#dead #police #raid #Rio #favela
At least 18 people have been killed in the latest police crackdown on organized crime groups in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, Brazilian police said on Thursday.
A police officer and a woman who lived in the area were among those who died in the Complexo do Alemao slum, while the 16 others are believed to be members of organized crime groups, a police spokesman said at a news conference.
Around 400 officers were involved in the massive operation, supported by 10 bulletproof vehicles and four helicopters.
Their target was a criminal group that had robbed vehicles carrying cargo for banks and other businesses.
Police spokesman Ivan Blaz said the aim of the operation was to stop the “expansion policy” of criminal gangs in Complexo do Alemao.
The Public Defender’s Office and the Human Rights Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association separately told AFP that they had been informed of 20 people killed in the raids, including the officer and the bystander.
Colonel Rogerio Lobasso, the senior officer in charge of the operation, expressed his condolences on the death of the 50-year-old woman, which he says is being investigated.
Her boyfriend told news site G1 that the police shot her dead when they were stopped at a traffic light.
“They shot the car. I just saw her collapse next to me. When I looked, she had a hole in her chest,” Denilson told Gloria.
Law enforcement officials defended their officers’ conduct during the operation, saying units were “violently attacked” using “military and guerrilla” tactics, while accusing suspected gang members of using civilians as human shields.
Police frequently raid Rio’s slums to fight organized crime and drug trafficking.
In May, 22 people were killed, including a bystander, in an early morning raid on the Vila Cruzeiro favela.
That comes almost a year after Rio’s deadliest police raid, which killed 28 people in the Jacarezinho slum.
Like the raid in May, Thursday’s police operation drew criticism from locals for the use of overwhelming force.
Activists have denounced official abuses during such crime-fighting operations, including extrajudicial killings of suspects, which they say often go unpunished.
Rio police should start wearing body cameras this year, which some security experts say could help prevent some, but not all, problems of police abuse.
It wasn’t immediately clear if police were wearing body cameras during the raid at Complexo do Alemao.
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