Lives preserved: consequences of the reduction in violent crime in the State of Pará.

Abstract

Violent crime in Brazil has gained worldwide notoriety in recent years due to its lethality. Fear and insecurity are striking characteristics established in the real or imaginary field of the Brazilian population. Thus, it is possible to observe changes in the standard of living of Brazilians, who try to protect themselves from possible lethal victimizations, modifying habits and routines that provide them with a sense of security. In this context, this article aims to evaluate the indicators of violent crime in the State of Pará, from January 2018 to June 2022. This is a study with an exploratory quantitative focus carried out in the State of Pará - Brazil. The data used were extracted from the Police Reports that recorded intentional violent lethal crimes, that is, the number of: (i) homicide; (ii) robbery with murder; (iii) bodily harm resulting in death and (iv) death by intervention of a state agent, occurring between January 2018 and June 2022, by sex, month and year. In addition, to obtain population data for the State of Pará, information provided by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics was used. As global crime indicators, the rate per 100,000 inhabitants of intentional violent lethal crimes and also of intentional violent deaths was used. The results showed that, in the State of Pará, between January 2019 and June 2022, there was a significant drop in the number and rates per 100,000 inhabitants of homicide, robbery, bodily harm resulting in death and death by intervention of a state agent, which also led to a drop in the indicators of intentional violent lethal crimes and intentional violent deaths. In the first half of 2022 alone, compared to the first half of 2018, there was a 41.57% reduction in the number of intentional violent deaths. The peak in records occurred in April 2018; on the other hand, July 2020 was the month with the lowest numbers. Therefore, it can be concluded that the reflection of this reduction in violent crime indicators is that approximately 6 thousand lives were saved in the state of Pará during the period studied. Finally, it is expected that the results of this study can collaborate with public security agencies in the development and maintenance of strategies with actions to prevent, repress, and confront violent crime in the State of Pará.