Four police die in 24 hours as favelas clean-up gathers pace ahead of Olympics

Four Brazilian police officers have been killed in a 24-hour period as security forces battle to wrestle back control of the city’s crime-ridden favelas ahead of next year’s Olympics. The latest slayings come as the authorities continue a long-running fight against the drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro’s violent slums. An officer from a special battalion responsible for security at major events such as the the 2014 World Cup and upcoming Olympics, died after being shot seven times late on Sunday, according to local media. Around 24 hours earlier, a civil police inspector was killed in the city’s northern suburb of Baixada Fluminense.

Brazilian police make abusive use of lethal force to respond to crime and violence.

Sao Paulo-based Brazilian Forum on Public Safety report

Another officer was killed in the nearby town of Niteroi, while a fourth died in a gun battle following a robbery in the suburb of Nova Iguacu. Despite the launch of Rio’s so-called pacification programme in 2008, aimed at restoring order to 253 favelas across the city ahead of the World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games, the deadly violence has continued. There were riots in the run up to the 2014 football tournament as the army seized control of some of the larger favelas in a crackdown on criminal gangs.

Brazil violence Americas