Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Oct. 2, 2025 (Lusa) - The possible reinstatement of a bonus for police officers who kill crime suspects during operations in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro "undermines public safety," a non-governmental organisation (NGO) warned on Thursday.
The governor of Rio de Janeiro, the conservative Cláudio Castro, should veto the bill passed by the state parliament, argued Human Rights Watch (HRW), even though the proposal initially came from the governor himself.
The bill, presented by Castro, an advocate of a tough-on-crime policy, aims to restructure the Civil Police, which is responsible for investigating crimes.
But on 23 September, the Rio de Janeiro State Legislative Assembly incorporated several amendments to the original text, including one that guarantees officers the right to receive a financial reward for individual merits.
In a statement, the human rights organisation HRW warned that the amendment would give the Civil Police "an economic incentive to kill suspects and weaken criminal investigation".
"Giving bonuses to the police for killing is not only brutal, but also undermines public safety, as it financially incentivises police officers to shoot rather than detain a suspect," said the director of HRW in Brazil.
César Muñoz argued that this is "a strategy that promotes shootings and endangers the health and lives of suspects, residents and the police themselves, without contributing in any way to the dismantling of criminal organisations".
This type of reward, known in the press as the “Far West” bonus, was in place in Rio between 1995 and 1998, when the Rio Legislative Assembly decided to cancel it.
This came after a study, which analysed approximately 1,200 autopsies performed over three years, found that 65% of fatalities had been shot in the back by the police, apparently while fleeing.
Brazil's Federal Public Prosecutor's Office urged Cláudio Castro to reject the bonus, arguing that it violates international and national law, including a Supreme Court ruling in April that ordered Rio de Janeiro to take measures to reduce deaths in police operations.
According to official data cited by the Folha de São Paulo newspaper, in 2024, the state of Rio de Janeiro recorded 703 deaths due to intervention by law enforcement officers, representing an average of almost two deaths per day. In 2023, there were 871 deaths due to police action, while in 2022 the figure reached 1,330.
HRW pointed out that 86% of these fatalities were black, even though this group represents only 58% of Rio de Janeiro's population.
"If created, the bonus would likely exacerbate the disproportionate and deadly impact on the black population living in low-income communities," the organisation warned.
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