Safe in São Paulo Part IV: Taxi and Public Transportation

Entrance to metro station, São Paulo: in reality, it's usually a lot more crowded!

Last week Born Again Brazilian and I discussed avoid crime while driving, parking or using a car. But what if you decide not to drive (because we scared you so much…)? Like any city, you have options for getting across town other than hoofing it.

Taxi

In the central neighborhoods of the city, you’ll notice that on nearly every corner there is a ponto de taxi. These taxi stands are owned and operated by the taxi drivers you will see stopped there. Each taxi driver bought into the ponto, some more than 20 years ago; they maintain it and only they can park there. That’s why you might find that some stands have a television, a comfortable bench and some even host a small garden. The drivers put in those luxuries.

Using your local taxi stand is our best advice for taking taxis. You can even call them from your house or apartment and they will pick you up at your door. You can also often set a time for a trip to the airport, or to get kids to school. The main reason for our recommendation is safety. You will get to know these drivers and they will get to know you.  Many will give you their personal cards with their own cell phone numbers.

Once I forgot my passport at home while flying out of the national airport—they would not accept my US driver’s license as ID (obviously!! Blonde moment). I called the local taxi stand near my house, and the taxi driver there, a Japanese-Brazilian man who had an old black and white photo of his daughter stuck in the rear view mirror (this was in 1998 and I still remember the guy) passed by my house, picked up the passport from the house sitter and brought it to me at Congonhas airport.

Remember, though, if you use taxis on a regular basis that you want to vary routine, as in anything you do here. Use a different stand once in a while, change up the time of day that you go.  If you have flagged a taxi from the street and you are not completely comfortable with the driver, ask to be let off early near another taxi stand. Or have the taxi stop in front of the next building or house down from where you are actually going.

Flagging a taxi off the street can be hazardous. More than 20% of taxis in Sao Paulo are non-registered. As in not legal. You won’t necessarily be able to tell:  the cars are white with taxi symbols on them. Not all of the non-registered ones are bad guys. But how would you know? 

In reality, there is not much to fear from taxi drivers, other than possibly being taken for a ride (which is why you should always print out a map of where you are going if you are unfamiliar with the route). They also have reason for security concerns; they obviously have a stash of cash on their persons.  Talking with my taxi driver this morning, he told me that he has been robbed three times by someone getting into his taxi, asking to be taken to a “community” (favela or one step up) and then being robbed there. He will not anymore take people to a community called São Remo, or to the neighborhood of Grajaú. So they have their own worries.

For an added level of security, you can use one of the phone applications out now to order a car. Not only is this convenient, but you have record of who your driver is with all his work details. You can also track their route on their way to you, which means you are not waiting on some dark street corner. The one that is most popular with the taxi drivers is 99Taxis because they do not have to pay a fixed fee per trip, but there are many others including EasyTaxi and Taxijá. If you are going to use these apps, please make sure not to stand out on the street corner staring at your iPhone. You will be a target.

And to make the obvious point, don’t take out your laptop or iPad or iPhone and be playing around with it in the back seat of the taxi. It is not bulletproof. Those motoboys passing by will be looking into the taxis as well and they will hold you up at the next traffic light or convenient spot. Put your purse under your legs, and be aware of who is passing by the car, and put away the cell phone.  Smash and grab is as easy in a taxi as it is in a car. The taxi driver this morning also said to me that he is unhappy to take anyone carrying a laptop case in his car—people watching the pontos in front of large commercial buildings can see who is getting into which taxi with what. Then they can just call ahead to their buddy on the motorbike. Laptop cases should not exist  in São Paulo. I’m assuming we don’t have to review the need NOT to wear flashy jewelry or watches in the backseat of your taxi.

A final note on airport taxis. Guarucoop is the taxi cooperative at the international airport in São Paulo. While the taxi company itself is highly reliable, they use cars that are distinctive—white with blue stripes and the name Guarucoop on the side. While the crime is less common now than in last years, these taxis can be followed by bad guys all the way from the airport.  The probability of netting expensive electronics is higher when they rob an airport taxi. Think about it. Be alert.

Public transportation

Metro

You also have the option of using public transportation in São Paulo. My experience thus far with the subway system has been pretty positive. Most stations are large, well lit, well organized and clean. While the system is limited compared to other large cities, it can get you to most of the central neighborhoods of São Paulo, as well as a few of the outlying areas. And as the fare is R$3 (roughly US$1.50), it is an economical alternative to the taxi.

