Análise criminológica da restrição de circulação de pessoas entre janeiro e agosto de 2021 durante a pandemia de COVID-19 em Manaus

Abstract

At the most critical moment of the Covid-19 pandemic in Amazonas, the State Government established a kind of curfew in the capital Manaus and in the cities of the State’s countryside, prohibiting the movement of people in urban spaces for twenty-four hours and then in periods shorter during the day, night and early morning. Thus, under the assumption that the smaller the number of people on the streets, the lower the number of criminal occurrences, this research carried out an analysis of the crime rates of theft, robbery and drug trafficking to assess the effects of restricting the circulation of people in relation to the rates of occurrence of the selected crimes. This is a quantitative, observational, ecological, retrospective study where the 5 (five) periods of 2021 (research reference) were studied and compared with the crime rates in the same periods corresponding to the two previous years. Data was collected at the Integrated Center for Public Security Statistics of the Joint Executive Secretariat for Planning and Integrated Management of the SSP-AM, and descriptive analyzes of absolute and relative frequencies were carried out to study the fluctuation in criminal occurrences in the city of Manaus (AM) between the years 2019 to 2021. The results are shown in graphics and tables and revealed that the periods of validity of the circulation restriction decrees significantly affected the reduction of registered crimes, with an average decrease of 27% of the occurrences. Conclusion: The drop in criminal rates in Manaus was boosted by decrees restricting the movement of people. The restraining measures confirmed criminological theories, according to which crime occurs when motivated criminals find suitable targets in the absence of vigilant authorities able to stop the crime. The daily routine is essential to provide the conditions and opportunities for criminal acts. Crime can be mitigated through measures that alter the routine or the dangerous environment.