Rio de Janeiro - Crime & Safety

[Zorglub]

And here`s some more for those interested :

http://noticias.terra.com.br/ultimas/0,,EI316,00.html

[El Austriaco]

Vila Mimosa:

03/02/2007
This Saturday, the body of a man was found at Rua Ceará in Vila Mimosa. Marcio Faria de Castro, 33 years of age, had been shot to death and was found by officers of the 6th Military Police Battalion (Tijuca). (GLOBO ONLINE)

Stray bullet on Linha Vermelha:

02/02/2007
One man was hit by a stray bullet this Friday night when driving on the Linha Vermelha in the vicinity of the Parque Alegria favela in Cajú (O GLOBO ONLINE)

[Trelele]

http://www.riobodycount.com.br/

It's sad, very sad.

Even a paradise has it´s problems.

[Exec Talent]

Last night, right outside my apartment near Balcony (Leme area) a middle-aged couple from Chile was robbed at knife point of credit cards and cash. I saw them today and the 6-inch knife wound on the woman´s arm looked pretty real to me. Sure, it can happen anywhere in any city, but this relatively "safe" area was also where a guy was shot and killed while sitting at Balcony bar.

Be careful, be alert, take taxis and curtail your drinking late at night before you head home.

[Off Road]

I am in Rio now, there were an extraordinary number of civil police out the past few days in Copa. I feel safe enough to go out and walk around until about 11pm along atlantica.

[Rio Bob]

Directions: No refunds for Rio

DESPITE SPIRALLING violence in Rio de Janeiro, tour operators have warned that those wishing to cancel trips to next month’s carnival are not entitled to refunds.

Recent incidents left 19 dead after drugs gangs attacked police stations and firebombed buses, leading to troops being deployed in the city’s embattled streets.

“We will not refund clients wishing to cancel unless Foreign Office (FO) advice changes,” says Journey Latin America.

At present, the FO advises that tourists stay off the buses and “avoid areas near banks, police and fire stations and other public buildings”, but it has not warned against non-essential travel.

However, Journey Latin America said it would “try to help rearrange a client’s itinerary wherever possible”.

[Rio Bob]

Six German and Croatian tourists were attacked on Thursday in Rio de Janeiro by armed men who stopped the vehicle that was taking them from the airport to a hotel area.

The attack took place only one day after Rio state Governor Sergio Cabral said the Brazilian military and a special national police anti-drugs unit are to be deployed to combat the city's growing crime and gang violence, that has resulted in the deaths of at least 24 people.

Representatives of tourism authorities in the second-largest Brazilian city noted that no one was injured in the attack on European tourists, which was allegedly carried out by four armed, masked men in a car.

The attackers took money, jewelry and cameras belonging to the six tourists and to the driver and the guide who were accompanying them.

Governor Cabral had specifically ordered an increase in police surveillance on the main roads providing access to Rio de Janeiro, which appear to have become a favourite setting for criminal gangs.

On November 25, 18 British tourists were attacked as they travelled from the airport to their hotel in the renowned Copacabana neighbourhood. A similar incident affected a group of Chinese businessmen on October 14, and two US citizens on October 22.

Officials are concerned about the impact the violence might have on tourism since it is occurring during Brazil's summer, when hundreds of thousands of foreign and domestic tourists travel to the seaside city.

Members of the Army, Navy and Air Force will soon take over patrol duties in the city and the National Security Force will be sent to the state borders to halt the entry of weapons, drugs and criminals, Cabral said late Wednesday in laying out his security plan.

The measures could be seen as an early implementation of security precautions for the Pan American Games, which Rio is to host in July, the governor said following an emergency meeting of state and federal officials on how to combat the unrest. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has dubbed the incidents "terrorism."

Widespread violence erupted late December 27 when heavily armed drug gangs hit police patrols with gunfire and grenades, opened fire on police stations and set public buses on fire.

Cabral, who took office Monday, said he would request the security deployments from the federal government in the next few days.

The National Security Force would be deployed in the "shortest possible time" and before carnival celebrations in mid-February, Cabral said.

The force was formed by Lula in 2004 and is made up of 7,700 elite officers trained primarily to fight the illegal drugs trade. It has been deployed in only two states, Espirito Santo and Mato Grosso do Sul.

