SAO PAULO
Deaths caused by military police in São Paulo state surged to a 12-year high in the first quarter of 2015, according to official statistics reported Monday.
The state recorded 185 killings by military police in the first three months of the year, the G1 news portal reported, citing figures from the São Paulo Secretary of Public Security.
Four police officers were killed in the line of duty during the same period.
There were 157 deaths in the first quarter of 2014 -- a steep jump from the 67 fatalities caused by police registered the previous year.
Overall in 2014, more than 700 people were killed by on-duty police officers.
The first quarter figures for 2015 represent the greatest number of deaths for the same period since 2003, when 196 people were killed by police. The new figures are the second-highest total since official records began being collated in 1995.
The São Paulo Secretary of Public Security said in a statement that “São Paulo's police forces act strictly within the limits of the law” and that “unlawful deaths are investigated rigorously and end with the officers charged with the crime being punished.”
Police have attributed the increase in killings in police operations to more aggressive and better-armed criminals on the streets of Brazil's most populous state with more than 44 million residents.
Officers argue they are being forced to engage more frequently, and that any officer involved in a fatal shooting is removed from active service for a least a month -- with additional training and analysis for officers involved in several killings over time. Police say they are also encountering -- and seizing -- more sophisticated, heavier weapons among criminals.
Crime figures have shown a general trend toward fewer murders in the state, down more than 4 percent in 2014, although robberies have increased by approximately 20 percent in the same period.
Critics, including some non-governmental organizations, have said police are trained in a "culture of war" against young, poor and black populations -- which typically make up a large proportion of police fatalities -- and that many police feel a sense of impunity.
The Secretary of Public Security said it has been "working to reduce the level of fatalities" caused by police.
