For every 100 people shot dead by Brazilian police in 2022, 65 were black. The number could be even higher, considering that in some cases the person’s ethnicity was not specified. Counting only those victims with a specified race, the proportion of black people killed could reach up to 85 percent.
The study by the Network of Security Observatories think tank was released this Tuesday. According to it, in just eight of Brazil’s 27 states, 4,219 people were killed by the police last year.
The proportion of black people shot by the police is higher than the actual proportion in society as a whole. In the deadliest state, Bahia, in the Northeast, 95 percent of the fatal victims of police violence were black, while the black population in the state is 80 percent of the total.
Other states had similar proportions: Pernambuco (89.7% against 65.1% in the overall population), Rio de Janeiro (87% and 54.4%), Piauí (88.2% and 79.3%), Ceará (80.4% and 71.7%) and São Paulo (63.9% and 40.3%).
“Comparing these figures, it is clear that there are many more black people among those killed by the police than there are in the population. This factor is easily explained by structural racism and society’s acceptance of violence against black people,” said Pablo Nunes, coordinator of the organization that conducted the study.
It’s the fourth year that the study has been carried out, and the number of black people killed by police violence has been the vast majority in each of the years. According to the Brazilian Public Security Forum, more than 80 percent of the police’s victims are black and from low-income backgrounds. Almost half were in Bahia and Rio de Janeiro.
Public security is a thorn in the side of President Luiz Inácio da Silva. While most security forces are run by state governments, the federal administration is facing demands for more effective laws to prevent this kind of violence. Facing criticism, the Justice Ministry recently pledged to invest BRL 900 million (USD 176 million) through 2026 in a program to combat organized crime, and announced specific measures to increase security in Bahia and Rio de Janeiro.
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