By Janat Kiwanuka
This Latin American country has been in the spotlight a lot recently; recognised as one of the top emerging economies of the decade and welcoming millions of football fans in 2014 for the World Cup as well as hosting the 2016 Olympics, the positive attention Brazil has received is a far cry from the dark shadow it has emerged from.
Despite its new developments we must not forget that Brazil had largely been consumed by its prolific illegal drug trade, gang activity and notoriously corrupt police force who famously abandoned the favelas allowing violence to cultivate in these communities.
However, with all eyes next year firmly fixed on Brazil the government has come down hard on crime in the favelas, using the military and stating that they are “rescuing the people”.
Tactics being used in the “Pacification project” directly call to broken windows, the hard style of community policing we have reviewed in class on several occasions. Soldiers have analysed areas of high criminal activity and have come bursting through favela after favela, making their presence known and enforcing every minor infraction.The biggest move was clearing out the Complexo do Alemão in 2010, “responsible for receiving and distributing 90% of the drugs in Rio de Janeiro”. They have sent a clear message with the forceful hand of the law that drug-gang related activity is no longer welcome in Brazil.
The Brazilian police force lost its legitimacy a long time ago after deeming the favelas a 'no go area' and thus allowed crime to flourish. In addition to that, on the rare occasions it did attempt to enforce the law, shoot outs with the local gangs often resulted in the death of more civilians than actual criminals.
One citizen interviewed by the BBC explained that the “people who live in the favela cannot say anything”. What do the law enforcers do without the support of the community? Will this new method of policing be effective enough to make those who have lived the past few decades in fear cooperate with the police? The government has brought in the military to deal with the 'pacification' of these communities so perhaps this will counter some of the distrust between the community and law enforcement.
Critics say this style of policing will not overcome problems in these areas of Brazil as they do not address the underlying issues and will just make the crime resurface in other areas. It is obvious that the only reason why the strong hand of the law has come down now is because the government does not want Brazil to have the same reputation when competing on the global market and be considered a leading economy not tainted by corruption and cocaine. Particularly when we consider the fact that main favelas being targeted are the ones within close proximity to areas of tourism and high income, will cracks begin to appear in these newly fixed windows once the football fans, Usain Bolt and his fellow athletes have disappeared? Only time will tell.
I agree with critics who argued that because this style of policing is not addressing the underlying causes of crime, it will just push crimes to less policed areas. Also,I doubt this resurgence of policing will do much to rectify the lack of legitimacy because it seems not to be driven by an honest desire to help the people in these areas, but instead to make Brazil look good to other countries and gentrify the area in preparation for the World Cup and the Olympics.
ReplyDeleteCarly Wasserman
I'm going to have to agree, It does look like Brazil is using the Military to beat the crime in those long ignored neighborhoods to a pulp, temporarily bruised and disabled in time for these events. Even if they maintain their presence in these areas after the Olympics, a tactic like this is not be sustainable. Military action is for fighting not fixing, LE needs to regain its legitimacy.
ReplyDelete-Yunus
Brazil seems to be using makeshift glue rather than actual repairs for their broken windows. I would say that it is a real and necessary step to pull out drugs and crime from neighborhoods. Still, I don't think they can expect to just bring back the military if (or perhaps more like when) these problems resurface. If tourism is really one of their big concerns, I wouldn't think of streets lined with soldiers as being the most welcoming or warm atmospheres for sports enthusiasts.
ReplyDeleteAnita Wu
Successful law enforcement requires the input of the community members. Therefore, the implementation of the broken windows policy may be ineffective in fighting drug trafficking in Brazil’s capital Rio de Janeiro because most of the locals are afraid to volunteer information to the forces. By contrast, I believe the firm stance taken by the military has made tremendous success in fighting crime, since it was more disastrous to rely on a compromised police force.
ReplyDeleteSehun Lee
Janat, great job on finding these articles. The situation in Brazil seems quite similar to the gentrification of Seattle in the Beckett and Herbert reading. In both cases, the government and law enforcement operate as a clean-up crew to make their city or country more attractive and appealing to tourists. They are not addressing the underlying problems. Unless the Brazilian government continues to spend valuable resources and manpower indefinitely, their approach is only a short term solution. And as you suggest, these cracks will reappear once tourism disappears.
