POLICE AND SECURITY FORCES The deployment of the armed forces for policing and law and order increased. The authorities failed to adopt measures to reduce the homicide rate, which remained high for young black males. The number of homicides increased in major cities, especially in the northeast. National data compiled and published during the year by the Brazilian Public Security Forum revealed that 61,619 people were killed during 2016, of which 4,657 were women. Public security policies continued to rely on highly militarized police interventions, motivated mainly by the so-called “war on drugs”. In January the Ministry of Justice announced a Public Security National Plan which was to focus on reducing homicides, tackling drug trafficking and conducting a review of the prison system. A detailed and comprehensive plan was never presented or implemented and the public security situation deteriorated during the year. Instances of “multiple homicides” (single events with more than three victims) and “chacinas” (multiple killings characteristic of executions) increased in several cities; the authorities often failed to properly investigate. On 5 January, eight men were killed by a group of armed men in Porto Seguro, Bahia state. On 3 June, six men were killed inside a house by armed hooded men in Porto das Dunas in Fortaleza, Ceará state. On 6 June, four men and a woman were killed and nine other people were injured by a group of 10 hooded gunmen in a bar in Belem, Pará state. On 22 September, six young men aged between 16 and 23 were killed in Grande Natal, Rio Grande do Norte state. In Bom Jardim neighbourhood in Fortaleza, Ceará state, five people were killed and three others injured on 20 February, and four young males aged between 14 and 20 were killed inside a house on 8 October. In most cases, the perpetrators were unidentified. Police interventions in favelas and marginalized areas often resulted in intensive shoot-outs and deaths. Data about people killed by the police remained inaccurate as states kept poor records using different Amnesty International Report 2017/18 methodologies; however, official numbers indicated that such killings increased across Brazil. Official figures showed that on-duty police officers killed 494 people in São Paulo state between January and September and, between January and November, 1,035 in Rio de Janeiro state and 148 in Ceará state. On 13 February, four people were killed and others injured by military police during a police intervention in the favela of Chapadão, Rio de Janeiro city. In February, a 21-day strike by the military police in Espírito Santo state resulted in chaos. Armed forces and national security forces were called in to police the state. On 12 July, a homeless man was killed by a military police officer in the neighbourhood of Pinheiros, city of São Paulo. In August, at least seven people were killed by the police during police interventions that continued for several days in the favela Jacarezinho, Rio de Janeiro city. Residents reported that police officers were violent and committed a number of abuses, such as assaults, unlawful raids on homes, and unlawful killings. The police interventions may have been in retaliation for a police officer being killed in the area. On 3 September, 10 men were killed by civil police officers during a police intervention attempting to prevent an armed robbery in the neighbourhood of Morumbi, São Paulo city. Early in the year, military police from the Pacification Police Unit raided several houses in the favela Complexo do Alemão, Rio de Janeiro city. These unlawful actions by police continued even after a court ruled that the police should leave the area. Those denouncing the police violations were threatened and intimidated. After months of mobilization, the Public Prosecutor’s Office brought charges against two police officers who were in command of the operation and responsible for the area. On 11 November, seven men were killed during a joint security operation of the Civil Police and the Army in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro state. Civilian authorities said they had no competence to investigate the killings 99