Some other advice would be to avoid carrying any laptop, or if you must, secure it in a backpack rather than a laptop case. We would also suggest getting a “bilhete unico” or stored value card that you can use to get on all public transportation in São Paulo. These are available at all metro and train stations, bus stations (the big ones, not the bus stops) and even the lotéricas (the lottery stores that sell stamps, bingo cards, etc). The best part of registering your bilhete unico is that if you lose it or it is stolen, you can cancel it (it is registered to your cpf number). For visitors, this benefit is not for you: you do not have a cpf.

If you do have to carry cash, and buy your ticket at the metro station, make sure you keep an eye on who is keeping an eye on you. There are folks watching where you put your wallet or change for a R$50 bill. Carry the minimum cash you can.

Bus

The city bus is the wave of the future here in São Paulo, and the future is now. The mayor of São Paulo, Haddad, has followed through on promises to make it bus “ueber alles.” In the last few weeks, he has put in dedicated bus lanes that have made commute times easily an hour faster for those who take the bus over those who do the same route in a car. Haddad particularly likes bus over metro and train because it is easy to change bus lanes and stops according to population growth in certain areas or commercial areas moving from south to north. You can’t move a train track and they cost a lot of money to build.

Our experience with bus travel is fairly limited. They are complicated in routing and there are no signs or maps on the bus stops. It is impossible to “work out” where you are going while you are on the trip. We highly recommend discovering your routing before you leave home by looking here. I have also arrived at a bus stop and asked people waiting there how to get somewhere and had excellent help. I speak fluent Portuguese though, so you might not want to attempt that if you won’t be able to understand the response.

One of the best and funniest write-ups on how to take a bus in São Paulo is available from a fellow blogger The Book is On the Table.  We are going to concentrate on how to take a bus from the perspective of safety.

So let’s just look at some of the precautions you should take when you are on a bus.

1. Know where you are going.
2. Leave valuables including cash, jewelry and watches at home. Try to carry exact  change or the bilhete unico (stored value card).
3. If you must carry a purse or backpack, keep it in front of you and a hand on it. See my post on distract-and-grab tactics here.
4. Try not to travel at rush hour times. Know the Police song about being packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes? Yes.
5. While waiting at the bus stop, stay alert. If someone is approaching you with purpose, move into a group of people. Do not be looking at your iphone at the bus stop. Do we need to say that again?  No.
6. While on the bus, stay alert.

As of now, we know of no good apps to find appropriate buses and routing. But it’s a matter of time. We will update as we go.

Public transportation should not be something you fear in São Paulo. In general, it is taken by hard-working, working class folks and at the end of the day, they just want to get home. Public transportation is not dangerous in a hold-up kind of way most of the time, but in pick-pocketing.  This is no different from any city in the world.

Private buses

Just a quick final word about the private bus system that is available in Brazil. There are many intercity buses which are extremely comfortable (some boasting sleeper seats) to get to cities from 2-10 hours away. Or more, if you really enjoy being showerless for 24 hours. There is no such thing as Amtrak, but the buses are impressively clean, on-time and efficient.  Things to remember if you take intercity buses:

1.  The rodoviarias or bus terminals are criminal dens. The ones at Barra Funda and Tiete. Seriously. My Brazilian husband was distracted by one person asking directions while the guy’s accomplice was stealing his laptop case from on top of his roll-aboard suitcase. Be more than alert at the bus station. I would recommend talking to no one, and being helpful to no one. Suppress your need to help even if it seems to be a nice person asking for assistance.

2.  Remember if traveling with children they will need to be carrying an ID that shows you are the parents. If you are traveling as a single parent, you will need to have a notarized letter authorizing travel by the stay-home parent. It is a law, and it is there to stop the vibrant market in child trafficking.  This is true of inter-city buses only—on a city bus, feel free to ride around with your kids.

Next week we will be talking about school security.

Hallmark holidays and murder - São Paulo

Justice for Brayan? Maybe.

Here is one of these urban stories which has no redemption. There is no good lesson to be learned from this. You choose whether or not to read on.

On June 28 of this year, a Bolivian immigrant family was held up in their house. When they could not cough up more than $4500 reais (US$2100), the assailants threatened to shoot the 5-year old son, who was apparently screaming and crying. And they ended up doing so; in leaving the house, one of the assailants killed Brayan with a gunshot to the head.

