A letalidade em ações policiais. Uma revisão do debate a partir da análise comparativa entre as polícias dos Estados do Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo

The persistence of high levels of lethality in police actions is one of the great challenges of democracy in contemporary Brazil. Since the process of redemocratization in the 1980s and 1990s, police lethality and violence have been at the heart of the debate around public security. Control initiatives have emerged in the past two decades. Studies have shown the multiple features and dimensions of the problem, but effective policies to control police violence are yet to be implemented. This article presents a comparative analysis of police lethality based on polices’ experiences in the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. It further explores the influence of this lethality on homicide rates. Finally, we discuss our data taking into account previous studies on this topic, point out possibilities SOCIOLOGIA ON LINE, n.o 24, dezembro 2020, pp. 85-101 | DOI: 10.30553/sociologiaonline.2020.24.4 for understanding the persistence of police violence, as well as perspectives around its control.