Baixada Santista operation after Rota soldier's death had 'selective lethality,' study says

Police operations in São Paulo's Baixada Santista region, dubbed 'Escudo' and 'Verão,' have resulted in 84 deaths between July 2023 and April 2024, making them the state's deadliest actions since the Carandiru Massacre in 1992. The operations, which also claimed the lives of three police officers, were initiated following the killing of Rota officer Patrick Bastos Reis in July 2023.

A study conducted by the Instituto Vladimir Herzog estimates the cost of these offensives to the public coffers at over R$349 million. This figure accounts for expenses related to police mobilization, the justice system, forensic services, and incarceration. The institute's report suggests the operations followed a pattern of "revenge operations," characterized by the "intensive use of lethal force" and retaliatory actions rather than intelligence-led policing.

Researchers noted a temporal concentration of deaths, with significant peaks occurring shortly after the death of Officer Reis and again in February 2024. The report hypothesizes that these patterns reinforce the idea of retaliatory actions. The study also highlights that the offensive generated costs exceeding R$349 million, including R$91.9 million for the Military Police, R$28.3 million for forensic services, and R$159.4 million for processing the 958 arrests made.

Conversely, the São Paulo Secretariat for Public Security maintains that the operations were essential for combating organized crime and drug trafficking in the Baixada Santista. They report that the actions led to the arrest of 2,162 individuals, including 876 fugitives, and the seizure of 238 firearms, along with approximately 3.54 tons of drugs. The Secretariat asserts that the operations were crucial in disrupting criminal networks and improving public safety in the region.