Brazil Reports Record Rifle Seizures in Rio as Police-Intervention Deaths Rise in 2025

Overview

• Rio’s public-security institute reports 920 rifles seized in 2025, up 25.7% from 2024 and the highest total since the series began in 2007.
• Deaths resulting from police intervention in Rio reached 797 in 2025, a 13% increase, while total violent deaths edged up 2% to 3,881.
• Key property crimes in Rio fell in 2025, including vehicle theft down 18.4%, street robbery down 2.7%, cargo theft down 9.4%, and robbery resulting in death down 22%.
• The year included Rio’s most lethal operation in the Alemão and Penha complexes, with 121 dead, and overall police fatalities totaled six civil police and 13 military police.
• Santa Catarina recorded 100 deaths from police intervention in 2025, a 26% rise, with about a quarter of victims lacking criminal records, as officials cited more than 485,000 operations and an 82% increase in military police actions, and no officers killed.