On Patrol With Favela Security

Summary

Away Days Podcast: Reporting from the Underbelly
Episode: On Patrol With Favela Security
Release Date: July 7, 2025

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Introduction

In the episode titled "On Patrol With Favela Security," host Jake Hanrahan delves deep into the intricate and often perilous dynamics of Rio de Janeiro's favelas. Over the course of this episode, Jake provides an unfiltered look into the role of gang-controlled entities, specifically the CV (Criminal Vanguards), in governing these communities. Through on-the-ground reporting, interviews, and firsthand experiences, listeners gain an intimate understanding of life within these marginalized urban areas.

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CV's Dominance in Favela Governance

Jake begins by exploring how CV has entrenched itself as the de facto government within the favelas. Unlike traditional gangs that may engage in sporadic criminal activities, CV has systematically established control over vital services, positioning themselves as both protectors and exploiters of the community.

• Control Over Services:
  Jake explains, "Unlike some of the other gangs, they at least want to be seen to be helping the people. But whilst it's true that CV generally didn't tax people back in the day, it's not like it used to be" (07:10).
  This shift highlights CV's transition from mere gang activity to structured governance, including the provision of essential services like internet and parking.

• Monopolization of Telecommunications:
  A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to CV's takeover of internet services in the favelas. Quoting journalist Graham Slattery, Jake states:

  "An audacious takeover of Internet service in dozens of neighborhoods in Brazil's major cities by companies associated with alleged criminals unafraid to use force and intimidation to push out rivals. The result is that tens of thousands of Brazilians now depend on unreliable second-rate broadband networks estimated by industry and law enforcement officials to be generating millions of dollars annually for purported crooks." (10:45)

  This monopolization not only limits residents' choices but also ties them financially and socially to CV's operations.

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Navigating the Layers of the Favela

Jake takes listeners on a journey from the lower, more accessible levels of the favela to the precarious upper regions. This geographical ascent mirrors the increasing isolation and degradation of services as one moves higher.

• Infrastructure and Living Conditions:
  In the lower levels, homes are denser and more established, often constructed from brick and concrete. However, as Jake moves upwards, the construction becomes more improvised with materials like wood and sheet metal. He observes:

  "The angles of some of these dwellings look as if they're filmed on a fisheye lens. Outer walls are sometimes bowing with weight, and there are huge water butts hanging off the edges of many homes here, probably their only chance to get decent water." (15:20)

• Environmental Risks:
  The upper regions are more susceptible to environmental hazards such as landslides, especially during the rainy season. Jake emphasizes the compounded struggles faced by residents:

  "As you move higher into the hills of a Brazilian favela, the physical, social, and infrastructural landscape changes dramatically... House conditions are precarious, and the looming threat of natural disasters adds another layer of vulnerability." (18:35)

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Interactions with Favela Security

During his patrol, Jake encounters various members of CV, offering a glimpse into their dual role as both protectors and oppressors.

• First Encounters:
  Upon reaching higher areas, Jake notes a sense of cautious acceptance among gang members:

  "A few have even waved or nodded at us as we moved past them at various checkpoints." (22:10)
  This tentative trust hints at a complex relationship between the residents and CV.

• Role of Lookouts:
  Jake describes meeting a young lookout armed and vigilant:

  "Behind us, there's a young lad... He's a lookout, watching here all day and informing his higher-ups of any suspicious activity." (25:50)
  The presence of youth in these roles underscores the pervasive influence of CV in shaping the community's social fabric.

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Violence and Police Brutality

A significant theme of the episode is the rampant violence inflicted by both CV and law enforcement, contributing to a cycle of fear and instability.

• Cycle of Violence:
  Jake highlights the disturbing statistics:

  "There were over 2,500 shootings in this area of Rio last year. Over one third of them were during police operations." (30:15)
  The relentless confrontations between CV and the police have devastating effects on civilians, with many caught in the crossfire.

• Human Cost:
  Personal stories amplify the grim reality. Jake recounts the loss of Renato:

  "Renato died at the top of Fogarteiro. The police were hiding inside a children's nursery... He was a good dad. Now his son is growing up to be a beautiful kid." (39:42)
  Such narratives emphasize the profound human toll of the ongoing conflict.

• Police Impunity:
  The episode critiques the lack of accountability within Brazilian law enforcement:

  "Investigations are very rare, so who even knows? Would you trust the word of a police force that is known to form illegal militias and deal drugs themselves?" (35:10)
  This systemic failure fosters distrust and perpetuates the cycle of violence.

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Life Under CV Rule

Jake ventures into the personal lives of favela residents who navigate daily life under CV's oppressive regime.

• Daily Struggles:
  Describing the deteriorating living conditions, Jake observes:

  "Each roof drips water constantly, and a stream of debris and uncollected rubbish pushes filth and probably disease down, down some parts of the open hills." (28:10)
  The lack of maintenance and public services exacerbates the residents' hardships.

• Community Resilience:
  Despite the challenges, there are signs of community strength and aspiration. Jake visits Floz, a young aspiring rapper who remains uninvolved with gang activities:

  "These people grew up close to complicated situations. It's not compulsory to join, you know. I know this because music rescued me." (37:10)
  Floz's story underscores the potential for personal redemption and resistance against the entrenched power structures.