ReplyDeleteAs others have commented already, I also see the similarities in the gentrification that went on in Seattle that Beckett and Herbert described. You have pointed out that the broken windows tactic is being sought as a way to “rescue the people” in an effort to keep the streets safe. Although, I do agree with keeping the streets safe, I do not necessarily agree that this style of policing will solve the problem as it would only push the violence out to other urban areas as you have mentioned. Without sense of trust, members of the community will only feel as if they are already imprisoned. There should be a balance of community and professional tactics in order for there to be effective policing. I too wonder whether or not the Pacification Project will be as firm as they are now once the Olympics and World Cup are over.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great example both of the power of legitimacy through persuasion and of the role of the community in effective policing tactics. As Professor Musheno emphasized several times during the beginning of the semester, law enforcement cannot rely solely on coercion in order to ensure compliance. Clearly, law enforcement and the military in Brazil have lost their legitimacy in the eyes of the people living in the favelas, since "pacification" is a blatant misnomer for what is essentially state violence for the purpose of promoting a reputation, rather than ameliorating day-to-day life. As for the role of the community, even professional policing styles rely on interactions with citizens and must build trust with the people they are policing in order to derive legitimacy through persuasion and positive actions rather than force. Law enforcement's abandonment of the favelas when those communities clearly needed help sent a strong and clear message to the inhabitants that the police were not on their side. Now that it is convenient for law enforcement to maintain a presence, how can the police possibly expect cooperation from the people they have historically turned their backs on?
ReplyDelete-Molly Ruiz
The argument that they are rescuing people is also reminiscent of New York's use of stop and frisk. It has been argued that the NYPD's use of aggressive tactics in low- income neighborhoods with high crime rates is beneficial to the people who live in those communities. However, like in the favelas, it is extremely difficult to gain the trust and cooperation of the community when they feel like they are targeted and the police force loses legitimacy.
ReplyDelete-Maria Campos
Great job.I very much enjoyed both the article and your analysis of the government's true reasons for taking a new, hard-line stance on crime. This situation reminds me of the same actions undertaken by the Chinese government in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics--demolishing low-income neighborhoods and displacing huge numbers of people just to try and show off their new economic might. I also agree that this kind of ignorant "pruning" of alleged hotspots will only lead to further distrust of the police and authority figures; the population will have second thoughts about aiding the police in cracking down on local crimes when they have no neighborhoods to live in anyway.
ReplyDelete-Aaron Lee
I completely agree with the critics regarding this type of policing. This style of policing doesn't attack the main problem with certain societies in brazil. I believe this will just make crime more prevalent in areas with less policing. At the same time i think their reasoning for this is not where it should be, meaning brazil is just trying to look good to outside countries portraying an effort made in their "progression" in policing and trying to stop their crime rates.
ReplyDelete-Derek Campbell
Interesting non-domestic perspective on policing. Great insights about the importance of legitimacy to policing and how much historical memory plays a part in contemporary trust of law enforcement. Also, insightful on how such aggressive tactics undermine legitimacy. Favelas, like many central urban neighborhoods in the U.S., are complex communities that include resources and social capital which may serve as a basis for improving health, well being and safety of its people. Harnessing the social capital of such communities rather than imposing a strictly external force may be the key -- remember the case study of the two communities in SF that worked together. Favelas are located in close proximity to communities of plenty. How might this reality be a source of horizontal leveraging in Brazil? What barriers stand in the way of such cooperation? Professor Musheno
ReplyDeleteBrazil has always had a problem on fighting crime in certain areas. Areas controlled by crime and corruption. It was interesting to see how they were going to deal with this for the world cup and olympics. I would have to agree on the fact much of the problem won't be solved and crime will just end up being displaced. I will definitely like to see how this all plays out in the end and see if law enforcement was successful.
ReplyDelete-Alex Juha
As touched on by someone above, this is like China's approach to the 2008 Olympics. With the entire world focused on Beijing, the Chinese government started up a serious campaign to get pollution levels under control and even issuing mandates against citizens hanging their laundry from their buildings. But now, nearly 5 years later, we see that the pollution in Beijing is worse than it ever was.
ReplyDeleteRio's crackdown against crime is very similar in that way that it is simply throwing band-aids over the symptoms--NOT the underlying causes. As you pointed out, tourist hotspots are being focused on in particular. I have no doubt that once the 2016 Olympics have come and gone, there will be a resurgence in the issues they are currently trying to suppress.
- Donald Chan