The four assailants were subsequently caught and put into prison (a teenager is also suspected but is in the juvenile prison system). Prison in Brazil is not fun (I'm guessing it's not fun anywhere but fortunately don't know the truth of it). The PCC is the organized prison mafia and runs a pretty tight ship of hierarchy and membership dues, etc. It is pretty hard to leave prison a better man or woman.

What happens in prison, stays in prison. In one of those prison justice moments that send chills up your spine, two of the four suspects were killed by fellow prisoners last week. They were forced to drink a lethal cocktail of cocaine and Viagra, mixed with water and disinfectant. Taken to the prison hospital, they soon died. While it seems somewhat obvious (to me) that this is retaliation for taking the life of a child, there is no final answer.

Drink up!

But, as they say, read on. And you know I can't resist reading on a Folha article. What happened to the other two adult assailants, including the one that is suspected of being the gunman? Let's see...they are "foragido" or fugitive. How did they get out? Did they escape? Not hardly. It turns out that were released for Mother's Day. A Hallmark holiday if ever there was one. Yes, the amnesty of mother's day where all good murderers get to go home and kiss their mothers. Who will want to kiss the murderer of a tiny tot.  I am beginning to believe that amnesty is a way of easing the prison overcrowding--what percentage of these folks actually go back to prison at the end of the day? I don't know. Not sure I want to find out.

True story. Look here.

Security in São Paulo Part III - Car Safety

City streets (not my car--I do not own a gps!)

This post is a continuation of a series on safety in São Paulo, in conjunction with Born Again Brazilian.

Probably one of the most nerve-racking times you will have as a visitor or resident of São Paulo is when you get into a car. Really, anyone’s car. Brazilians are aggressive drivers, and not necessarily prone to advising you of lane changes or allowing you to move into their lane. Just getting through a round-about without breaking into a cold sweat will probably take you months of training. 

We won’t get into driver safety except as peripheral to car safety (in the avoiding problems sense). What we write here is our opinion from our experience, as well as advice we have gotten from the military police and executive-level personal drivers. Please use your own common sense in individual situations.

First off, let’s talk about motoboys. Motoboys or motoqueiros are the motorcycle delivery guys. They are a menace (yes, there are some good guys—just don’t think you’ll be able to tell which is which. For one of my prior blogs on motoboys, see here). They will pass in between lanes and give you the finger if you infringe on their non-legal space. By the way, it is legal to pass between cars when they are stopped but not if they are in motion. However, I have never seen a transit cop stop a motoboy for passing through cars in motion. We are going to spend some time with the motoboy phenomenon as it is directly related to safety in your car.

1.   Stay out of the way of the motoboy. If you fight with one, they are as likely as not to kick off your sideview mirror or attempt to engage you in a verbal battle that may or may not get physical. And of course you never know how many of their friends are behind them. Leave them be—make space for them and be aware at all times about where they are around you.

2.   Do not open your window if a motoboy asks for directions. He needs to ask his one of his compatriots on two wheels. The percentage of bad motoboys is just too high to risk being a helpful citizen.

3.   Motoboys do not generally respect pedestrian walkways (this concept merges into pedestrian safety). In fact, most Brazilian drivers don’t respect pedestrian walkways. But in particular, don’t expect the motoboy to stop. Do not anticipate, especially when you are crossing the street, that they will obey traffic laws. Do not assume they won’t drive their moto on the sidewalk. 

4.   Do not ever, ever, ever put your laptop case on your front passenger seat or on the floor. Put it in the trunk before you leave your secure location. It is so easy for a passing motoboy or other passerby to break the side window and grab it while you are stuck behind the wheel of your vehicle. You might notice a long line of motoboys passing you on heavily trafficked roads like Rebouças.  A few of them are carefully looking in each car to see if there is something easy to get, and perhaps signaling the motoboy behind him to break in.

Other general rules of traffic:

Do not look as good to rob as the car next to you. Purse in trunk, laptop in trunk, no iphone or gps in easy sight.  Don’t be interesting to a criminal. Your car will be less interesting, regardless of make and model, if it seems there is not much in it. Remember that this smash-and-grab is a crime of impulse. Don’t provide that impulse.

A smash-and-grab victim. Put the purse in the trunk.

Carry a wallet in the car that has R$200 in it. If the worst happens and you are held up, you hand that over immediately. Give up your cell phone, ring, watch, whatever they want. We will continue to emphasize that your Rolex or iPhone is not more valuable than your life.