[Jan 156]

As someone who normally uses buses nearly everywhere in Rio, I've been following the recent reports with some interest (am currently out of Brasil at least till later this yr).

I see in today's news that Rio *has* requested help from the federal force. Naturally I hope it quietens down soon but I also note the common sense posts by several people who point out these are comparatively few incidents in a city the size of London. I remember how people used to think it was dangerous to visit Belfast (a much smaller city that saw much more violence) but I knew people who lived and visited regularly. If half a dozen buses out of hundreds of thousands are blown up it is worrying but the chances of it being you are still pretty small.

Of course, there are much safer places to go and Rio is for the adventurous rather than the feint hearted, but a sense of proportion is helpful.

btw the only bus route I have ever felt slightly ill at ease on is the one that cuts through the mountains from middle/west Copa almost direct to Mimosa - possibly no good reason as there's other routes you could get robbed on. And I mostly worry in proportion to the amount of goodies I might be ill-advisedly carrying. Similarly I once changed my mind suddenly about getting off the bus at Mimosa as there was a dodgy-looking guy getting off there (sure enough, by the time eventually I got there, having walked back a stop from Cristovao, Mr Dodgy was running - and no-one runs anywhere - out of Mimosa).

The bombings are saddenging but are no reason IMO to avoid Rio. If all out civil war erupted in Zona Sul between the drug lords and the police that might be different, but that's not gonna happen. It is very hypocritical IMHO - the drugs, among other things, pay for guns from America. Legalise the drugs and you would undercut the illegal supply of them and most of the associated crime, plus you could spend the money more effectively on rehabilitation.

[Exec Talent]

While walking on Copacabana Beach today (rainy), I noticed several new Military Police kiosks. The structures are temporary in nature and I did not see any police manning them at 9:00 AM. I do not know if they were put there for New Years, because of the recent violence, the season or will be permanent. They are prominent though and large signs say Police in English as well as Portuguese. I wonder if the Brazilians know if they said TSA Americans would feel much safer.

[Sunset]

It's a sunny day. The stoes are filled with people stocking up for New Years. The streets are packed with busses. Nobody seems the least concerned. Same was true in Centro. I did hear an explosion from the direction of Chapeau Mangera last night.

[El Austriaco]

I am not on the ground in Rio right now, but here's what I gather from the Brazilian news reports and reading through hundreds of reader comments to them regarding the recent wave of violence in Rio and its impact on the upcoming New Year's Eve celebrations in Copacabana:

Cesar Maia, Rio's mayor, has refused federal help to contain the situation, despite the fact that in a O Globo poll, approx. 80% of the respondents stated that the Brazilian armed forces should be called in for support. This Thursday, the Military Police published information on how security will be ascertained during the upcoming New Year's Eve celebration (Réveillon): 14,234 military police officers on duty, 370 motorcycles, 2 helicopters, 2 launches, 10 support ships, and 1307 vehicles (including radio patrols and beach buggies) throughout the entire State of Rio de Janeiro, an increase of approx. 20% compared with last year.

Between December 30 and January 1, several troubled favelas in Rio will remain occupied by the Military Police (PM) (including Morro da Dona Marta, Chapeu Mangueira, Vidigal and Rocinha in the Zona Sul), and others like Pavao-Pavaozinho and Cantagalo in Copacabana are already being policed by Special Forces.

As a result of recent problems with air traffic, hotels in Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon, which account for approx. 82% of all hotel beds in Rio de Janeiro, have reached the lowest occupancy rate in five years for this time of the year: 80.15%. Yesterday's incidents are expected to further aggravate this situation as security concerns are on the increase and all 48 bus companies have suspended operations, further complicating the arrival and transportation of passengers.

Police stations continue to be attacked in different parts of the city and state, although at a reduced rate, and without any additional casualties or injuries. At 1:30 this morning, it was reported that another bus was incendiated, and two more PM stations were assaulted. So far, Rio has suffered 18 separate attacks since early Thursday morning; inofficially, the number is up to 26.

Needless to say, many O Globo readers are shocked about the "barbaric cruelty" of some of the attacks, most notably the bus set on fire in Cordovil, which left seven people dead. Many call for cancellation or a boycott of the New Year´s celebrations in Copacabana in honor of the dead and to ensure their own physical safety, speculating that these past attacks might only be a foreboding of more violence against innocent people in the next couple of days.

