Military policemen in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil: Who are they and to what type of violence are they exposed?

• Autor(a) principal: Carvalho, Gemiliana Sombra de Oliveira
• Data de Publicação: 2024
• Outros Autores: Lima, Vitória Antônia Feitosa, Figueiredo, Chiara Lubich Medeiros de, Lima, Tamires Feitosa de, Mota, Rosa Maria Salani, Macena, Raimunda Hermelinda Maia
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Saúde (Santa Maria)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufsm.br/revistasaude/article/view/69026
• topic: Police; Exposure to violence; Prevalence; Polícia; Exposição à violência; Prevalência

Objectives: To describe the sociodemographic characteristics of military policemen and to determine the prevalence of exposure to violence after starting to work among them. Methods: Cross-sectional and descriptive study, carried out between August 2019 and March 2020 in five battalions of the military police of Ceara, in the city of Fortaleza, Brazil, with a sample of 240 military police officers. A self-administered electronic questionnaire was used for data collection. The analysis was done using the SPSS® software. Results: The sample was composed of men (95%), young (53.8%), and married (67.5%), who work on extra shifts to complement their incomes (51.7%). The majority claim to have suffered violence or to know another police officer who was a victim of violence (85.8%). The most prevalent self-reported violence was by firearms (61.3%), however, psychological (45.4%), moral (40.4%), and physical (16.6%) violence were also reported. Conclusions: Military police officers are predominantly male and young and work in extra shifts. Thus, the risk of exposure to violence is increased in this group. Many participants have stated that they experienced different situations of violence. The study shows that exercising the profession of police officer in Brazil can be dangerous and harmful.