The suicide problem within Brazil’s police forces

Latest data from the Brazilian Public Security Forum show that a higher number of the country’s police officers commit suicide than are killed on duty. The finding comes from the 2019 Brazilian Public Security Annual, published on Tuesday, which includes statistics on crime and violence measured in 2018.

The suicide rate among officers of Brazil’s civil and military police forces increased a worrying 42.5 percent last year, with the rise even sharper (53.8 percent) among only military police agents.

Just two states (Amazonas and Rio de Janeiro) saw decreases in the number of police suicides between 2017–2018, with the rest increasing or remaining unchanged. Levels doubled in Bahia, Pernambuco, and Rio Grande do Sul; tripled in Maranhão, and quadrupled in the Federal District.

In the northeastern state of Alagoas, no police suicides were recorded in 2017; last year, there were six.

Meanwhile, the number of police officers killed on duty also saw an increase, albeit a much slimmer rise of 7.4 percent in 2018. In all, there were 19.5 percent more cases of public security agents committing suicide than there were officers killed in the field.

This goes against the platforms of several conservative politicians in Brazil, including...