By Brian Mier, Photos By Douglas Engle
A patrol unit in the Dona Marta slum in the beachfront Botafogo district of Rio. Drug traffickers were driven out in December 2008, and as a result, young police recruits have set up permanent posts in the neighborhood. It’s part of a new community-policing program, which will be implemented in other areas if successful.
City of God
An officer watches over the Vigario Geral favela in Rio on December 15, 2005. Police stormed the slum after drug traffickers from a nearby rival slum allegedly kidnapped eight young people. It was the latest episode in a 20-year feud between the two neighborhoods, which are run by opposing drug gangs. Shootouts between gang members and the police are common, and many innocent bystanders have fallen victim to wayward bullets. The homicide rate of Rio rivals that of some war zones.
O Dia
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