[Homicide mortality, socioeconomic development, and police violence in the city of São Paulo, Brazil].
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the association between police violence and homicide mortality rates taking into consideration the effect of contextual variables.


METHODS
This was an environmental, cross-sectional study that included the 96 census districts in the City of São Paulo. The association between the variables was analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation and simple and multiple regression analysis.


RESULTS
Univariate analysis revealed a strong and significant association between homicide mortality coefficients and all the indicators of socioeconomic development and police violence. After controlling for potential confounding factors, the association between police violence and homicide mortality coefficients remained strong and significant. This significance was lost only after control for the size of the resident population.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that police action that violates basic human rights is not the right answer to urban violence. The combination of homicides from interpersonal violence and deaths from police violence results in negative socialization and promotes further violence.
Peres
Maria Fernanda Tourinho
MF
Universidade de São Paulo, Núcleo de Estudos da Violência, São Paulo, Brasil. mftperes@gmail.com
Cardia
Nancy
N
de Mesquita Neto
Paulo
P
Dos Santos
Patrícia Carla
PC
Adorno
Sérgio
S
D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006708:Homicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016495:Police; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*