tougher sentences and armed security in schools and kindergartens

Federal deputies aligned with the public security agenda want speed in the approval of projects that toughen penalties in cases of qualified homicide in schools and day care centers and propose that there be armed security in educational institutions. After the attack on a day care center that left four children dead and four injured in Blumenau (SC), opposition parliamentarians and independent members of the federal government presented, this Wednesday (5), requests for an urgent request to vote directly in plenary on proposals with potential to curb criminal activities in the school environment.

In addition to the tragedy in Santa Catarina, there was another one at an educational institution last week – in São Paulo. A 13-year-old teenager attacked teachers and students at a state school in São Paulo with a knife. A 71-year-old teacher died and four people were injured.

The mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), showed solidarity with the families of SC and asked for punishment “with the rigor of the law” to the criminal. He also waved support “in whatever it takes” to “harden punitive measures to those who attack life”. The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), also showed solidarity and defended “putting an end to this environment of violence in the country”, but did not suggest how.

One of the initiatives of the Chamber of Deputies is by parliamentarian Júlia Zanatta (PL-SC), who began collecting signatures for a request that, if approved, will make it possible to vote on an urgent basis for Bill (PL) 1449/2023, authored by Deputy Delegate Paulo Bilynskyj (PL-SP), which provides for the mandatory implementation of armed security in public and private schools of basic education.

The bill obliges municipalities, states and the Union to provide for the employment of armed personnel. “The municipality must employ metropolitan civil guards and, in their absence, hire an armed guard. The state school uses the Military Police and, in their absence, it can hire an armed guard”, highlights Bilynskyj . “Federal schools will also be able to hire a security guard. It will be possible to make an agreement with the state, with the municipality, or, in another option, which is the best of all, to hire retired police officers”, he adds.

For the deputy, armed security in educational institutions is the only instrument capable of neutralizing the threat of an invader. “My proposal provides that the firearm has to be in the hands of a trained person. Who are the people to be trained? Police and armed guards. It is the only initiative capable of preventing crime”, he maintains.

Another movement led by the parliamentarians is to take to plenary the PL 1628/2023, authored by deputy Mauricio Marcon (Podemos-RS), which aims to aggravate the penalties related to crimes of qualified homicide. The proposal extends the minimum penalty for crimes of qualified homicide from 12 to 18 years, changes the maximum penalty for the criminal type, from 30 to 40 years, and increases the penalty by two thirds if the crime is committed against children under 14 years of age in establishments educational facilities, such as kindergartens, schools and the like.

The project was filed this Wednesday along with a request for an urgent vote. Marcon defends the proposal under the understanding that, if approved, the increase in penalty would be one more tool to curb crimes. “Every human being, when they know that they may suffer harsh penalties, thinks 10 times before committing a certain crime”, says the parliamentarian, who also defends the approval of the urgency and the armed security project in schools.

He points out that the project reaches the limits established by the Penal Code and the Constitution, which, by an ironclad clause, does not allow life sentence. “What we can do within the law and the Constitution is to increase the sentence and give the judge one more tool to judge and apply tougher sentences. If it were possible for more than 40 years, we would certainly protocol”, he justifies.

In addition to him, federal deputy Messias Donato (Republicanos-ES) was another to file a proposal to tighten the sentence this Wednesday. This is PL 1643/2023, which typifies the crime of homicide committed against students, teachers and other professionals who perform their activities in the school environment. The text provides for this type of crime imprisonment between 12 and 30 years.

Deputies articulate speech and signatures to vote on projects

The deputies aligned with the public security agenda understand that the commotion generated by the attack in Blumenau makes the political environment conducive to the approval of these proposals and, for that, promise to commit to collecting signatures and convincing the Chamber with speeches in committees and in the plenary.

In addition to the effort to collect signatures for the urgent request that makes it possible to vote on PL 1449/2023, deputy Paulo Bilynskyj promises to bet on a tough speech against the disarmament agenda of the left to take his proposal to a vote in plenary.

“The left does not support [o projeto de segurança armada em escolas e creches], but does not propose a solution. If the left had a solution, we would discuss which one is the best and most efficient”, he says.

The deputy also plans a speech to try to link the responsibility for the death of Santa Catarina children to the government’s disarmament policy together with other opposition deputies to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and says he will present the idea of ​​a narrative for the weekly meeting of opponents of the government. “I am going to propose that it be widely disseminated in brief communiqués, in speeches in plenary and in committees”, says Bilynskyj.

Deputy Sargento Fahur (PSD-PR) defends the approval of the urgency for voting on the proposal for armed security in schools, even because he is co-author of a bill by Deputy Gilvan of the Federal (PL-ES) that proposes the same, but disagrees with parts of Bilynskyj’s approach to the speech to be delivered in the House.

“I don’t think we should say that the left wants children to keep dying, that’s not quite the case, but I think about going to the tribune and saying that the project is on the agenda and that voters cover their deputies. In the case of those who vote against the request or to the project, then, yes, we will be able to alert those who are in favor of our children continuing to die”, he comments.

