09/19/2024 – 20:36
Quaest released polls on Wednesday, the 18th, on voting intentions for the city halls of São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro and Recife. The surveys, in addition to showing voters’ voting preferences, assessed the support of respondents for the use of firearms by municipal guards in the respective capitals.
Numerically, the most representative support for the use of firearms by police officers comes from the people of São Paulo, while the people of Rio de Janeiro are the most against it. Just like in São Paulo, in the capitals of Minas Gerais and Pernambuco, voters are more in favor of the use of firearms.
As shown by the Statethe number of Brazilian cities that, in response to the increase in urban violence, have adopted the creation of a municipal guard is growing. In 2023, according to the Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP), 1,467 cities were identified as having a municipal guard in operation. The organization itself, however, has reservations about the “methodological challenges” it faced when cross-referencing different sources and pointing to a 23.5% increase in relation to a 2019 figure recorded by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
As a result, the “modus operandi” among security forces is irregular, which hinders the planning of public policies. Furthermore, the oversight of institutions ends up being compromised. It is estimated that 70% of municipal guards in the country do not strictly comply with a law passed in 2014 that regulates the scope of action of municipal guards.
Sao Paulo (SP)
Among the residents of São Paulo interviewed by Quaest, 60% said they were in favor of the use of firearms by the Metropolitan Civil Guard (GCM), while 37% said they were against it. 5% did not know or did not want to answer. The GCM has been using firearms, such as carbines, pistols and rifles, since 2022.
Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
Rio de Janeiro is going against the grain of the other capitals surveyed by the survey. Among Rio residents, support for the use of firearms by the city guard is not predominant. 57% disapprove of the measure, compared to 38% of voters in favor. 5% of those interviewed by Quaest in Rio did not know how to respond. Rio de Janeiro has more than 7,000 municipal agents who currently use only non-lethal equipment.
Recife (PE)
Among voters in the capital of Pernambuco, 58% approve the use of firearms by municipal guards, while 36% are against the measure. 6% of those interviewed did not know or did not want to answer. Recife does not have a plan to regulate the use of firearms by its 1,700 guards.
Belo Horizonte (MG)
Among voters in Belo Horizonte, 58% approve the use of firearms by municipal guards, while 37% are against and 5% did not respond. In the capital of Minas Gerais, guards have been allowed to use firearms since 2015, after undergoing tests on their handling and psychological capacity.
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