MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Another record year of murders in Brazil: 63.880 in 2017
In 2017, Brazil had a murder rate of 30.8 per 100,000 people, up from 29.9 in 2016, according to data published by the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook 2018 
Drug-scarred Mexico, which also suffered a record number of murders in 2017, had a homicide rate of around 20 per 100,000 people. Brazil had a record number of murders last year, with homicides rising 3.7% from 2016 to 63,880 according to a study released on Thursday, just months before a presidential election in which violence has become a key issue.
In 2017, Brazil had a murder rate of 30.8 per 100,000 people, up from 29.9 in 2016, according to data published by the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook 2018. Drug-scarred Mexico, which also suffered a record number of murders in 2017, had a homicide rate of around 20 per 100,000 people.
The yearbook is published by the Brazilian Forum of Public Security, a think tank.
Triggered by ever-more violent gangs capitalizing on tighter law enforcement budgets and a political void in the wake of massive graft scandals, growing violence is a key voter concern ahead of the October election.
Far-right lawmaker Jair Bolsonaro, who leads polling in the presidential race excluding jailed former president Lula da Silva, wants to loosen gun laws and toughen up policing to tackle the rise in violence.
His popularity has forced opponents including centrist former governor Geraldo Alckmin to join forces with law-and-order conservatives to bolster their crime-fighting credentials.
The yearbook data showed that many of the record number of murders, which includes police killed in the line of duty, were concentrated in Brazil’s poorer northeastern states.
The state of Rio Grande do Norte had the highest murder rate in 2017, with 68 murders per 100,000 people, followed by Acre, in the far west of the country bordering Peru, with 63.9 per 100,000 people.
The wealthier state of Sao Paulo had the lowest murder rate of any state, with 10.7 homicides per 100,000 people.
In the absence of comprehensive federal crime data, the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook collects official state-level data and is used as a reference by the federal government.
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Read all commentsWhat I find hard to understand is why the media, including the internet, focuses first on the number of people killed in total and then secondly on the number of people killed by the police. It is almost impossible to find the number of law enforcement officers (Police Militar, Police Civil, Guarda Civil, Officers Penitenciária and others) killed by the criminals. Maybe the media is scared of any backlash by the “Alternate Government”.
Aug 10th, 2018 - 01:11 pm 0Did you even read the article? It mentions that the figures include police killed on duty and doesn't mention suspects killed by the police at all.
Aug 10th, 2018 - 03:53 pm 0Most people who read/watch the media do not work in law enforcement, so the number of police killed is not likely to be the first thing on their mind. What is this 'Alternate Government'? Another name for the deep state conspiracy?
DT
Aug 10th, 2018 - 05:11 pm 0What the media should report, besides the total number of casualties (which they have), is how may cops are killed....it's what I've said before, the media highlights what suits them, giving the impression the cops are always to blame, and unimportant.
I don't know the exact numbers, but it seems clear that most deaths are caused by rivarly between criminal factions (run by their leaders from inside the prisons), drug gangs (shootouts or revenge ambushes), followed by confrontations with the police....then common/random street crime (robbery followed by homicide), and finally murders committed by deranged people for any amount of reasons. The fact is that it all boils down to one hell of a lack of respect for human life, and the way it is being addressed is getting nowhere.
Would say that MW's 'alternate government' refers to the criminal factions, whose tentacles are far reaching and know no limits.
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