Brother of Ufam student killed in police action defends cameras in police uniforms

Jefferson Ramos – from Cenarium Amazônia Magazine

MANAUS (AM) – The brother of Marco Aurélio Winholt Castro, 20, a student at the Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam) killed “by mistake” in an action by the Amazonas Military Police (PM-AM), in the Raio do Sol Community, in the North Zone of Manaus, told CENARIUM AMAZON MAGAZINE that the use of body cameras in police uniforms could have prevented the young man’s death and speeded up the investigation into the perpetrator of the shooting, as well as accountability.

“It could have prevented his death and that of many people. Not just him. It would have made a lot of difference, even to prove what happened. We have photos and recordings, but I don’t think anyone recorded him being shot and thrown. If the policeman had these cameras, we would have been able to see clearly and they would have been held responsible much sooner”, said Hugo Antônio, 23, the victim’s brother.

Antônio said that Winholt was taken by the police to the Platão Araújo Hospital and Emergency Room, in the east of the Amazonian capital. He explained that no police officer coerced friends or family and that the university student was handed over to the medical team by the officers, who classified him as an “offender”.

“The police officers who did this to him didn’t stay in hospital. They just said he was an offender and the medical staff tried to deal with him, who died as if he were a thug,” he said. The family is looking for lawyers to claim compensation from the state. “These police officers are known in the region for their methods. My brother is not their first victim, but I hope he will be their last”, he concluded.

Lethality

States like São Paulo and Santa Catarina have already equipped their police with body cameras. For example, in São Paulo, lethality caused by police officers on duty fell by 62.7% in the state, from 697 deaths in 2019 to 260 in 2022, according to Unicef

In Amazonas, for the time being, the state has not yet signaled its willingness to implement the equipment in the police forces. The former commander of the PM-AM, Marcus Vinicius, the current Secretary of Public Security, told a local newspaper in May last year that the use of cameras could make police officers fear taking action.

“At times, the equipment can be beneficial to the police officer as proof of their proper action, which is a large part of our troop, but it can, on the other hand, also constrain police activity, causing them to be less efficient. Fear of making mistakes. The intention is to get it right, but the fear of making mistakes can lead to inefficiency in policing”, he said at the time.

Data

In the last two years, 200 people have died as a result of police intervention in Amazonas. In 2022, 99 people died. Compared to 2021, when the number of deaths was 101, there was an inexpressive 2.9% drop in deaths due to police intervention in the state.

According to data from the Brazilian Public Safety Forum’s yearbook, released in July this year, the highest number of deaths was committed by the PM-AM. In the two years considered by the survey, there were 189 deaths due to police intervention.