BTW, it is common belief by now that this wave of attacks was ordered by druglords incarcerated in the Bangú high-security prision in response to more severe jail conditions imposed by the government.

Source:
http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/

EA

[El Austriaco]

In the early morning hours of Thursday, the metropolitan area of greater Rio was hit by a wave of violence: bandidos set two public buses on fire, burning two passengers to death, and attacked five police stations with grenades and guns. In Lagoa, a police officer was killed. A police station in Botafogo was also attacked in a drive-by shooting, and a female bystander was killed, while several other people, including two children, were injured. Apparently, there was also an incident in Barra da Tijuca, among other places.

Later the same morning, three more buses were burnt in Bangú in the Zona Oeste.

So far, the overall death toll in Rio is up to 6 people, including two police officers, and at least 16 people were injured. In the entire state of Rio, the number of fatalities so far is up to 15 people, with 20 more injured. Bus travel from some parts of the Baixada to Rio has been suspended. Police operations continue in various parts of the state and city, including in the Morro de Dona Marta favela, where the culprits responsible for the attack in Botafogo are suspected to hide out.

More info: http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/mat/2006.../287211754.asp

Wherever you are, be careful out there.

EA

[El Austriaco]

As a matter of fact, I am sort of surprised that the article did not even mention the very REAL danger on the Linha Vermelha, the one that Rio residents are painfully aware of: the risk of getting caught in the crossfire in traffic between rivaling drug gangs controlling areas on both sides of the highway. Compared to that (and the resulting toll of casualties), the few robberies on the Linha Vermelha are really neglible, considering that we are talking about a major highway in a city of roughly 10 million people.

As if they were reading my posts , O Globo is currently running a poll on the following: Will fencing in the Linha Vermelha on both sides, as planned by the Military Police, be enough to ensure highway safety?

Right now, the results are as follows:

- Yes, this will make the shootings history: 15.68%
- No, the number of patrol cars needs to be increased: 15.44%
- Yes, as long as this is accompanied by other measures: 60.68%
- This is absurd and a discrimination against the residents of nearby favelas: 8.20%

EA

[El Austriaco]

While the article isn't all that bad overall, I am still astounded about the sloppy journalism that seems to be the norm today. Here we go:

The Linha Vermelha, which translates as Red Line in English, cuts through Rio de Janeiro’s rocky outcrops, many of which are dotted with informal settlements, as it leads towards luxurious beachfront hotels.

Considering that it runs mostly along the Guanabara Bay, including a section entirely over water, I don't know how one could say that the LV cuts through RJ's rocky outcrops. And leading towards luxurious beachfront hotels? Where? In the Quinta da Boa Vista area? Because that's where it ends, in pretty close vicinity to Vila Mimosa actually. Never seen any luxurious hotels there. And no beachfront either, unless you wanna call the stretch along the sewage canal a "beach".

The assault on the judges is one of the most brazen attack on the highway and its ancillary roads. It occurred two weeks after 18 British tourists who had just arrived in Rio de Janeiro were mugged when their bus was ambushed by men with machine guns and a grenade. The assailants work in groups, jumping out of cars or from the roadside and surrounding their targets.

Reality on the Linha Vermelha includes the January robbery of a busload of 33 English tourists, a car hijacking in May and the robbery of a Japanese couple and US tourist.

As even a cursory web search would have determined quite easily, the 18 British tourists were attacked, just like the 33 English tourists before them, in the Aterro do Flamengo area in the Zona Sul, NOT on the Linha Vermelha. So what does that mean? Don't go to the Rio Museum of Modern Art? Because that's exactly where that happened.

The other cases, yes. But as you can see, a lot of shit happens in other parts of Rio, too. In Zona sul, for example.

As a matter of fact, I am sort of surprised that the article did not even mention the very REAL danger on the Linha Vermelha, the one that Rio residents are painfully aware of: the risk of getting caught in the crossfire in traffic between rivaling drug gangs controlling areas on both sides of the highway. Compared to that (and the resulting toll of casualties), the few robberies on the Linha Vermelha are really neglible, considering that we are talking about a major highway in a city of roughly 10 million people.

To say nothing of the traffic accidents.

