Rio de Janeiro - Crime & Safety

[Spidy]

This might seem counter-intuitive but I think the gangs in Rio while contributing to the murder rate have a greater impact on keeping the number of overall murders down. For a time I felt safer in Rio favelas than in USA Hoods. Reason being unless you do some lame shit (vacilar) nobody is going to bother you. They actually can't, it's part of the favela code. For this reason I only go to strong favelas. Mare, Penha, Complexo do Alemao, Jacare, Manguinhos all have a strong code. Most favelas in Baixada I won't go to. Flimsy leadership and and bunch of broke MF'ers is a bad combo.

In smaller city favelas / slums the fear factor is lacking. People are willing to test the waters. In Rio, not so much. If you break laws of the favela you are judged by what's called the tribunal of trafico. If you get the thumbs down you're out of here like in ancient Rome. Right then and there you're done, usually in grotesque fashion. So that's a pretty strong motivation not to vacilar. Smaller cities don't have the same organization and structure to discourage. In the NE in Ceara, it's still like Rio was 30+ years ago. The gangs don't have G3 rifles, mostly 38's and shotguns. So the police kill a lot more bandits. They can enter favelas at will. In Rio, it has to be a planned operation. Also, there are more milicias which are basically dirty cops who also murder a lot. Overall a lot more freelancers not used to answering to anybody. At least that's what I've witnessed.

Thank you for a very illuminating explanation. Your Rio experiences and knowledge shines through, once again.

Your explanation, most definitely would explain some of the crime related discripancies, between the smaller and larger cites. Also what you describe, I don't think is something that is easily distilled into simple black and white.

As you point out, there are alot of these "milicias" or dirty cops around. So when it's reported that cops are killed in certain circumstances, I'm thinking maybe it was "dirty cops" and perhaps they deserved it.

Consider that many of the favela gang-members, don't even have a "pot to piss-in", yet somehow copious amounts of contraband, drugs and guns, somehow find their way to the favelas. How do they get there? Where do they come from? It is widely reported that in some instances, the "police" (or "milicias") are the ones supplying the criminal gangs the guns and contraband.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...rom-drug-gangs

Many of these so called police / ex-police members, the "milicianos", have taken over gang related criminal activities, in some of these favela neighborhoods and are many times worse than the criminal gangs that they've usurped. Some in the people in the favelas feel that they are the "lesser of two evils", others not so much.

So is the act of crime/murder/killing/drug trafficking and all its other nasty forms, ONLY okay ("righteous") , when police/ex-police ("milicianos") or dirty-cops do it?

[Xpartan]

Question for Rio vets mostly. My last trip was in February. Just curious if the pandemic has changed the situation on the ground, for better or worse.

[Exec Talent]

You may notice some of us mentioning clubs or venues outside the tourist zone.

I have spent time in various Favelas and the North Zone in Rio. Just to give you an idea, I am blond fair-skinned and it was not unusual for the little kids to want to touch me and feel my hair. I have had a similar, but not as tactile reaction when I was the only Caucasian in rural areas of Japan. Different is different. My point is, if you are Caucasian, you will stand out. This is not always a good or safe thing especially if you do not speak Portuguese. Also have been to a number of Baile Funk parties. One in a favela I left because the locals were not particularly happy that one of their hot Brazilian honeys was with a gringo. Speaking of favelas. I find the favela tours disgusting. Look at the poor people. Look how they live. It is to gain cultural understanding, but more like visiting a zoo. Would you advise visitors to your city to take a tour of the slums?

[Kcrl01]

Oglobo reporting there was an 81% increase between Jan and May 2019 of pedestrian robberies in the Copa area, compared to the same period last year. Oglobo Photog caught one of these robberies on film. Little bastard got away, unfortunately. The victim was a Brazilian tourist, BTW. He's a big dude, didn't matter to the little fuker.

https://oglobo.globo.com/rio/confira...abana-23813585

https://oglobo.globo.com/rio/copacab...-2019-23813469

And the little motherfuckers wonder why the cops will shoot them on sight if they cross paths on a dark night in the favelas!

[Exec Talent]

Sorry to hear about your good friend. Definitely enough blame to go around though, for the woes in Brazil. From the media, to the politicians, to the police and society at large.

Yep, Complicated! Time will tell I guess, as to how much safer people* feel with this new gov't regime.

*Note: "People", meaning it naturally depends on your social-economical makeup w/r to this decision. This includes us as tourists or mongers.

Since many people here just come and go and often, from the comments I read, have a certain impression of Brazilians, let me say that there are some good apples.

With this particular friend and his wife, I used to go to MPB clubs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B...lar_brasileira

Routinely we would have dinner and spend the night out. There was never let the rich gringo pay. He always insisted on fairly dividing the costs. Good times with good people.

[Spidy]

The issue with foreign journalists is always the same. They hear about a problem. They come in, hype the problem, and leave. Their viewers all go, isn't that awful, and turn the channel.

