A policeman killed Friday in a standoff with a Rio de Janeiro drug gang was the 12th officer slain in eight days in a new round of bloodshed in the Brazilian city.
Politicians on Thursday ordered an investigation into the killings, part of a crime surge since December involving drug traffickers, security forces, vigilantes and robbers.
Most of the 32 police officers killed since the start of the year were shot execution-style, said state legislature deputy Jairo de Souza, a former police colonel who heads the investigative commission. Many were shot while off duty.
"When officers are getting killed, society becomes unshielded. That made the issue pass into the political sphere," de Souza said through a spokesman.
"We want to answer the question why this is happening and how to stop this wave of targeted assassinations," he said.
Rio police are known for brutal tactics, and human rights groups accuse them of summary executions of suspects, especially in slums ruled by heavily armed drug gangs.
The oceanside city, a popular tourist destination, has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America.
144 murdered in 2006
Police kill about 1,000 suspects a year in the state, and 144 officers were murdered last year, including 27 in the line of duty. Nine officers were killed in the line of duty in the first three months of 2006.
De Souza said reports of police involvement in vigilante groups that target drug traffickers would not be the main focus of the investigation. Security officials say such groups have taken control of dozens of slums, kicking out drug gangs and charging protection fees from residents.
"The numbers of slain policemen in Rio have been high for a long time — among the highest in the world, which is partly due to private wars between police and drug gangs, possibly also militias," said Michel Misse, a sociologist and violence expert with the Rio de Janeiro Federal University.
De Souza said the commission would evaluate pay and living conditions of officers, many of whom receive around $400 a month and live in the slums, where they become easy targets.
"We will have to debate what kind of police we need — the low-paid force that lives and works in dangerous conditions, or a more efficient one," de Souza said.