The other day, an incident happened on a street in São Paulo where a woman driver was being held up by an assailant, and another car came to her rescue.  Story here (Portuguese only).  The good Samaritan in the second car pinned the robber against the first car. We do not recommend this. What if that assailant had had a gun as well as a knife? Things could have ended differently. Make your own judgment call.

Some additional driver crime-avoidance tips:

1.   Stop 50 meters before any stoplight that has people hanging around who you don’t like the look of. In general, you should stop a meter behind the car in front so you might have more room to maneuver as necessary.

2.   It is indeed illegal to run a red light at any time of day or night. But if you pull up to a corner that looks particularly shady, you won’t be the only one who rolls that red light. Make your own decision on what feels right and safe. Regardless, you should always slow down/stop before crossing an intersection—do not literally RUN a red light.

3.   Know where you are going before you leave the house. Print out a google map. Even if you have GPS or an iPhone, these may go in and out of service around São Paulo. Do not rely only on electronics. Also, a GPS can draw unwanted attention to you.

4.   If you are involved in a small accident (like someone bumps you from behind), do not get out of your car to investigate until you are in a safe area. Put on your hazards and pull into the nearest gas station, restaurant, anywhere that is well-lit and well-populated. If you should hit and knock down a motoboy, do not get out of your car. Call 190 for the police and wait for their arrival. Motoboys will call their friends. They will not be on your side.

5.   Before getting into or out of your car, look around. See if there are papers stuck into the back wipers before you get in. Do not turn on your car then notice there is a flyer on the back window and then get out to take it off. This is an interesting car grabbing tactic. Before getting out of your car, see if there are people in the street and what exactly they are doing.

6.   If you are getting your kids out of your car, stay aware of who is around you and where your purse is. Let us highly recommend parking in valet parking when traveling alone with your children. You are vulnerable during those moments that you are clicking them into car seats, strollers, arranging diaper bags, etc.

7.   Do not park next to vans in parking lots. You never know who is in it or what they are up to.

A police spokesperson we know recommended that you keep your car windows as darkly tinted as legal to keep bad guys from being able to see inside and take note of what you have with you. However, a neighborhood watch person suggested that this is also dangerous in the case you are taken hostage because no one can see in to recognize you are in trouble. Since there are pros and cons to both, go with what makes you feel more comfortable. 

Note: If you are particularly worried about being kidnapped, it is possible to install a panic button in the trunk of your car that connects with a service that can track you down via GPS. 

Car safety and kids

In general, criminals do not target cars with small kids. It is too much of a hassle. You need to think like they do: they are going for the least amount of risk that something will slow down their crime. 

If you are accosted by an assailant while driving with your kids, hand over whatever they want (see Street Smarts).  If they want your car, put your hands where they can see them. Tell them where the key is and that you are going to get your kids, but the rest is theirs. According to the military police, the last kidnapping of a kid happened three years ago. 

Let us reiterate: the typical São Paulo bad guys do NOT WANT YOUR KIDS. They want your car to go sell it for $500 reais. That is all. Move without panic, take attention off of yourself by saying where the key is, where the documents are, that your valuables are in the trunk…just say you are going to get your kids. Do not stress out the criminal. They could be on drugs and you don’t want them to get panicked and irrational. 

Bulletproof Cars

Brazil is the world leader in bulletproof cars, beating out Colombia and the US. There are more than 70,000 bulletproof cars in circulation, and 70% of those are in São Paulo. All types of cars can be bulletproofed. We even know someone who has bulletproofed a Honda Fit. For some interesting stats on bulletproof cars around Brazil, check here. 

There are different levels of bulletproofing, from the lowest level that can stop not much, to the most popular Level 3 which can handle most handguns (as long as the sharpshooter doesn’t hit six bullets in the exact same place) and up to Level 5, which must be near nuclear-proof. When I asked my salesmen to tell me about which guns/bullets could penetrate my car, he said “Really? You’re going to be able to tell a Glock from a plastic one?” So I took that as a “if it looks like a rocket launcher, you are no longer bullet-proof.” For general handguns, I’m pretty safe.

As we talked about in our last post, there are some issues to consider when it comes to bulletproofing:

1.   Expense. It is very expensive to bulletproof your car. Upwards of R$40,000 (US$16,000) depending on the model of your car. In addition, service intervals are at least twice a year, and possibly more as most cars are not built to handle bulletproofing. Heavier cars (Mitsubishi, Land Rover) handle it better on their chasses than the beautifully engineered European cars. Remember that to bulletproof, your car is literally taken apart piece by piece and a shield installed and then it is put back again. Unskilled laborers working on your German engineered car… think about it.

