Cameras installed on São Paulo PM uniforms prevented 104 deaths

The use of body cameras on the uniforms of the São Paulo Military Police prevented 104 deaths, revealed a study by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), released yesterday (6). According to the study, body cameras had a positive impact, reducing by 57% the number of deaths resulting from police actions in relation to police units where this technology has not yet been implemented. “Considering the number of areas treated, this means that around 104 deaths were avoided in the first 14 months of the introduction of the cameras, considering only the metropolitan region of the capital”, point out the researchers in the report. The study also concluded that there was a 63% reduction in the number of bodily injuries resulting from police intervention after the use of body cameras. The study was prepared by researchers Joana Monteiro, Eduardo Fagundes, Julia Guerra (FGV) and Leandro Piquet (USP). Portable operational cameras, known as body cameras, began to be used by the São Paulo Military Police in 2020. These lapel cameras are attached to police uniforms so that their actions on the streets are monitored. The objective of the São Paulo government in installing the cameras on uniforms was to seek to reduce police violence. For the researchers, in addition to reducing the excessive use of force, the use of this type of equipment also helped to increase the notification of other crimes. With the cameras, for example, the total seizure of guns grew by 24%. The records of drug possession cases grew by 78% and those of domestic violence increased by 102%. “In addition to domestic violence, there was an increase in the volume of notifications of occurrences of low offensive potential such as thefts, arguments and fights, aggressions and threats. These results suggest that cameras can reinforce compliance with protocols and the reporting of occurrences that are often underreported,” says the report. For the study, the researchers compared police units in the metropolitan region of São Paulo that have the technology and those that do not yet use the cameras. The research analyzed the period between January 2019 and July 2022 and was carried out using two data sources: incident records drawn up by the Civil Police, which include information, for example, on deaths and bodily injuries resulting from police intervention; and the incident reports from the Military Police.

Agência Brasil