Favelas' Residents Perceptions About Public Security and Policing in Rio de Janeiro

By Beatriz Magaloni, Vanessa Melo, Jailsun de Souza Silva and Eliana Sousa Silva

This study was conducted by the Poverty, Violence and Governance Lab (PovGov) in partnership with the Rio-based NGOs Favela’s Observatory (Observatório de Favelas) and Redes de Maré, two of the most respected civil society organizations acting in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas today. Our study seeks to understand the public security perceptions of residents living in four favelas that received a Pacifying Police Unit (UPP): Cidade de Deus, Providência, Rocinha and Batan. We also interviewed residents of Complexo da Maré during the “pre-pacification” period when the Brazilian Armed Forces and the Military Police occupied Maré in preparation for the arrival of the UPP (Sousa Silva, 2017). In the end, Complexo da Maré did not receive a UPP and the occupation of the favela by the state’s armed forces marked the end of the “pacification” process. The goal of this study is to explore themes related to public security using a largescale, door-to-door survey. The survey was administered between September 2015 and February 2016 and collected information from roughly 6,300 residents of Cidade de Deus, Providência, Rocinha, Batan and Maré. Our aim is to generate a more informed debate about the security situation in Rio de Janeiro that gives voice to residents of the city’s favelas. We seek to convey the experiences and perspectives of a large number of favela residents, including their patterns of interaction with the police and the armed criminal groups, their victimization experiences, changes in the security climate, evaluations of the UPP and the Military Police more broadly, and the overall public security situation in these communities.

Stanford, CA: Poverty, Governance, Policy Lab (povgov), 2018 81p.