94% of criminals are men, STF wants more female police officers

Minister Cristiano Zanin, recently arrived at the Federal Supreme Court (STF), suspended the competition for the Military Police of the Federal District (PM-DF), as a precautionary measure, as a quota was foreseen in the notice, limiting 10% of the vacancies to be aimed at female candidates.

For Zanin, “the 10% percentage reserved for female candidates seems to contravene constitutional dictates regarding gender equality”. The request for suspension was made by the Workers’ Party, which defends the entry of 988 women into the vacancies left by men who did not meet the minimum score for classification.

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But what appears to be a decision that favors women can actually put them at risk. Leaving aside the issue of gender equality, some data can help in trying to profile a criminal in Brazil.

To do this, just look at the country’s prison population. Of the more than 830,000 people arrested, 94.5% are men. The majority (43.1%) were young people up to 29 years old. These are the data from the 2022 Brazilian Public Security Yearbook.

The document also shows that 90% of victims of violent deaths, whether due to robbery (robbery followed by death), intentional homicide (when there is an intention to kill), bodily injury followed by death and death due to police intervention are also men. This is the criminal that the woman who becomes a police officer will encounter on the street.

“In the event of a confrontation between criminals who are men and police officers who are women, there will be a situation of inequality. From there, it is possible to observe that parity between men and women within the military police is not possible precisely because of the reality we experience”, explains public security specialist and retired military police officer, Dequex Júnior.

“The situation requires differentiation. It’s not a question of misogyny, as they preach. But a question of rationality and reasonableness. What needs to be analyzed is who the police will face in the criminal fight”, he adds.

For specialist, some states may increase the percentage of women in the PM

On the other hand, Dequex believes that some Brazilian states, which have lower crime rates, would be able to increase the quota of women within the Military Police.

There is no doubt that the presence of women brings diverse contributions in almost all professional environments. But some specific areas require physical performance, which ends up making some activities exclusively masculine.

“In the civil police, for example, equal division of positions between men and women would not cause major problems, due to the very nature of police activity. In the case of the military police, which carries out overt work activities, it is different. There is a need for a greater number of men compared to women”, compares Dequex.

In the last open notices to join the Military Fire Brigade of the Federal District (CBMDF), there were no definitions of quotas for women. The lack of limitations allowed many women to enter the institution. The comments in the corridors are that this has created a problem within teams dedicated to work that requires more physical effort, such as fires and more serious accidents. On the other hand, this year, for the first time, a woman took command of the CBMDF.

“Physical strength is a differentiator,” says military police officer

A People’s Gazette spoke with a military police officer who preferred not to identify himself. According to him, the quota for women should continue. The police officer believes that female police officers are very skilled in the administrative area and also in some street incidents. At the same time, he considers that several situations experienced within the police would be even more risky if faced by female police officers.

“A woman is capable of doing practically all the things that a man would do, there is no doubt about it. On the street, she will know how to deal, drive to a police station or even mediate and conciliate, which is very typical of the Military Police. Now, a Maria da Penha situation or a flagrant situation, where the man is attacking the woman, is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, physical force is a difference”, comments the police officer.

For him, both the corporation and the police themselves end up having more interest in working in more bureaucratic services. “Within the Military Police there are a multitude of activities. From working in tourism to dog training, but the main activity is being a military police officer, right? In tourism or BOPE, you are a military police officer, if you need to approach, arrest, run, you have to be prepared”, he points out.