Ilona Szabó de Carvalho More than a decade ago, Ilona Szabo de Carvalho left a comfortable career in finance to try to make the world a safer place. She became a “civil society diplomat” working on gun control and drug policy reform. Along the way she has learned a number of lessons, four of which she shares in a TED Global talk. Brazil has a terrifying record when it … [Read more...] about Too many are killed in Brazil. Here’s four things I learned trying to change that
Brazil
Brazilian paradox: how gangs grow stronger in prisons
By Benjamin Lessing Este post está disponible en español y en portugués On January 4, the capital of Maranhão, Brazil, suffered a wave of coordinated attacks on busses and police stations, ordered by a local prison gang. The death of a 6-year-old girl in the attacks, along with evidence of the execrable conditions within Maranhão’s prisons, including a gruesome video of … [Read more...] about Brazilian paradox: how gangs grow stronger in prisons
Why are more developed countries in Latin America also so violent?
By Chris Sabatini The development community has long assumed a relationship between levels of socioeconomic development and security. When we look at the broader concept of social inclusion, that relationship also holds true. Richer countries tend to also be more socially inclusive -- and less violent. But in Latin America, there are some inconsistencies between countries … [Read more...] about Why are more developed countries in Latin America also so violent?
Whither Rio de Janeiro’s Police Pacification Units?
By Robson Rodrigues Rio de Janeiro’s Pacification Police Units (UPP) are celebrating their fifth year in 2013. They do so with generally positive approval ratings from the media and society as a whole. A recent study by Instituto Data Favela indicates that 75% of favelas inhabitants approve of the UPPs. Notwithstanding major crises and criticism, the UPP constitute the … [Read more...] about Whither Rio de Janeiro’s Police Pacification Units?
Four steps to use the public health model to curb crime
By John Carnochan The first of two blog posts In 2004-2005, we had 132 homicides in Scotland and violence, by Western European standards, was high. What did we do? In 2004 we established the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), a police unit that uses the public health model to develop and apply effective violence reduction tactics, working with education, health, government, … [Read more...] about Four steps to use the public health model to curb crime