User:Hdibarra/sandbox

Brazil Crime Updates: Challenges and Solutions
One way to improve this article would be to update some of the information that it gives as well as go into more detail about the specific information. Much of the information in the article dates back to 2010 or earlier. As 2012 draws to a close it would be a good time to update some of the information. In the article "The battle for peace in the slums" published in June 2012, the author, Andrew Purcell, states that although Brazil has become the sixth-largest economy in the world it still ranks 84th on the UN Human Development Index (p.78). This article then goes on to explore crime in the favelas around Rio including a current discussion on the four main gangs in the city (Purcell, 2012, p.78). Finally, this article brings in the importance of the upcoming World Cup in Brazil in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 as a motivation for Brazil to continue to reduce crime (Purcell, 2012, p.78).

The article "Brazil's Top Cop; Josa Mariano Beltrame did what everybody in Rio de Janeiro thought impossible--pacify two of the city's most drug-infested, crime-ridden favelas. Welcome to the shantytown counterinsurgency" by Mac Margolis published in May 2011 is another good article that can update the information on this page. It takes an in-depth look at the current methods being used by the police in Rio de Janeiro to eliminate crime, especially in the favelas (Margolis, 2011, p.0). The author credits Josa Beltrame for denouncing the old-boy network of corrupt cops that participated in crime in Brazil and for focusing on eliminating crime and violence in the Rio (Margolis, 2011, p.0). This article cites current statistics about the drop in crime as well as acknowledges that crime still threatens to "derail" Brazil's incredible economic growth and stability (Margolis, 2011, p.0).

One of the most important updates that can be made to this page about crime in Brazil is the addition of a paragraph or section about the huge international sporting events that will take place in Brazil in the upcoming years. Brazil will host the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. This is a major achievement for a Latin American Country, however, the crime in Brazil continues to preoccupy event organizers, participants and tourists (Morris, 2010, p.11). The article "Country struggles to rise to sporting occasions" by Harvey Morris discusses some of the initial fears about crime in Brazil affecting these events (p.11). Particularly the author cites high rates of violent crime as well as some of the "bloody" tactics that the police in Brazil use to counter the crime (Morris, 2010, p.11). Morris (2010) briefly discusses part of Brazil's plan to combat crime by increasing the number of military police in Rio as well as improving the training of civil police (p.11).