Rumored cases involving police officers and the worrying silence of authorities

On August 20, 2023, in an interview given by delegate Marcos Lázaro to Rádio Folha 100.3, he discussed the delicate situation of Public Security, including talking about the reality of the Civil Police of Roraima. He warned of the emergence of militias recruiting active or retired police officers to defend vested interests, especially illegal mining and drug trafficking. The fact was even the subject of the article “The missing alert and the serious situation in the geography of crime today”, published two days later.

Although these were bombastic statements, there was no repercussion for the fact that a Civil Police delegate made serious statements. Not even the topic outraged any parliamentarian in the Legislative Assembly or even on the federal bench, in Brasília. Everyone remained silent and everyone continued here in silence. However, this Column has long been drawing attention to the new geography of crime in Roraima, the culmination of which was addressed in the article “The reality of Public Security is there and the clock has already run out”, published on 12.09 .2022.

The text dealt with the insecurity scenario, addressing the case of military police officers who, in a very suspicious action, tried to rescue an aircraft that was supporting illegal mining, in which one PM died and two left unharmed. At the time, the plane’s owner recorded an audio, shared in messaging app groups, stating that he had hired PMs to provide private security. Then, the president of the Unified Association of Praça de Roraima (Auprarr), in an interview with Rádio Folha, treated the fact as completely normal, that is, a friend in uniform who went to do an “extra service to recover an aircraft that had not been pay”.

Everything was well designed even before what that delegate warned about in his interview. Illegal mining, drug trafficking, organized crime and routine deaths with clear signs of execution in Boa Vista have always been connected in some way, building a powder keg that became Roraima’s Public Security within an immigration scenario disorder, systemic corruption that runs rampant even in supplementary elections in the interior and the absence of public policies aimed at combating the causes of violence, and not just its effects.

Jumping to the current moments, in which Public Security is always treated with images of new vehicles parked in Praça do Centro Cívico, the scenario only got worse, with the emergence of complaints pointing to military police officers executing people through simulated confrontation, including with suspicion of joining militias, in addition to the most recent cases: military police officer suspected of shooting a couple over a land issue, in Cantá, in addition to another cited as suspected of having killed a young woman in Rorainópolis. And all of this was followed by allegations of abuse of authorities and excessive police approaches.

There is something very strange about events involving police officers. From the case of the plane in 2022 and the bombastic interview with the police chief in 2023 until arriving here, it is clear that absolutely nothing has changed in Public Security, with the reality of the facts treated as if nothing worrying was happening. And even stranger is the silence of the authorities, proving that keeping silent about facts is still the best strategy to pretend that everything is fine, while public opinion is being distracted by other things.

*Columnist

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