“What we need is intense police vigilance to combat crime,” says Elsa Maria Ramos de Arruda Campos, a historian who has lived in Rio de Janeiro for 14 years. De Arruda Campos has been robbed four times.

OK, I lived in San Francisco for 12 years, and my car (actually, my wife's) was broken into five times and stolen once. So what? And all that happened in good neighborhoods, mind you.

Crime against tourists is even moving into fiction. A Brazilian beach is part of the setting for Turistas, a new movie directed by John Stockwell, in which unsuspecting backpackers are drugged, tortured and eventually robbed of their internal organs.

I guess this must be the update to the storyline of Walter Salles' Oscar-winning movie "Central do Brasil", just with a tourist twist for international appeal. Is this sort of crime real in Rio... or is just a figment of artistic imagination, and therefore pure fiction? But it sure doesn't surprise me any more that they will NEVER ever pass up a cheap opportunity to blow crime against tourists in Rio way out of proportion. NEVER EVER. But as long as imaginary crime moves into fiction, that's OK. I'll start to worry when fiction turns into real crime.

As I said, not that the article is bad, not at all, just sloppy, as always. Yes, the Linha Vermelha can be dangerous, but considering that tourists will only travel on it exactly twice, from and to the airport, and that there is no real better (safer) alternative to getting to and from the aiport, what does this mean for Joe Blow Rio visitor? Exactly nothing. Yes, crime against tourists is real, and special precautions are certainly necessary to ensure you have a good time there. But let's be realistic about things, right?

EA

[Rio Bob]

Visitors to Rio must run gauntlet of the Red Line
Telma Marotto and Katia Cortes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Bloomberg

EVEN those who enforce the law are not safe from robbers on the highway linking Rio de Janeiro and its sandy beaches to the city’s international airport.

The road is favoured by armed robbers who prey on visiting business travellers and plunder entire busloads of foreign tourists. Last week, gunmen assaulted and robbed Brazil’s supreme court chief Ellen Gracie.

“It shows nobody is immune to the growing violence in Rio,” says Nuno Camara, a Rio de Janeiro native who works as an economist for Dresdner Kleinwort in New York. “The audacity of the criminals is unbelievable.”

Gracie and supreme court judge Gilmar Mendes were assaulted and robbed on one of the roads leading to the Linha Vermelha airport highway, when about eight gunmen surrounded their convoy of three cars, according to Rio de Janeiro police.

The assault on the judges is one of the most brazen attack on the highway and its ancillary roads. It occurred two weeks after 18 British tourists who had just arrived in Rio de Janeiro were mugged when their bus was ambushed by men with machine guns and a grenade. The assailants work in groups, jumping out of cars or from the roadside and surrounding their targets.

“I fear for my life every time I cross this highway, especially at night, because I see very few policemen,” says Fernando Ferreira Filho, an employee at the government agency in charge of airports. He and colleagues share a van that travels the highway four times a week.


Judge Minister Marcio Thomaz Bastos ordered Brazil’s federal police to begin an investigation into the attack on the judges.

The crime threatens tourism in the city known for the bossa nova, its carnival, and beach volleyball. Rio attracts more than a third of the country’s tourists and hosts more international conferences each year than any other Latin American city, according to the tourism department.

Crime against tourists is even moving into fiction. A Brazilian beach is part of the setting for Turistas, a new movie directed by John Stockwell, in which unsuspecting backpackers are drugged, tortured and eventually robbed of their internal organs.




Reality on the Linha Vermelha includes the January robbery of a busload of 33 English tourists, a car hijacking in May and the robbery of a Japanese couple and US tourist.

“What we need is intense police vigilance to combat crime,” says Elsa Maria Ramos de Arruda Campos, a historian who has lived in Rio de Janeiro for 14 years. De Arruda Campos has been robbed four times.

The Linha Vermelha, which translates as Red Line in English, cuts through Rio de Janeiro’s rocky outcrops, many of which are dotted with informal settlements, as it leads towards luxurious beachfront hotels. The geography allows robbers to descend on the highway and quickly disappear.

“It’s frightening to see how daring the bandits are, even attacking government vehicles,” says Ferreira Filho. “On the other hand, it’s good that a robbery affected authorities so the government pays more attention to what we face every day in Rio.”