Court prohibits police officers from Baixada Fluminense from reinforcing policing for Rio 2016.
A court in Rio de Janeiro, through a preliminary injunction granted at the request of the Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor's Office, prohibited the state from using part of the personnel of the 20th Military Police Battalion, based in Mesquita, in the Baixada Fluminense region, and from removing equipment, weapons, and vehicles from the police unit to reinforce security for the Rio 2016 Olympics in the city of Rio. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the municipalities of the Baixada Fluminense region are suffering from increased crime due to migratory movements of criminals, and that, as a consequence, the reduction of police personnel in the area could cause material damage and an increase in victims in Nova Iguaçu, Mesquita, and Nilópolis.
Douglas Corrêa – Reporter for Agência Brasil
A court in Rio de Janeiro, through a preliminary injunction granted at the request of the Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor's Office (MPRJ), prohibited the state from using part of the personnel of the 20th Military Police Battalion, based in Mesquita, in the Baixada Fluminense region, and from removing equipment, weapons, and vehicles from the police unit to reinforce security for the Rio 2016 Olympics in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Due to the holding of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, 90 military police officers stationed at this battalion, responsible for policing the municipalities of Nova Iguaçu, Mesquita, and Nilópolis, were called upon by the State to provide support to the corporation's operations in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Nineteen vehicles from the same battalion had also been requested.
According to the injunction, the deployed personnel, vehicles, and other equipment and weapons provided must be returned and relocated within a maximum period of 24 hours. A fine of R$ 1 million was set for each instance of non-compliance.
In its petition to the court, the Public Prosecutor's Office argued that the municipalities of Baixada Fluminense are suffering from an increase in crime due to migratory movements of criminals, and that, therefore, the reduction of police personnel in the area could cause material damage and an increase in victims in Nova Iguaçu, Mesquita, and Nilópolis.
According to Judge Mariana Moreira Baptista, of the 5th Civil Court of Nova Iguaçu, "the shocking and calamitous finding demonstrates that the measure adopted by the state of Rio de Janeiro represents a serious risk to the safety of the population of Baixada Fluminense, given that the state capital, which already has a larger contingent of military police officers, has received reinforcements from the Armed Forces and the National Security Force," says an excerpt from the decision.
The population estimated by IBGE in the region is over one million inhabitants, and a recent survey by the Institute of Public Security (ISP) reveals that seven of the ten police stations in the state that recorded the most intentional homicides (when there is intent to kill) belong to municipalities in the Baixada Fluminense.
Contacted by Agência Brasil, the Military Police had not responded by the time this report was published.