group that has consistently expanded in recent years, despite being the most targeted by police operations.
Our research group conducted correlation tests showing that periods with more police operations are those with higher criminal intensity, not the other way around.
Q: What is the alternative?
A: Besides the horror practiced against poor and mostly black families, it is irrational to think that killing young people linked to crime will end crime when there is an inexhaustible supply of labor for criminal work.
A more qualified and intelligent fight against criminal groups is needed, for example attacking their financial bases or dismantling their weapon factories.
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