Baixada Santista: after 56 deaths, SP government ends Operation Summer

The government of the state of São Paulo decided to end Operation Summer carried out by the military and civil police in the cities of Baixada Santista since December 2023. The action left 56 civilians dead, in alleged clashes with security agents. Two police officers were also killed by criminals.

Police ombudsman for the state of São Paulo, Cláudio Aparecido da Silva evaluates the operation negatively and highlights the high number of people killed by security agents.

“The ombudsman’s assessment of Operation Verão is a very negative assessment, given the number of people negatively impacted by the operation. Official numbers show 56 deaths”, concludes da Silva

“In these deaths we have disabled people, people who used crutches, blind people, a mother with six children. We don’t believe in public security that kills, and we don’t believe in public security that incarcerates en masse. We believe in public security that inhibits the actions of opportunists who will act in conflict with the law”, she highlighted.

According to the ombudsman, the public security model adopted by the state of São Paulo has resulted in more people dying, including police officers. “This model of death, this model of a good criminal is a dead criminal, he is of no use to either society or the police. More police officers die and more people from civil society die and we have to combat this.”

Balance

According to the Public Security Secretariat, the operation arrested 1,025 offenders. 2.6 tons of drugs and 119 illegal firearms were collected. The ministry announced that there will be an increase in the number of 341 military police officers who will work permanently in cities in the region.

The state government also highlighted that there was a 25.8% reduction in robberies in Santos, São Vicente and Guarujá in the first two months of the year, when compared to the previous year, and highlighted that, in Baixada Santista, February 2024 was the month with the lowest rate of robberies in the historical series, which began in 2001.

“The operation fulfilled its objectives, whether capturing targets identified by joint intelligence work between the police or reducing crime rates in Baixada Santista. Now, with the increase in personnel, we can continue this fight, which will be constant”, highlighted the Secretary of Public Security, Guilherme Derrite.

Homicides

However, SSP data shows that intentional homicides increased in the Santos region in months in which the operation was active: in December 2023, January 2024 and February 2024 there were 40 intentional homicides, two more than in the same months of previous years (December 2022, January 2023 and February 2023).

The number of people killed by military police officers on duty in Baixada Santista also rose: it increased by more than 400% in the first two months of this year. In January and February, military police killed 57 people, according to data released by the Public Ministry of São Paulo (MPSP) – a survey that includes total data, in addition to Operation Verão. In the first two months of 2023, ten deaths were recorded by police officers on duty in the region.

Confrontation

According to the project manager at Instituto Sou da Paz, Natália Pollachi, the São Paulo police have given priority to confrontational operations and gone back on the corporation’s lethality control policies, such as installing cameras on uniforms and creating commissions of analysis of cases that result in death.

“This increase in lethality was more than 400% in Baixada Santista, but we see a contagion effect throughout the state. And this is extremely worrying. Because it talks about a choice by the São Paulo State Security Secretariat to go back on policies that were showing very good results in reducing police lethality”, he highlighted.

At the beginning of March, the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, said that he is not concerned about reports of abuses in the conduct of Operation Verão, launched by the Military Police in Baixada Santista. “Honestly, we are very calm about what is being done. And then people can go to the UN [Organização das Nações Unidas]you can go to the Justice League, no matter what, I don’t care”, she told journalists, during an event in the capital to celebrate International Women’s Day.

*Maura Martins and Guilherme Jeronymo, from TV Brasil.