State deputy reports ‘violent police approach’ suffered in Salvador: ‘By a whisker, not everyone is dead’ | Bahia

Deputy Olívia Santana explains that she was the victim of a ‘violent police approach’ in Salvador

State deputy Olívia Santana (PCdoB) explained that she was the victim of a brutal approach by the Military Police. The case occurred on the morning of this Wednesday (1st), when she was passing through Vale das Pedrinhas, a neighborhood in Complexo do Nordeste de Amaralina, in Salvador.

According to the parliamentarian, her car was stopped by agents, who shouted slogans, with weapons aimed at the vehicle.

“Get out of the car, dammit. (…) Everyone with their hands on their heads”, the soldiers reportedly said.

Olivia was in the company of her driver and another boy. As she reports, initially they did not understand the approach, but after seeing the weapons, everyone got out of the vehicle in fright and obeyed the command.

“It was a very shocking thing to see so many weapons,” he highlighted.

g1 gained access to a video that records the moment from afar. In the footage, the car’s occupants are already outside the vehicle, with their hands on their heads.

Olivia states that the police officers’ stance only changed when they recognized her. One of the agents would have justified that the black vehicle used by her was a “suspicious” model, as the garrison was looking for a getaway car. Still, the deputy highlighted that the approach was not correct.

“We received a horrible shock and that weaponry paraphernalia. The sensation [é] that, by a whisker, not everyone is dead today. If our driver doesn’t understand that it’s up to us, if he hadn’t stopped, would our car have been shot at?

Olívia informed g1 that she would send a letter to the Secretary of Public Security, Marcelo Werner, and to the Military Police. To the portal, the SSP said that the PM is investigating the case.

In her report on social media, the parliamentarian also directly called on Governor Jerônimo Rodrigues (PT) to implement the monitoring camera system attached to the security agents’ uniforms. The measure is underway.

In December, the Bahia Public Security Secretariat (SSP-BA) chose the company responsible for supplying the so-called “bodycams”.

At the time, Major Jurandilson Nascimento, director of Videomonitoring at the department’s Technological and Organizational Management Superintendence (SGTO), said that the company would have 60 days to supply the first 1,100 cameras. The deadline would begin after the signing of the contract, which provides for the total delivery of 3,300 cameras in one year.

The portal also questioned SSP-BA on the matter. In response, the ministry only informed that the cameras are in the final process of training the troops to begin the testing phase.

This was not the first time that Olívia Santana denounced brutal police actions. In October 2022, during the elections, she said that agents threatened to arrest her on charges of “exiting the polls”.

At the time, she argued with the military over political differences and also said that she had to run to protect a woman. This is because one of the PMs allegedly attacked the girl, who was carrying a child and a flag with the photo of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

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