COVID and Law Enforcement

[HCM]

https://www.ft.com/content/aaef1591-...IUHlmlU5SGRokE

Drug gangs in Brazil’s favelas enforce coronavirus lockdown

Organised crime steps in as President Bolsonaro dismisses pandemic as ‘sniffles’

The messages first arrived via WhatsApp. Stay home or else.

It was a stark warning to the residents of Brazil’s densely populated slums — but not one delivered by federal government, health officials or even state police.

With president Jair Bolsonaro dismissing the pandemic as “sniffles” and criticising regional lockdown measures, the country’s drug gangs and paramilitary groups have stepped in to enforce social distancing to combat the spread of coronavirus.

“Whoever is caught on the street will learn how to respect the measure. We want the best for the population. If the government is unable to manage, organised crime resolves,” read one message sent to residents of a Rio de Janeiro slum.

Another message, delivered to residents of a different slum, read: “We are on the streets taking risks so that you can sleep in peace, we leave our families to protect yours, so, then respect the order we have given.” It warned that for anyone caught on the street after 10pm, “it will be bad!”


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https://www.ft.com/content/aaef1591-...IUHlmlU5SGRokE

The involvement of criminal organisations more commonly associated with bloodshed and violence than disease mitigation strategies underscores the severity of the situation facing Brazil’s slums, home to more than 11m people, who typically live in cramped makeshift dwellings, often with limited access to clean water.

The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Brazil rose to 2,915 and 77 deaths on Thursday — a greater than tenfold increase from the previous week. Experts fear an explosion in coronavirus infections that could contribute to social unrest in communities long-neglected by the state.

“Owing to the failure of Brazil’s national leaders to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19, we can expect a dramatic surge of infections, hospitalisations and deaths in the coming weeks,” said Robert Muggah, research director at the Igarapé Institute, a think-tank in Rio de Janeiro. “As infection rates rise, lockdown measures are imposed and panic spreads, Brazil’s favelas are a ticking time-bomb.”

This presents an opportunity for criminal gangs, he added. “They are describing themselves as the last line of defence from chaos and the ‘true’ providers of law and order. The pandemic is exposing the systemic weakness of the Brazilian state.”

Many of today’s slums were first constructed in the 1970s when rural workers moved to Brazil’s cities and built basic homes with cinder blocks and tin roofs.

Such was their construction that, even with the intervention of gangs and militias, social distancing would be difficult to achieve. They “have a high demographic density, the houses are very close to each other, and people live crammed into one space”, said Mario Dal Poz at the Institute of Social Medicine at the State University of Rio de Janeiro and a former official at the World Health Organization.

Many lack access to sanitation and water — conditions that now threaten to exacerbate the coronavirus outbreak.

“How are we going to take care of each other and ourselves if we live crammed in one little house? How are we going to wash our hands if we don’t have running water all the time?” said Marcos Vinícius dos Santos, a 22-year-old in Paraisópolis, a shantytown in São Paulo.

[BehindBlueI's]

The entirety of one of our smaller specialty detective units is on quarantine now. We're down three officers due to quarantine, two should return shortly, though.

We're supposed to mask up/eye protection prior to entering a residence if possible now. I go on days off tomorrow. I'm wondering if there'll be overtime available as quarantines spread. I don't get much opportunity for OT as a supervisor.

[psalms144.1]

Still waiting to receive PPE here. As of right now, I can put on the ONE full tyvek suit from my crime scene kit - but that does not include a mask of any kind - so pretty much pointless.

Luckily we're 100% telework now barring investigation of violent crimes and scenes with perishable evidence, so we're mostly working from the house.

[deflave]

Let’s compare. Does Florida allow unlicensed CC? Does Florida allow open carry? No. People can be arrested for doing those things. Guess where people have the liberty to do that? More than one northeastern state.



Yes, I know several people who just left FLETC under these conditions. The logic is that people shouldn’t congregate in crowds (like at FLETC) during a pandemic. As for sending them all over the country, if the government doesn’t want to house them, they have to go somewhere else. Most are probably just going home.

I didn't say Florida was the last bastion of freedom. And any state in the NE sure as hell ain't either.

That's interesting if they're being sent home to not work. We have been told they will be reporting for duty. Sans gun and creds.

[Jeff22]

Well we are dealing with a health emergency they’ve never dealt with before involving a highly contagious sickness that nobody has an immunity to, that has the capacity to overwhelm medical resources in a particular area very quickly . . . I’m glad I’m not the person in government making those decisions because it is possible that whatever decision you make, it’s wrong

From a police standpoint, we've been told to be essentially reactive unless we see something that creates a safety hazard -- running a stop sign or red light, driving while impaired, reckless driving, etc. No enforcement of expired registration or driver's licenses until this is over.

Most people around here appear to be taking the "stay at home" order pretty seriously. Traffic on the streets is down about 50%.

Of course, we've had a bunch of cold rainy days in the last week. House arrest is a lot easier when the weather is bad. People are STRONGLY encouraged to get outside for a walk, as long as they do the social distancing thing. Entrance fees are waived for state parks until this is over.

Restaurant are closed, bars are closed, movie theaters are closed, health clubs are closed, and now all the commercial indoor ranges in the area are closed. At least I can still go out walking . . .

I think the economy can survive this until May 1st and after that I don't know what to think.

[TGS]

That's interesting if they're being sent home to not work. We have been told they will be reporting for duty. Sans gun and creds.

That's up to the agency what to do with them. I just heard from one of my buddies at a field office that we put ours on admin leave.

[deflave]

That's up to the agency what to do with them. I just heard from one of my buddies at a field office that we put ours on admin leave.

Admin leave makes sense IMO.

[psalms144.1]

We haven't put out a policy yet on leave/admin leave, etc. We recently "streamlined" our hiring process so new hires Day 1 of work is at FLETC, so no PCS to new duty station, then TDY to FLETC. Now these kids were sent to their gaining office, but have never been there before - so no housing, etc. Luckily, finding hotel rooms isn't very hard nowadays, but it's going to get spendy putting them up in hotels for xx weeks/months.

[BehindBlueI's]

NYPD has lost a sworn officer and two unsworn employees:

Detective Cedric Dixon was a 23-year veteran stationed in Harlem
Dennis Dickson, a custodian at police headquarters
Administrative Assistant Giacomina Barr-Brown

[deflave]

We haven't put out a policy yet on leave/admin leave, etc. We recently "streamlined" our hiring process so new hires Day 1 of work is at FLETC, so no PCS to new duty station, then TDY to FLETC. Now these kids were sent to their gaining office, but have never been there before - so no housing, etc. Luckily, finding hotel rooms isn't very hard nowadays, but it's going to get spendy putting them up in hotels for xx weeks/months.

Our agency is sending them to their home addresses if at all possible. No per diem or lodging. And report to work.

I'm curious as to how much that changes over the weekend. It will be a strain.