SP public defender denounces illegal arrests of inmates during outings

Public security agents made illegal arrests during the period of temporary releases from the prison system, last month, in municipalities in São Paulo. This is according to a report produced by the São Paulo Public Defender’s Office, which analyzed the context of 157 arrests and discovered that the majority of targets were black and most of the agents were hidden in the records of the incidents.

The document mentions, based on what was launched in the Penitentiary Management system (Gepen), that 72% of people arrested between the 12th and 18th of March, the first temporary release this year, in the state, were black (black or brown). ) and 28%, white. There was no indication of yellow or indigenous prisoners.

The Public Defender’s Office explains in the report that people were detained on the grounds that they were not complying with the rules of going out, which served as a pretext for security agents to send them to a police station and then to a custody hearing. As the agency highlights, this occurred, on several occasions, “without the existence of any court order and outside the hypothesis of a flagrant crime.”

The body also highlights that the majority of custody hearings held in the capital were based on a police report drawn up by the Military Police. In 85.3% of them, the authorities failed to provide the full name of the police officers responsible for the arrest, indicating only the agent’s “nom de guerre”. The lack of precision in the identification of police officers, explains the Public Defender’s Office, prevents the correct investigation of the circumstances of the arrest and possible liability for police violence.” “Verification of the regularity of these arrests by the Judiciary is hampered in such conditions, as it makes it difficult to carry out the control of police activity”, he adds.

Also according to the report, in almost two thirds (61.7%) of the prisons, the police forces claimed that the detainees exceeded the limit set for returning to their place of stay, that is, they were arrested for being on public roads, in the interval between 7pm and 6am.

“Some people were arrested inside their own residence”, notes the Public Defender’s Office.

Furthermore, in 30% of the cases analyzed, it was not even mentioned what motivated the police approach. As the report highlights, this absence, in itself, would serve to highlight the illegal nature of the prisons.

From the investigation carried out, it was found that 12% were arrested for allegedly being in prohibited places. “Joint Ordinance No. 02/2019 prohibits people who are temporarily leaving from visiting bars, nightclubs, gambling or prostitution houses.
In practice, it is possible to notice that a large number of these people were arrested simply for being in the center of São Paulo, a place considered by the police to be a scene of open drug use. In addition to the fact that the city center does not qualify as one of the prohibited places, the arrest of these people may demonstrate discrimination against the place they work or frequent, and it cannot be excluded the hypothesis that people reside in that place or even went to visit relatives or friends in the region, which is one of the objectives of the temporary departure institute”, writes the organization.

The report also highlights that the Military Police was the institution responsible for most of the arrests analyzed, with 91% of cases, while the Metropolitan Civil Guard (GCM) accounted for 9.8% of arrests. There was also a case in which a prison officer carried out the arrest, but there was no sufficient detail in the police report to understand the circumstances in which it happened. The Public Defender’s Office points out that the GCM’s activities are limited to the protection of property and, therefore, carrying out arrests constitutes a misuse of functions.

Other side

Wanted by Brazil Agency, the Public Security Secretariat, to which the Military Police is subordinate, did not refute the allegations of illegality presented by the Public Defender’s Office and highlighted, in a note, the performance achieved by the corporation during raids. “In all cases, prisoners returned by the police to prison units undergo custody hearings within the following 24 hours, with the Court being responsible for evaluating each case,” he said in the statement.

“Since the implementation of the measure, in June last year, around 1,500 benefited detainees have been arrested by the Military Police for non-compliance with the rules imposed by the Judiciary, of which 119 were caught committing new crimes. The measure contributed to the reduction of robberies and thefts in around 6 thousand occurrences, during the days of the last four temporary departures (June, September and December 2023 and March 2024), which demonstrates the effectiveness of the fight against impunity promoted by the current administration”, he added.

The Municipal Urban Security Secretariat stated that it was “important to emphasize that the GCM fulfills its duties as established in the Federal Constitution”. “Any irregular conduct by the corporation’s agents is rigorously investigated upon complaint and, if irregularities are found, the appropriate measures will be taken.”