Elected on a progressive platform promising respect for human rights, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva faces the critical challenge of breaking the cycle of state violence and the use of excessive lethal force by public agents. Yet despite the administration being a third of the way through its term, government efforts to curb appear to be stuck in a state of inertia. This blog post examines the problems and opportunities facing Lula’s administration today.
In Brazil, the president’s role in public security is both complex and constrained. While police forces operate primarily under the authority of state governors, limiting the president’s direct influence, the federal government can still shape public security policies through several mechanisms. National guidelines coordinated efforts between federal and state entities, and federal funding conditioned on specific outcomes can all drive state-level reforms. Furthermore, the president can influence the national debate on public security through their rhetoric, which shapes both societal perceptions and state policies, steering them toward either prevention or repression.
Police Lethality on a Rise
One of the most pressing issues within this security agenda is the use and control of lethal force by police. Data from 2015 to 2024 reveal a significant escalation in deaths resulting from police interventions. This rise began under former President Michel Temer, marked by heightened repression and militarization of public security. The trend accelerated under President Jair Bolsonaro, whose administration openly endorsed the use of lethal force, resulting in unprecedented levels of police killings. Under the left-wing President Lula’s current administration, the expected decrease in these numbers has not materialized, underscoring the difficulty of reversing the aggressive policies of past administrations and implementing effective control over the use of lethal force.

It is important to acknowledge that Brazil’s public security framework, with its decentralized police structure, limits the president’s ability to control police lethality. The political and ideological context, however, is key to understanding how state police forces are employed day-to-day. The impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff in 2016 marked the beginning of a profound political realignment in Brazil. Vice-President Michel Temer’s rise to power in that year ushered in a conservative agenda, reshaping public security discourse by prioritizing militarization and the use of force as key crime-fighting tools. Temer’s administration emphasized repression over broader strategies aimed at reducing violence, including police lethality.
The rightward shift that began under President Temer was further intensified during the Bolsonaro administration, which openly embraced extreme measures and framed state violence as a legitimate tool of governance. By mobilizing a political base that endorsed these hardline tactics, Bolsonaro’s government institutionalized the use of lethal force and actively sought to weaken oversight mechanisms that had previously aimed to curb police violence. State governors who aligned with this political vision also adopted similarly repressive policies at the local level, maintaining high levels of police lethality across the country.
Lula’s Challenge: Breaking the Cycle of Violence
The Lula administration now faces the difficult challenge of reversing these trends and establishing a new public security paradigm focused on prevention and reducing police lethality. However, thus far, the data shows little progress in moving away from this entrenched culture of violence. With more than a third of President Lula’s term completed, the current situation still appears mired in a state of inertia, while the excessive use of force by police remains a persistent issue. This state of affairs reflects both the challenges inherited from previous administrations and the broader institutional difficulties in reforming a system that privileges force as the primary solution to crime.
In addition to institutional challenges, another obstacle lies within the political left, which struggles to articulate a clear and assertive public security agenda. This vacuum has allowed the political right to dominate the public debate by framing security in terms of repressive solutions and positioning themselves as the primary defenders of public safety. While the right has consolidated around a narrative that legitimizes the use of force, the left has been unable to present viable, effective alternatives for addressing violence, including state violence. Consequently, repressive approaches have come to dominate public discourse, leaving the left without a compelling framework to tackle both crime and police brutality.
Alarmingly, despite being elected on a progressive platform promising respect for human rights, under President Lula’s administration the country has witnessed over 6,000 deaths annually from police interventions, with little progress in addressing the issue. To break this cycle, the Lula administration will need to implement clear, measurable objectives, such as conditioning federal resource transfers on reducing police lethality within the states. The broader challenge for Lula – and any future progressive administrations – lies in establishing a new security model centered on violence prevention, human rights, and deep institutional reform.