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Abstract
In 2008, to curb the violence in the city and in preparation for its bid to host the World Cup and the Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro installed the “Unidades de Policia Pacificadora” (UPP) program. The aim of this program is to increase security by restoring state control in the favelas and by integrating the favelas and their residents into the formal city. Based on an extensive literature review and 30 (in-depth) interviews with key stakeholders, including favela residents, this article evaluates the extent to which the UPP program has reached its goals 5 years after it was introduced. It concludes that the UPP program has deeply impacted the lives of favela residents. Fewer incidents of lethal violence have been registered. At the same time, residents generally feel safer, and pacified favelas have been integrated to some extent in the formal city. But these achievements have – literally – come at a price. Baile funk has left the favelas and the increased costs for public services and housing have compelled some residents to move to marginalized parts of the city.
Notes
1. A term used by police to report their killings as legitimate. This term indicates that the police killed in response to a threat, using necessary and proportionate lethal force against the suspect.
2. G30.
3. According to official police data collected by the Office of Public Safety of the state of Rio de Janeiro (ISP), there has been a decrease in the number of robberies (Cano, Citation2012). Police officers interviewed in the CESeC study (Citation2011) confirmed this finding. Hearne (Citation2009) and Looft (Citation2012), however, argue that robberies may have actually been increasing in the wealthier areas of Rio de Janeiro since the expelled drug traffickers are now committing their crimes elsewhere.
4. R1, R2, R3, R4, R6, A7, A8, A9, P12, P13, P14, P18, NGO19, NGO21, NGO22, G26, G27, G28, G30.
5. R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, A7, A8, A9, P12, P13, P16, NGO20, NGO21, NGO22, NGO23, NGO24, G27, G28, G29.
6. R1.
7. R2.
8. R3.
9. R1, R2, R3, R5, R11, A7, A8, A10, P12, P13, P14, P16, P18, NGO22, NGO24, G25, G27, G28.
10. P18.
11. R4, A9, A10, P15, G27.
12. P15.
13. R4.
14. R1, R2, R3, R4, R6, A7, A8, A9, P12, P13, P14, P18, NGO19, NGO21, NGO22, G26, G27, G28, G30.
15. R3, A7, A10, NGO19.
16. G26, G28.
17. R1, R2, R3, NGO19, G26.
18. NGO21.
19. R2.
20. P18.
21. P12.
22. A7.
23. R1, R3, R4, R5, A7, A9, A10, P12, P13, P14, P16, P17, P18, NGO21, NGO22, NGO23, NGO24, G26, G27, G28.
24. P18.
25. G30.
26. A10.
27. R1, R3, R4, R5, A7, A9, A10, A11, P12, P13, P14, P15, P16, NGO21, NGO22, NGO24, G27.
28. A10, NGO21, NGO22.
29. P12.
30. R2, R3, R4, A7, A9, A10, P12, P14, NGO19.
31. R2.
32. R1, R4, A7, A8, A9, A10, A11, P13, P15, P16, P17, P18, NGO19, NGO20, NGO21, NGO23, NGO24, G26, G27, G28.
33. R4.
34. A7, P13, NGO23.
35. P13.
36. R4, G27.
37. R2, R4, R5, A10, A11, P12, P13, P14, P16, NGO19, NGO21, NGO22, G25, G27, G30, Anon.
38. P13.
39. G30.
40. R1, R4, A7, A8, P13, NGO23, NGO24, G27.
41. G29.
42. R1, R2, R3, R5, A7, A9, P 13, P15.
43. R1, A9, A10, P12, P15, P17, NGO21, NGO22, NGO23, NGO24, G26, G30.
44. P12.
45. NGO24.
46. P13, P17, NGO19, NGO24.
47. G30.
48. R6, G25, G26.
49. G26, G27.
50. G26.
51. R2, R3, P16, NGO22, NGO24, G26, G30.
52. R3.
53. R1, R2, R3, A8, NGO22.
54. R1, R2, R6, NGO21, NGO23, NGO24, G26.
55. R3, R4.
56. R4.
57. NGO19, NGO21, G28.
58. A7, P12, NGO19, NGO21, NGO20, G25, G26.
59. R1, R4, R5, A7, A8, A9, A10, P12, P14, P15, P17, NGO20, NGO22, NGO23, NGO24, G26, G27.
60. R1, R4, R5, A8, A9, A10, P12, P14, P15, P17, NGO19, NGO20, NGO22, NGO23, NGO24, G26, G27.
61. A10.
62. R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, A7, A9, A10, P13, P15, P16, P17, NGO24.
63. R3.
64. R5, A8, A10.
65. R5.
66. A10.
67. R2, R3, R5, A7, A8, A9, A10, A11, P12, P13, P14, P15, P16, P17, NGO20, NGO21, NGO23, NGO24, G25, G28, G29.
68. R2.
69. R6.
70. R2, A10, P12, P13, P14, P15, P17, NGO21, NGO23, NGO24, G28.
71. P13.
72. A10.
73. R1, R2, R4, R5, A7, A8, A9, A11, P12, P13, P16, NGO19, NGO20, NGO21, NGO22, NGO24, G29.
74. NGO24.
75. NGO19.
76. This was confirmed by P13, NGO24.
77. Four of the nine favela respondents were interviewed one-on-one, while the other five were part of two “informal” interview groups where an interview started with one respondent and other residents soon joined in. In this research, the residents in the two different informal interview groups counted as one respondent since it was difficult to detect who was telling what during these conversations and they mostly complemented each other on the same arguments.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Sarah Oosterbaan
Sarah Oosterbaan holds an MSc in International Crimes and Criminology from VU University Amsterdam and is a junior researcher at the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, VU University of Amsterdam. Her main area of interest is the study of International Crimes in Latin America. She dedicated her Master’s Thesis to public security in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Joris van Wijk
Joris van Wijk is an associate professor in criminology at the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology at VU University Amsterdam. He is executive director of the Center for International Criminal Justice and director of the Master International Crimes and Criminology.