2.   Attention. This argument came up on one of our posts - bulletproof cars attract attention. If the bad guys think you have something inside that is worth bulletproofing, then you are a target. I would argue that the average criminal is working on a crime of impulse—smash and grab. Bulletproofing makes that criminal’s impulse move along to another car rather than yours. Yes, they can tell you are bulletproofed.

3.   Quality of life/travel. Rear passenger windows do not roll down on a bulletproofed car. It is possible that your sunroof will not work. Front windows go down only halfway. As a policeman said “You are not safe if you roll down the windows or put back the sunroof in a bulletproof car. You got it for a reason. Keep the windows up.” Perhaps you can understand why my kids’ favorite thing to do in the US is travel in grandma’s car with the windows rolled down.

4.   Forgetfulness. What? Yes, that is what I shall say to explain that people forget that they are not safe getting into or out of a bulletproof car. You have to remember that: don’t be chatting on the cell phone when you get out of your bulletproof car. Don’t keep the door open blowing kisses to your kids leaving school. Look around before you get out because the attention you get with a bulletproof car might deter someone from trying to get into your car, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t target you when you get out of it.

5.   Peace of mind. No fear of dark corners and back streets when you are bulletproof. The impulse criminal is no longer your problem if you are in your car. Same with the traffic light stops and the passing motoqueiros.

At a presentation with a military police officer, we had a debate about people with bulletproof cars helping other people they witness being robbed at stoplights or in traffic by throwing on their alarms to scare off the criminals (these external alarms are loud). The captain did not recommend this approach. You do not want to stress out the criminal—it is possible that he will kill that driver believing that it is the police who are behind him. They know that the police will stop to help the victim before going after the perpetrator. Don’t do it. 

Next week we will continue our look at crime-avoidance on the street with taxi and public transportation safety tips.

Happy Endings - São Paulo

For the past couple of weeks, a motoboy has been making my neighborhood more than a little nervous. He has robbed kids leaving schools, taking cell phones and tablets. He has attempted to rob a woman walking with her 3-year old child in a stroller. In spite of reinforced police presence, he was able to get away with it....until Tuesday afternoon when he was caught "em flagrante" in the neighborhood. He was hauled to the local police station and the following note went out over the neighborhood's security page on facebook: 

O ASSALTANTE QUE ESTÁ ROUBANDO NA S PROXOMIDADES DOS COLÉGIOS SANTA CLARA, SANTA CRUZ, RAINHA DA PAZ E VILALOBOS, ESTÁ DETIDO NO 14 DISTRITO POLICIAL DE PINHEIROS , NA RUA DEPUTADO LACERDA FRANCO. POR FAVOR, QUEM FOI OU CONHECE ALGUEM QUE SOFREU COM O ASSALTO,POR FAVOR VENHAM FAZER O FECONHECIMENTO DOS PERTENCES E DO MESMO. É SEGURO. QUANTO MAIS PESSOAS VIEREM, MAIS PROVAS PARA MANTER O MESMO PRESO

Basically, the neighborhood was informed that the suspect was being held at the station and if anyone had been robbed in the last couple of weeks to go down and identify him. Seven teenagers from one school went and all identified him as the perpetrator. Multiple identifications means that the chances are better for this criminal to be off the street for more than a day. Maybe it will be 10 days now.

Misplaced Sympathy? Police Forces- São Paulo

Okay, before getting distracted by a brain-damaged seal yesterday, I was originally going to post about this story "Metade das escolas forma policial em até seis meses" ("Half of schools graduate police officers in under six months"). Basically the story, as written by the highly reliable and objective Folha de São Paulo (sorry, does my sarcasm show?) is that there is an undue hurry to get police officers out on the street. Instead of a comprehensive community-oriented classwork, there seems to be a churning out of grey-uniformed officers ready only for the most obvious situations, and given only outlines of conflict resolution and mediation.

Now if you've seen Cops, that fine American tv program, you would think that conflict resolution was about 80% of a US police officer's job. You know, so-and-so doesn't want to move out of the trailer but his wife has thrown everything out the window including his television and maybe his dog. So, the negotiations begin. I get the feeling here in Brazil that there is not much negotiation: just haul off whoever to the station. If, as a friend points out, the police show up at all.

As many of you know, I have a natural sympathy towards the police. I grew up in towns where police officers were effective, were community members who contributed to the community well-being, and folks who you could always approach if you needed help. We knew many by name. I would also point out that the reverse is not true: not many knew MY name because I was a good girl. Really.

When I moved to São Paulo, big city or not, my natural instinct was to trust the police, unless given a reason otherwise.  And so far, I do not have a reason to do otherwise. After 8 years living here (between two postings), I still can't shake my trust and respect of the police. I have had nothing but neutral to good interactions. Okay, some of them, like the toner incident, are just plain ridiculous. The instinct to trust is not, though, the natural inclination of most Brazilians. And lest we all forget, this country is less than 30 years away from a military dictatorship where many REALLY BAD things happened at the hands of the police. I get it. Well, no, I don't. I don't think you can understand that kind of fear and uncertainty until you have lived it.

This Folha column seems to provide more reason for sympathy for the currently undertrained men and women of the police forces--folks who have nothing to do with Brazil's military past. Studies have proven that six months is just too short a time to get good officers who are focused on the important issues of daily police work. Imagine: in six months time, they are handing these trainees guns, pointing them in the direction of a car,  and putting them on the front lines against experienced criminals. Instead of conflict resolution classes, and how to handle protests, they are learning about the law. Which is good, but one should not replace the other.

The police force in Brazil is one of the most underpaid in the world. A starting-out military policeman in São Paulo makes R$26,000 (US$10,000) per year. A starting police officer in New York City makes US$41,000 per year. In London, US$33,000. And the Brits don't even have to carry guns! Yes, cost of living differences, etc. I know.  

It seems clear that the police force in Brazil is undertrained and underprepared. What this means for the World Cup and the Olympics; well, that's anyone's guess. But my expectation is not a pretty one. I still lean towards sympathy to this underpaid group. One of the moments that my sympathy felt strongest was when a military policeman here explained to me that crimes that result in penalties under four years (theft, for one) mean that the perpetrator is out on the street the very next day. There is simply no room left in the prisons for petty thieves. Imagine that you have chased someone for hours on a Thursday, and he waves hi to you from a bar on Friday. And we wonder why police men are frustrated.

By the way, I also read in a second article in the paper that there are actually eight different police forces in Brazil. Ready for the list? Federal, Guarda Municipal, Civil, Rodoviária, Portuária, Legislativa, Militar and Cientifica. 

Now in English: 
1. Federal (crimes against the government, white collar crime, drug trafficking investigations, also the guys that check every last item I bring into the country. As wikipedia says: "The Federal Police is the Brazilian equivalent of the American FBI, DEA, ATF, TSA, USBP, INS and Secret Service all rolled into one." They are busy.)
2. Municipal Guard (security forces of the cities/towns, protect municipal treasures such as buildings, parks and sculptures),
3. Civil (the state investigation and detectives group)
4. Highway (seems obvious), 
5. Legislative (no clue), 
6. Military (the chase and apprehend guys) 
7. Scientific (no clue--CSI São Paulo? Forensics? Seem to be part of the Civil Police. Maybe.)

And I'm not even going to touch on the really scary dudes like the Tropa de Choque (shock forces). Think SWAT. Think getting out of the way fast. That's a whole lot of weaponry.

The Homicide Resurgence - São Paulo

On Tuesday night this week, an American friend and I went to a seminar titled "The Resurgence of Homicides." If you have followed my blog for any period of time, you know that the whole security theme interests me. Violent death, crime of any kind, and I am there. We were told about the seminar by a friend who mentioned that her friend, a Wall Street Journal reporter, would be on the panel. So it was about violence, involved a friend of a friend AND it was in a neighborhood where we could get a drink afterwards without possibly becoming one of the statistics. Complete win.

I arrived by taxi at the location. In the flyer, it said the seminar would be held in the Instituto Braudel. The address shown on the flyer was on a dark corner of a street with no sign of the Institute. All I could really see was huge heavy steel doors with a sign saying Fundaçao Armando Alvares Penteado*.  Ringing the bell, a little door opened up (picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail) with just the face of the guard showing and he of course says "pois não?" which means yes. No, he did not say "we don't want any" like in the movie. The door unlocks and creaks back. Two other security men in black with bullet-proof vests ask me a few pertinent questions and tell me to follow the person who was already down the drive in front of an old mansion. I am wondering if I should have brought my bullet-proof vest.

Just at that moment, my friend Megan came in and so we had our moments of cheek-kissing and chattering in English to the bafflement of the boys in black (the Black Block? The Blackie Blockie?). Finally we head up the driveway where there is not a single sign to show us where to go next. Well, the door of the mansion is open--let's go in. We stand around the pretty entryway then look up the spiral stairs and decide we'd better ask before parading around. We go back outside to the bemused glance of a fourth security guard who says pretty much "dopies, the event is down there in that over-the-garage kind of place." Okay, he was nicer but I know what he was thinking.

Yep the Institute is over the garage at this old mansion. We squish our way into a small entryway--it is now 5:55 pm with the event starting at 6 pm. We have plenty of time, we think, to grab some water, sign a book with fake names (just kidding!)  and head up the stairs talking loudly in English about our exciting lives.

At the top of the stairs is a single room. White plastic chairs are gathered around a square area with couches. The couches in turn surround on three sides a giant wooden lion in repose and an iffy "oriental" rug. Facing us is a table of 7 older men (okay, our friend's friend is younger than us) and it was complete silence as 30 people look at us. Clearly the meeting had started on time. Ooops. We were asked (in English) by the executive director, Norman Gall, (an American who has been here many years) to take a seat on one of the couches. We were more than a bit embarrassed at our gringo-style entry.

Unfortunately, with our late and loud arrival, I could not sneakily take a photo of the place. My favorite part, besides the giant lion, was the wooden armadillo placed on the head table in front of the master of ceremonies.  Fortunately it seems that the armadillo appears at all events because here is a photo of it at a past event, and the man in the middle is in fact the executive director of the Institute, Norman Gall. I might add that this director took a somewhat long nap during part of the seminar. Or rested his eyes. A lot.

And so it began with some statistics (the event was about São Paulo and the north of Brazil as well).  Some key takeaways were that homicides increase when there is a territorial battle, or as the speaker said, a "disequilibrio territorial." And then they just don't stop as a cycle of  revenge and honor killings is kicked off until finally an equilibrium is achieved again. That equilibrium is usually reached when there is one main player in the territory--that would be the PCC gang in São Paulo. Oh, and this is all because of drugs, right, you got that implicitly? Of course.

Next up was a self-described urbanist-architect named Fausto. He presented us with some facts of the urban "dream" that bring on violence:

1. Cities will always be filled with crime because the places are built for industry, not to respect nature. So the natural places to have recreation and fun are covered with asphalt and with no natural space to be neighborly, everyone retreats behind walls.
2. The rich elites tend to be less neighborly than the poor.
3. São Paulo was built without planning and there is an "inaccessibility of opportunity" now--the rich put the good stuff closer to them (libraries, good hospitals, etc) so that would increase the value of their land. The poor had to make do further afield.
4. Streets with three or four continuous blocks of walls without access to any kind of public space are the mostly likely to have crime take place.

He was a very interesting speaker. The only part I didn't understand was when he kept saying "aquelas coisas Chicago". Or those Chicago things. What was he talking about? Capone? No idea. Maybe I misheard him. 5 times.

The Recife security guy was next up. He said that there is a "mundo de guerra" or war world in the northeast of Brazil, except the city of Recife. The success in Recife has come from developing a list of "crime concentrations"--45% of the homicides were concentrated in 13 neighborhoods. Knowing that, the police could concentrate on those areas.  As they reduced current crime, they also created a new type of neighborhood gathering place. Six "Compaz" ("With Peace") locations were built--each of around 7000 sq meters with access to justice, leisure areas, mediation, and a mixture of other activities.

His final point is that we have to stop building "obra pobre" for "gente pobre".  Poor people need to have as much or better access to community services and recreation in order to stop the cycle. And he ended by saying that it made him sad that in schools there are campaigns to save whales and the environment or whatever, but there is no campaign to save people. And we need campaigns for that.

Then came the numbers guy from Estadão newspaper.  The news is good for all of us living in the southeast of Brazil. In 1996, there were 40 violent deaths per 100,000 people. Now there are 20. The numbers are now almost exactly opposite in the northeast. In fact if you leave São Paulo to live in Porto Seguro, Bahia, your risk of violent death increases 8 times. Guess I'll skip that vacation. He provided a link to a map with the risk of death in various places in Brazil but I didn't get it down. I will: it's on their site.

One of the next speakers talked about the cost of violence. The cost in cutting down young people. There is one area of Alagoas state where there are 1,000 deaths per 100,000 people in the 15-25 year old age range. That's a massacre.