The definition of speeches is part of the opposition’s strategies, which have been meeting weekly to define agendas and even slogans and unified speeches in the spaces of the Chamber. The proposal by Bilynsky, Fahur and other deputies is for the opposition to focus next week’s articulations on the agendas that deal with public security.

Lowering the age of criminal responsibility and metal detectors are up for debate

To curb attacks on schools, deputy Júlia Zanatta defends not only the approval of PL 1449/23, but also a PEC to reduce the age of criminal responsibility. The parliamentarian will file a proposal, but there are also other texts on the subject in the Chamber. “It was not an isolated case. Last week, we had another criminal action in São Paulo. A 13-year-old minor also invaded a school, stabbed a teacher to death and left others injured,” she commented.

The PEC to reduce the age of criminal responsibility provides that adolescents aged 16 may be held criminally responsible for all crimes. In addition, the matter also provides for punishment for young people between 12 and 16 who commit crimes against life, heinous or with violence or serious threat. “These crimes cannot be repeated, let alone go unpunished. We have to do everything in our power to prevent these cowardly crimes and ensure that they are punished with the rigor of the law”, highlighted the deputy.

Another proposal defended in the wake of projects that defend curbing crimes in schools is PL 1446/2023, authored by Congresswoman Silvia Waiãpi (PL-AP), which makes it mandatory to install X-ray portals in public and private schools. The idea of ​​a metal detector is also foreseen in the project to be co-presented by Sergeant Fahur on armed security in schools.

“You can even say that it is somewhat palliative, but, as we cannot ‘get inside the criminal’s mind’ to carry out effective prevention, we will do everything to prevent the fact and place. Our money is in the banks and there we have technology and armed security guards to prevent theft, but they forget that our children are our greatest assets, who are in schools without the same security”, defends Fahur.

Deputies consider insufficient government measures for schools

The government’s measure of placing 50 police officers to dedicate themselves “exclusively” to monitoring threats on the internet and making R$ 150 million available to states and municipalities to strengthen school police rounds divides deputies. Deputy Sergeant Fahur admits that it is palliative, but praises it. “At least it’s a step and, certainly, even though it doesn’t resolve the issue, I think it will help”, he comments.

Fahur and other deputies understand, however, that monitoring measures may be insufficient to alert about cases like the one that occurred in Blumenau, which would have been committed by a “lone wolf” – the person who commits an attack or act of extreme violence alone, without the support of any criminal or terrorist organization. “Perhaps it does not avoid the “lone wolf”, who is not counting on life, knows he is going to die. This is also why it is necessary to have armed security, as the number of victims can, at the very least, be reduced”, he says.

Deputy Maurício Marcon suspects the government’s intention with monitoring on social networks. “It seems to me that the citizen who carried out the attacks didn’t even have a social network. I don’t know if this improves something or if the intention is to use the pretext to censor the networks, not least because hate crime is already typified. It would be better to spend that money putting police at the doors [das instituições de ensino] than creating a network censorship group”, he opines.

Deputies Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG), Filipe Barros (PL-PR) and André Fernandes (PL-CE), in turn, officiated this Wednesday the director general of the Federal Police (PF), Andrei Rodrigues, that there would be evidence of the use of “digital platforms” for the articulation of “attacking acts” against life in Brazilian educational institutions.

“After publication in various national and international press media, some internet users sent us documents that show alarming exchanges of messages on digital platforms. [Elas] lead to believe in the existence of an organization of people, mostly teenagers and pre-adolescents, who are encouraged to commit collective murders, especially in schools. The documents were attached to the letter”, said Ferreira on Twitter. People’s Gazette had access to the letter, but not to the digital copies pointed out by the deputies to the head of the PF.

What are the responses of senators to attacks on schools and day care centers

Unlike deputies, senators used their social networks or promoted expressions of regret over the attack that took place in Blumenau, but few presented legislative measures.

Senator Mara Gabrilli (PSD-SP) filed a request for a public hearing to discuss ways to ensure the presence and funding of psychologists and social workers in public schools. “A guideline that has been law since 2019, but has not yet been implemented. Security measures are urgent, but without investing in prevention within schools, with multidisciplinary action, we will only be putting out fires in a society that is getting sicker every day”, highlighted.

The leader of the Republicans in the Senate, Messias de Jesus (RR), also presented a project that provides for the mandatory presence of a security professional in schools. “The objective is to guarantee support and safety for students, teachers and the entire school community”, defended the senator.

Senator Jorge Seif (PL-SC) asked the Senate for official national mourning and also stated that he will propose a bill that uses the proceeds from traffic fines to finance safety in our schools. “We cannot bring these lives back, but as public figures we will act to prevent more tragedies like this from happening again,” he said on Twitter.

Senator Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF) recorded a video released on her social networks in which she makes her mandate available to accept proposals. “If you have any suggestions that can help us in this fight, send me an email. We will receive suggestions, contributions and evaluate. I promise to discuss with other senators and see what we can do to, together, change this sad reality in our country”, commented the former Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights of the Bolsonaro administration.