30/12/2024

Social Tolerance to Police Violence

A few weeks ago, a police officer in the state of São Paulo threw a civilian off a bridge into a river. A camera captured the moment, and the video went viral immediately. (Source). This individual managed to survive. Simultaneously, another video surfaced showing a police officer indiscriminately shooting at a civilian. In response to this evidence, there was public reaction that prompted the governor of the state, a staunch Bolsonaro supporter with a hardline stance, to slightly temper his strict stance in the face of such blatant violations of fundamental rights. A segment of the population reacted to the excesses of out-of-control police officers who unjustifiably attack and kill civilians.

Indiscriminate police violence is far from being a collection of exceptional cases. According to the Lethal Force Monitor for Latin America and the Caribbean (source), in 2022, police forces in Brazil committed 5,679 homicides against civilians, with over 80% of the victims being Black individuals. In Brazil, regrettably, such police violence has a long-standing tradition and specific factors that explain it, but all of Latin America has high rates of police-perpetrated homicides.

In Colombia, 269 cases of such homicides were reported in 2022; in Mexico, 368 cases; and in El Salvador—a country with 6.5 million inhabitants—89 cases were documented. Although there are no official records in Argentina, data from the Center for Legal and Social Studies estimate that between 100 and 150 cases occur annually. Even in Chile, media outlets reported 19 civilian homicides at the hands of police forces in 2022.

This data reveals that we are dealing with a widespread phenomenon in our region. Numerous studies that analyze this issue (in Argentina, for example, there was extensive debate surrounding the notorious Chocobar case, involving a police officer who, while pursuing a thief, shot and killed him under circumstances that were unclear as to whether the individual posed a threat). We know that violence and, at times, excessive use of force have multiple causes—poor training, failures in policing, self-defense, and many others. What I wish to reflect on in this article, however, is not the systemic failures themselves but rather to suggest some potential answers for society’s tolerance of this phenomenon, which claims thousands of lives every year.

Why does the public rarely react to extreme police violence? Under what circumstances does it tend to respond? Why, even though hundreds or thousands of civilians (most of them innocent or involved in minor offenses) die every year, do societies appear to tolerate this police violence?

In the first place, social indifference is rooted in communities that are deeply fearful of the levels of crime present across all the countries in the region. In some cases, the levels of violence and crime are extremely high (Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela), while in others, the levels of criminality are relatively low (Argentina, Chile). Nevertheless, a deep fear of crime exists everywhere. In surveys measuring fear of criminality, the fear index in Santiago de Chile is comparable to that of Rio de Janeiro, even though the likelihood of being a crime victim in Rio is six times higher than in Santiago. This fear and sense of vulnerability lead many citizens to tolerate unjustified police violence, even in contexts where objective levels of violence are low.


 

Second, in some societies, weak judicial systems fail to oversee police actions effectively. Cases of abuse are often investigated by internal affair offices of the police, which create a veil of impunity around such incidents. As a result, these cases do not reach public attention, unless someone records the events and the footage goes viral, as in the cases mentioned in São Paulo.

Third, Latin American societies have high levels of segregation, which explains the limited solidarity with marginalized social sectors that are often the victims of these homicides. In other words, large segments of society show very little empathy toward the suffering caused by the harassment faced by other social groups, who typically live in slums, shantytowns, colonias, or favelas.

Fourth, it is crucial to have civil organizations to monitor, denounce, and stay vigilant concerning these homicides. These organizations not only report abuses to the authorities but also disseminate information and organize actions. This point warrants further explanation.

The strength of these organizations must be assessed in relation to other factors, such as public fear of crime and crime levels. For instance, in Brazil, several social organizations denounce police violence, but given the high levels of crime and fear, they struggle to counteract societal indifference toward these abuses.

In summary, the success of NGOs is conditioned by the balance or equilibrium between societal tolerance for police-perpetrated homicides and the factors influencing it. In Argentina and Chile, there are various civil organizations that raise awareness, keep records, and mobilize resources to denounce these acts. This largely explains why such homicides have not spiraled out of control in these countries.

Fifth, images and voices from individual cases tend to evoke greater sympathy. By nature, humans are more inclined to empathize when seeing individual suffering. Reports and statistics generally do not elicit the same emotional response as observing concrete experiences. Therefore, when genuine visual or auditory testimonies exist, they are more likely to touch the public and prompt protests against abuses. The reaction of Tarcísio de Freitas (the governor of São Paulo) was only triggered when public outcry arose from images shared on social media. This confirms the famous saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Our Latin American region has very high levels of violence and police abuse due to these and other structural causes. Racism, marginalization, political rivalries, and even corruption are factors that contribute to the severe offenses committed by public servants in uniform. In conditions of high levels of violence and crime, large segments of society turn a blind eye and, at times, even support the illegal actions of law enforcement.

To stop, or at least reduce, the growing number of these cases in the region, it is necessary to have a vigorous civil society that reacts against abuses, an active judiciary that responds to police brutality, but even more importantly, a sensitive citizenry that is intolerant to these acts. And for that to occur, low crime rates are required. A vicious cycle that is difficult to break.

 

Marcelo Bergman is the Director of the Center for Latin American Studies on Insecurity and Violence of the National University of Tres de Febrero

 

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