Brazil Country Profile

Police

Individual Corruption

According to Freedom House 2009, the Brazilian police is among the world's most violent and corrupt. Off-duty police officers are known to participate in private militia groups, which extort shantytown citizens for protection from drug dealers. According to the Bertelsmann Foundation 2010, there are reports of human rights abuses such as unlawful killings, use of excessive force, beatings and abuse committed by the stare-level security forces.

Business Corruption

Companies should note that police officers are frequently prosecuted for being involved in crimes, including drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion and bribery.

Political Corruption

The Bertelsmann Foundation 2010 reports that a climate of lawlessness prevails in some remote parts of the country and in the poorer areas of larger cities, the so-called favelas. This is aggravated by the absence of strong state institutions and a weak judiciary. According to the same report, the police is unable to completely guarantee private and public security in big cities.

Large-scale investigations have on many occasions proved police involvement in sales and trafficking of narcotics. After an investigation in September 2007, 56 police officers were convicted for collaborating with drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro, receiving up to USD 1,500 per month from drug lords for ignoring their crimes. This also led to the firing of the city's police chief, who was allegedly involved as well. In 2006, 75 police officers in Rio de Janeiro were fired and sentenced after a similar investigation.

Frequency

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010:
- Business executives give the reliability of Brazilian police services to enforce law and order a score of 3.7 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'cannot be relied upon at all' and 7 'can always be relied upon').

Latinobarómetro: Annual Report 2008 (see English version):
- 54% of the surveyed households believe that is likely or very likely to avoid detention if bribing a police officer.

Transparency International: Bribe Payers Index 2008:
- Business executives give the police a score of 3.8 on a 5-point scale (1 being 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt').