Brazil does not have a death penalty. Brazil has a liberal juvenile justice system that seems far too lenient on youthful offenders. These factors have contributed to the high level of crime in Brazil.
There is a considerable amount of freedom in Brazil. Freedom, as opposed to totalitarian police states, has its price in increased criminal opportunities for the criminal element of society. Illegal drug activity has increased in recent years in Brazil. There are gang wars, and turf battles over the drug territories, and some innocent bystanders are killed in some of the battles. Fortunately the majority of these drug related crimes are contained in the poorer sections of the largest cities in Brazil. If you are not dealing drugs, and not spending time in the high crime inner cities in Brazil, then you are in much less danger of becoming the victim of a crime that you would be in any place in the USA.
Actual Crime Rates in Brazil compared to the USA and Japan
An analysis was done using INTERPOL data for Brazil. For purpose of comparison, data were drawn for the seven offenses used to compute the United States FBI's index of crime. Index offenses include murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. The combined total of these offenses constitutes the Index used for trend calculation purposes. Brazil will be compared with Japan (country with a low crime rate) and USA (country with a high crime rate). The following figures are per 100,000 population.
Offense: Rape, the rate in 2001 was 8.50 for Brazil, compared with 1.78 for Japan and 31.77 for USA.
Offense: Aggravated assault, the rate in 2001 was 0.61 for Brazil, 23.78 for Japan, and 318.55 for USA.
Offense: Larceny for 2001 was 309.91 for Brazil, 1401.26 for Japan, and 2484.64 for USA.
Offense: Motor vehicle theft in 2001 was 88.51 for Brazil, compared with 44.28 for Japan and 430.64 for USA.
The rate for all index offenses combined was 927.41 for Brazil, compared with 1709.88 for Japan and 4160.51 for USA.
Source: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/rwinslow/samerica/brazil.html
A Comparative Criminology Tour of the World
Dr. Robert Winslow
rwinslow@mail.sdsu.edu
San Diego State University
Japan is considered one of the safest countries on earth, with a very low crime rate, however Japan has almost twice as much crime overall as Brazil. The USA has over 400% more overall crime than Brazil. However, these statistics are skewed and misleading. Brazil's crime is much localized, almost exclusively limited to the large inner cities. The crime rate in the rest of Brazil is comparable to the crime rate in Vatican City. In the rural areas of Brazil, hitchhiking is still common with very few criminal incidents. Even crimes against property are almost unheard of outside the large cities in Brazil. Outside of the inner cities, Brazil is pretty much the safest place on earth, with an outlandishly low crime rate. By comparison the USA is far more dangerous than Brazil.
There is one other exception to this low crime rate in Brazil. The popular tourist attractions and beaches do have some criminals taking advantage of tourists. These crimes tend to be pick-pocketing, purse snatching, camera snatching, and similar crimes. Even Vatican City has such pick-pockets working the tourists there too. This is an unfortunate fact of life worldwide in every tourist hotspot on earth. Savoy tourists can usually avoid being victimized by these petty criminals.
Do not flash expensive items such as camcorders, cameras, and notebook computers. The red light districts (AMOR à ZONA) should be avoided. The slums (favelas) are high crime areas. ATM machines tend to attract robbers. Thieves work the beaches looking for purses and wallets lying near sunbathers. They grab the purse or wallet and run. Solution: Do not leave your purse or wallet in view. Dress down. Try to look native. Do not stand out.
A word of warning about the Brazilian petty criminals and their methods.
Petty thieves commonly work the public transportation system looking for tourists. They ride the public transportation system (mostly busses) looking to identify a target, usually with a purse or expensive camera in easy view. They will wait until the bus is stopping and opening the doors, then they grab the item and jump off the bus. Lately they have been grabbing whole backpacks, when the tourist is so foolish as to take off his/her backpack on the bus. Solution: Be especially careful on the busses in Brazil. Do not take off your backpack. Do not make it easy for the thieves to grab your valuables and run. Fortunately it is incredibly rare for these petty criminals to become violent. They almost always run away no matter if they are successful or not in the purse snatching attempt. They run not because they are afraid of the tourist, but because they are afraid of a mob or the police catching them. However, you should NOT chase a purse snatcher. They are often armed. The inner city criminals in Brazil are especially afraid of the cops. The police in Brazil are almost as trigger happy as cops in the USA. Fortunately they seem to know the difference between tourists and the street criminals.
In summary, you are far more likely to have your wallet or purse stolen in any city in the USA than in even the tourist areas of Brazil. If you stay away from the inner cities and especially the favelas and if you do not deal drugs or buy illegal drugs you will be far safer in Brazil than in the USA, Canada, or even Japan. There is no need to be afraid of crime in Brazil. Come on, live a little. The sky is not falling down, and Brazil is not so dangerous if you just use common sense.
