At this Tuesday’s (10th) session of the Curitiba City Council, councilors discussed summoning the Secretary of Social Defense and Traffic, Rafael Vianna, to explain the suspension of municipal guards after the arrest of a suspected drug trafficker in which Councilor Da Costa do Perdeu Piá (Podemos) intervened. The request was rejected by the Government caucus in the chamber, which suggested postponing it for seven sessions and submitted a new request to invite the secretary, who will be at the Council on March 24, during a regular session.
The summons request was submitted by Da Costa himself, who also claimed to be the victim of espionage by the intelligence sector of the Municipal Guard. The opposition would have voted in favor of the request, but maneuvering by pro-government councilors under the leadership of Serginho do Posto (PSD), to avoid the tension of a summons, secured a majority for Vianna to go to the Council of his own accord.
The conflict between Da Costa, who is a military police officer, and Vianna, who is a civil police officer and heads Social Defense, intensified following the arrest of a man for trafficking in the city center. A video released on March 1 on the lawmaker’s social media shows him “interrogating” the suspect, while two municipal guards carry out the arrest and search.
Rogerio Galindo
Vianna, for his part, considered the guards’ behavior — who allowed the councilor to interact with the suspect — to be inappropriate. “When you stop someone and put them against the wall, that is already a police intervention. That means you have to have responsibility. When a civilian comes along, makes a ‘little joke,’ takes control of the intervention with the person approached and interferes in the situation, it contaminates the chain of custody, the crime scene, and puts the investigation, the agents, the public, and the very person who is interfering in the police action at risk,” he criticized.
After the video drew attention, the guards were removed from street duty, for the alleged “lack of preparation.” The Union of Municipal Guards of Curitiba (Sigmug) said that administrative measures should be used after providing guidance. “The union understands that any procedural adjustments should be handled with guidance and institutional dialogue, and not with administrative measures that may create the perception of punishment for professionals who were acting in the fight against crime,” says the note published on the site.
