Police lethality grows in Brazil; four states break record

Lethality resulting from police interventions increased in Brazil and reached a total of 4,330 deaths in 2025 in the nine states of the country monitored by the Security Observatory Network. The data was released this Wednesday morning (1st) and represents an increase of 6.4% compared to the previous year, which recorded 4,068 deaths, according to the same institution.

According to the research "Target Skin: between racism and lethality, tomorrow", four states reached their highest levels of deaths by police since the beginning of the historical monitoring series, in 2019. They are: Maranhão (142), Ceará (200), Pará (632) and São Paulo (834).

Police actions caused 19 deaths per day in Brazil in the 1st quarter of 2026

São Paulo recorded the highest number of victims in the historical series, even in a context of falling criminal indicators, such as theft and robbery. In 2024, 812 deaths were recorded. In 2025, there was an increase of 22 deaths compared to the previous year. The state accumulates 4,774 victims in seven years.

Maranhão, on the other hand, showed the most alarming growth, with an 86.8% increase in deaths in just one year. The numbers went from 76 deaths to 142 in 2025. In the northeastern state, the phenomenon is attributed to the internalization of criminal factions from the Southeast and the state response based on confrontation, according to the report.

The numbers also show the situation in Pará, which reached a record of 632 deaths, an increase of 35 deaths compared to 2024. The state has accumulated 4,028 deaths in seven years. In Belém alone, there were 99 deaths, the highest absolute number among the municipalities in Pará.

In turn, Ceará recorded 200 deaths in 2025, the highest level since 2019. Only 12 municipalities accounted for 50.5% of the victims across the state. In seven years, lethality increased by 47.1%, totaling 1,094 deaths in the period.

Other monitored states
In Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco, police lethality also increased in 2025. The territory of Rio de Janeiro recorded 800 deaths, which represents an increase of 13.8% compared to the previous year. Pernambuco, on the other hand, had 89 deaths, an increase of 30.9% compared to 2024, according to the data.

In the opposite direction, Amazonas stagnated at 43 deaths, maintaining a zero difference compared to 2024.

Bahia, in turn, went from 1,702 in 2024 to 1,570 deaths in relation to 2025. Even so, it remains the monitored state with the highest rate in this regard. Piauí registered 20 deaths (a drop of 16.7%), reducing the number of victims by 4 compared to 24 in 2024.

Victim profile: black, young and male
Of the deaths in which race was identified, 86.3% of the victims were black. Amazonas recorded the highest proportion of black victims among the monitored states, reaching 96% of deaths. Other states with high rates of black victims are Pernambuco (94.4%), Bahia (93.9%) and Pará (93.3%).

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In relation to the risk of death, on average across states, a black person is four times more likely to be killed by the police than a white person. In Pernambuco, the risk is up to 11 times greater, while in Rio de Janeiro the chance of a black person being killed by the State is six times greater than that of a white person.

Violence also affects young people severely. Almost two-thirds of the victims (64.8%) were young people up to 29 years old, which represents 2,804 lives interrupted in 2025. The study also highlights that 312 children and adolescents (aged 0 to 17) were killed in police actions.

Police lethality in SP grows in 2025 and records 834 cases

In Rio de Janeiro, two deaths of children aged 0 to 11 were recorded. In addition to the racial and generational profile, the victims are, for the most part, men.

Methodology
The seventh edition of the report "Target Skin: between racism and lethality, tomorrow" is based on the collection of official data from the public security departments of the nine monitored states (Amazonas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Pará, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo).

The information is obtained through requests via the Access to Information Law and undergoes validation and standardization by the Observatory Network; Monitoring maintains comparability with data collected since 2019.

Source: CNN