If you have lived among Brazilians, you are well aware of this situation. It is not hyped news for the foreign market, it is reality. It is insulting for foreigners to sell and benefit from it when they have no intent on being part of the solution.

Well said. Just not enough in-depth and comprehensive coverage of social-polical issues these days, in an world of click-bait, quick sound bits and tick-tock videos.

Many times I get asked by tourists to recommend a favela tour. I suggest that they wait until they get back to the US and tour the slums in LOS Angeles, New York, Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans, Baltimore or my personal favorite, Las Vegas. Behind all those lights and glitter on the Strip are people living in rundown apartments working the casinos and trying to survive.

Indeed, we definitely have our own "backyard" mess to clean up.

As has been mentioned, these police militias are nothing new. About 15 years ago, I had a very good friend killed by one of them. His family did nothing because they feared reprisal. That is not media hype for first world viewers, that is reality

Sorry to hear about your good friend. Definitely enough blame to go around though, for the woes in Brazil. From the media, to the politicians, to the police and society at large.

Yep, Complicated! Time will tell I guess, as to how much safer people* feel with this new gov't regime.

*Note: "People", meaning it naturally depends on your social-economical makeup w/r to this decision. This includes us as tourists or mongers.

[Exec Talent]

The issue with foreign journalists is always the same.

They hear about a problem. They come in, hype the problem, and leave.

Their viewers all go, isn't that awful, and turn the channel.

If you have lived among Brazilians, you are well aware of this situation. It is not hyped news for the foreign market, it is reality. It is insulting for foreigners to sell and benefit from it when they have no intent on being part of the solution.

Many times I get asked by tourists to recommend a favela tour. I suggest that they wait until they get back to the US and tour the slums in LOS Angeles, New York, Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans, Baltimore or my personal favorite, Las Vegas. Behind all those lights and glitter on the Strip are people living in rundown apartments working the casinos and trying to survive.

As has been mentioned, these police militias are nothing new. About 15 years ago, I had a very good friend killed by one of them. His family did nothing because they feared reprisal. That is not media hype for first world viewers, that is reality.

[Sperto]

Yep! That's probably quite true. But I hope the irony of a messy complicated situation, that many of the locals find themselves in, isn't lost on you. Especially, when it comes figuring out JUST EXACTLY who are the so-called "bandits", "thugs", "criminals" and "gangsters". Better the devil you know than the one you don't'? ...hmmm

Milcia or faco, it's the same shit. The problem is when you stay in a favela where two milcias/faces start to fight over that area. Then you'll wake up by shootings next to your door, I know by experience. It won't help that the favela is under control of UPP.

[Spidy]

Nothing new, the milcia has been a threat since the mid-nineties.

Yep! That's probably quite true. But I hope the irony of a messy complicated situation, that many of the locals find themselves in, isn't lost on you. Especially, when it comes figuring out JUST EXACTLY who are the so-called "bandits", "thugs", "criminals" and "gangsters". Better the devil you know than the one you don't'? ...hmmm

[Sperto]

In Brazil's Rio de Janeiro mafia-like organizations known as "the militia" have become even more feared for their violence and control of the city than its notorious drug gangs...

Will the real "thugs", "criminals" and "gangsters", please stand up, ...please stand up, ...please stand up?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1TQIMTsstw

Nothing new, the milícia has been a threat since the mid-nineties.

[Spidy]

In Brazil's Rio de Janeiro mafia-like organizations known as "the militia" have become even more feared for their violence and control of the city than its notorious drug gangs...

Will the real "thugs", "criminals" and "gangsters", please stand up, ...please stand up, ...please stand up?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1TQIMTsstw

[Sperto]

IMO there are two dangers in Brazil that worries me, the traffic and umbrellas. The traffic because they drive like crazy. The umbrellas is even a major danger in Brazil. As soon as the rain starts everybody opens up their umbrellas. The problem is that most brazilians are quite short and their umbrellas are often close to rip out my eyes.

As it's being very rainy in Rio this summer it's dangerous times. I wouldn't recommend anybody coming here.

[Rio Bob]

Shit happens, try to limit items taken by having cheap items like wireless headphones if anything at all and hide phone or music player inside clothing.

I walk around with a full size camera and many people tell me to be careful but I never felt threatened or seen anything suspicious going on.

[Golfinho]

Foreign tourist killed during mugging in Ipanema.

https://meiahora.ig.com.br/geral/201...e-ipanema.html

Hope this one gets a lot of publicity in China.

[Sperto]

Another gringo tourist murdered.

A Lithuanian tourist, 37 year, and his brazilian GF/wife, rented a beach house in Praia do Sono, outside Paraty in RJ state. A guy entered the house armed with a knife, tied up the guy, raped the girl, tortured the guy and then killed him. The suspect is a guy who was hired to take care of the grass.

https://g1.globo.com/rj/sul-do-rio-c...sediando.ghtml