After opening up the floor for questions, there were a couple of interesting moments. One man in the audience (and I will mention that he was black for no particular reason except he was one of only about three) got wound up by comments from a woman in the audience. She commented about the recent protests and violence around the country and how things were getting worse. The man then broke in, introduced himself as a university professor, and proceeded to tell us that the only reason it seems worse is that the violence and crime are now starting to affect the elite. That violence and death was always a part of the poor people's lives--his point was pretty much "welcome to our world" to the elites. He even started pointing a finger (literally) at us all. It was uncomfortable and emotional, and you could have heard a pin drop.

When the attention waned a bit from this, Megan and I decided we needed a drink. Two hours had passed and not a cocktail hour in sight. Clearly academics can chat all evening, and without applauding the flag (see my Conseg posts). We snuck out as best we could and refrained from chatting about our exciting lives until all the way out of the building. Then got out of the Black Block and down the street to a bar. Based on all of this scary stuff, I felt the need  to drink two caipirinhas too quickly and had a hangover for two days. I did, however, take a taxi.


*Note: Fundaçao Armando Alvares Penteado is shortened to FAAP and is a 12,000 student private university.

Murder and Mayhem - A Fresh Look at the Newspaper - São Paulo

I have a love-hate relationship with the biggest local paper here in Brazil called Folha de São Paulo. I find them biased, frequently ridiculous and sometimes plain old wrong (like naming Columbus as a city of Oregon rather than Ohio might be incorrect. Scratch the "might"). But I cannot resist every single morning opening up what my mom would call the "Murder and Mayhem" section, here called Cotidiano, or Daily Life. Mom used the term referring to the Metro section in the New York Times which was the paper we got where I grew up.

Murder and Mayhem is completely accurate as a moniker. There is pretty much never good news in Cotidiano. It's all hold-ups and kids killing parents, and cops killing bad guys and bad guys killing cops and cops who are bad guys. Once in a while, the news seems to be so continuously bad for the day that I start to laugh. And this happened this past Saturday...

The first story that struck me was the news that the government is going to invest a billion or so to block cell phone calls into penitentiaries. They literally cannot stop the cell phones from getting in. And they show a photo of two cut-open roasted potatoes that have cell phones inside--two cell phones apprehended when the policemen thought...hmmmm....roast potatoes from a visitor? Not mandioca or beans? Suspicious."

 

Okay, so I've just about gotten over my giggle at the potatoes when I see that 16,600 prisoners are being released so they can celebrate Father's Day (Sunday, August 11) and then report back. Ummmm, they wish to release them because they are such good role models for their kids that they should head home? Because clearly the first thing these guys are going to do is NOT head to the Corinthians game, and NOT have a beer with their buddies at the bar but rather give hugs and sweet kisses to junior. Sigh. Okay, that one was harder to giggle.

Then we got to the part about the first university opening up in a penitentiary. I love the idea of this--rehabilitating prisoners through higher education. An education most of them were denied as poor street kids. Maybe giving them a chance. But, as they say, read on. There will be 80 openings for students...that's great! The penitentiary has 769 prisoners! 10%! Oh, wait, oops. Just noticed that only 13 of the 769 have completed high school. I am guessing they will not be ready to take ENEM, the SATs of Brazil. So they are doing remedial high school classes for a few months until they have some ready to take their exams to get in. Fortunately, I think the competition at that edition of ENEM will not be fierce--you take the exam, congratulations!! You're in! Freshman class of 2018!! Yay! Oh, and then they are going to take a poll and see what all the students would like to study. I am hoping the administration will decline advanced circuitry and criminal justice type stuff. Maybe Peace Studies would be nice. Or Negotiations.

The bad guys of Paraiba are getting educated!

So, that's all going well.  Needing comic relief from the comic relief makes me flip the page to this picture:

Cadê a Faixa que estava aqui? Where is the pedestrian walkway that was here?

Sorry about the bad photo--almost fell out of my lounge chair at the club pool. Greenpeace, being the rogues that they are, have painted words on the ground near a pedestrian walkway that is so faded that you cannot tell it is there. "Where is the pedestrian walkway that was here?" Instead of just painting the pedestrian walkway for the city...that would have been nice, no? Pedestrian walkway...by Greenpeace. It could be a new sponsorship venue for the city...all the pedestrian walkways could be sponsored...Pedestrian walkway by Brahma! By Tylenol! By Nike! I must write a letter to Mayor Haddad (AH-DAH-GEE) about this one. I may have just had the brainstorm to save this town.