On October 22, Multiplan and the Rio de Janeiro “Disque-Denúncia” telephone hotline sponsored the "Hotline Center Conference - DD 20 years" at a ceremony held in BarraShopping. The event kicked off the official launch of a national campaign for greater gun control and efforts to combat weapons smuggling.
Led by José Isaac Peres, president of Multiplan and one of the founders of the Hotline, Zeca Borges, coordinator of the Rio Hotline, and the State Secretary of Public Safety, José Mariano Beltrame, the meeting brought together representatives from similar services in São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco and Espírito Santo. On the occasion, a Letter of Commitment was jointly signed in which the Hotline Centers agreed to intensify their efforts to encourage people to register firearms complaints.
"A firearm is the greatest threat to peace in Rio de Janeiro. Someone who carries a weapon is not interested in peace. The fight against crime and firearms is a long and difficult task, but the participation of the Hotline shows a light at the end of the tunnel and is essential," said Public Safety chief Beltrame.
The Letter of Commitment is an initiative by the Rio de Janeiro Hotline in support of the proposal sent to Congress by Beltrame, to improve control of guns and ammunition as called for in the policies contained in the Disarmament Statute (Law 10.826/2003). The objectives are to increase penalties for people who are caught in possession of heavy weapons, limited to the use by the armed forces.
"Rio de Janeiro is a city with great potential, but we need to improve public safety. We must join forces and move towards this common goal,” according to Peres.
The Rio de Janeiro Hotline is a benchmark service throughout the country and plays a key role in the state's public safety policy. In its 20 years of operations, the center has received more than two million tips and served as inspiration for establishment of Hotline Centers in other states and in Chile and Argentina. São Paulo was the first establish a Hotline along the lines of the Rio de Janeiro service in 2000.
"Through information received by the Hotline, Rio’s police confiscated more than 10,000 weapons and approximately 60,000 in munitions from January to September this year. These numbers represent over 80% of the total apprehensions in the state. If we speak only about rifles and heavy weapons, for example, the increase compared to last year is over 51%,” said Rio Hotline coordinator Borges.