• Perception of Authority:
  Floz shares his disdain for both CV and the police:

  "We have learned to get used to it because our reality is in a certain way, safer... However, we should never normalize situations like we have here because we know many people who are in CB and it's a very risky lifestyle." (39:03)
  His perspective reflects the complex interplay of fear, dependency, and resistance within the favela.

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Conclusion and Insights

Jake Hanrahan's "On Patrol With Favela Security" paints a vivid and unsettling picture of life within Rio's favelas under the shadow of gang-controlled governance and relentless police violence. Through meticulous reporting and poignant personal stories, the episode highlights the systemic issues that trap residents in a perpetual state of fear and deprivation. The narrative calls attention to the urgent need for comprehensive social and political reforms to break the cycle of violence and restore dignity to these marginalized communities.

Notable Quotes:

• Jake Hanrahan:
  "If you want to surf the web, you'll be doing it with gang-made Internet technology. Real favela Innovation." (12:15)

• Journalist Graham Slattery:
  "Using stolen property, some of it pilfered from the Internet provider." (10:50)

• Floz:
  "We have learned to get used to it because our reality is in a certain way, safer." (39:03)

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Connect with Away Days:

To watch Away Days documentaries and delve deeper into unreported stories from society's fringes, visit youtube.com/@awaydaystv.

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Transcript

[Danielle Robaix]

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[Ian Pfaff]

I'm Ian Pfaff, the creator and host of the Uncle Chris podcast. My Uncle Chris was a real character, a garbage truck driver from South Carolina who now buried in Panama City alongside the founding families of Panama. He also happens to be responsible for the craziest night of my life. Wild stories about adventure, romance, crime, history and war intertwine as I share the tall tales and hard truths that have helped me understand Uncle Chris. Listen now to Uncle Chris on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Unknown]

I knew I wanted to obey and submit, but I didn't fully grasp for the rest of my life what that.

Meant for my heart. Podcasts and Rococo Punch this is the Turning River Road. In the woods of Minnesota, a cult leader married himself to 10 girls and forced them into a secret life of abuse. But in 2014, the youngest escaped. Listen to the Turning river road on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts from.

Iheart Podcasts. Before social media, before cable news, there was Alan Byrd.

[Jake Hanrahan]

He was the first and the original Shock Chuck.

[Unknown]

That scratchy, irreverent kinda way talking to people and telling them that you're an idiot and I'm gonna hang up on you.

This is Live Wire, the loud life and shocking murder of Alan Berg.

And he pointed to the Denver phone book and said, well, there are probably 2 million suspects.

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Pod or wherever you get your podcasts.

Call Zone Media.

[Jake Hanrahan]

You're listening to the Away Days podcast on the ground outside, reporting from the underbelly with me, Jake Hanrahan. To watch Away Days documentaries, go to YouTube.com waydaystv this is part 2 Favela Government episode 3. This podcast is a production of H11 Studio and call Zone Media. After talking to Player, I understand the CV outlook a little better. Unlike some of the other gangs, they at least want to be seen to be helping the people. But whilst it's true that CV generally didn't tax people back in the day, it's not like it used to be. There are now reports of the gang charging Favela residents for everything from parking spaces to Internet access, just like a conventional government. In fact, CV has the resources of the favela lockdown so well that in some cases they've literally made their own Internet service providers. In this article from 2022, journalist Graham Slattery details how armed gangs even chased out repairmen who've been sent to a terminal to fix what showed as a disruption in service that it definitely was. Quote. As Rio de Janeiro residents sheltered at home last year during the deadliest phase of Brazil's COVID 19 outbre, police detective Gabriel Ferrando said he got a tip that something suspicious was upending local Internet service. Access had vanished across broad swaths of Morro di Formiga, or the Anthill, a tough neighborhood on the city's north side. When Ferrando quizzed a technician from a broadband provider tasked with fixing the outage, the worker, who he declined to name, said armed men had chased him away with a warning not to return. Turns out a new Internet provider had claimed this turf. A company whose investors at one time included an accused drug and arms trafficker with ties to Brazil's notorious Red Command crime syndicate. Using stolen property, some of it pilfered from the Internet provider. Tim the newcomers soon had their own Internet service up and running. Residents could sign up with the new firm or do without, end quote. Antill wasn't the only place affected either. The journalist interviewed almost two dozen telecoms executives, law enforcement officials and Internet users in Brazil. They also reviewed thousands of pages of court documents submitted by the police. What they found was, quote, an audacious takeover of Internet service in dozens of neighborhoods in Brazil's major cities by companies associated with alleged criminals unafraid to use force and intimidation to push out rivals. The result is that tens of thousands of Brazilians now depend on unreliable second rate broadband networks estimated by industry and law enforcement officials to be generating millions of dollars annually for purported crooks. End quote. So all the webbing of telegraph wires above our heads in the favela is part of CV's telecoms empire. The many different sized antennas and satellite dishes I've seen jerry rigged onto the top of roofs and the sides of favela housing provides residents Internet and television. Let's call it CV&T. It's the most popular provider in the whole of the favela because CV&T are is the only provider in the whole of the favela. If you want to surf the web, you'll be doing it with gang made Internet technology. Real favela Innovation. In this case, it's a way to make more money from the citizens of the favela. You could argue, so what? Why should the local gang not make some extra money from an Internet provider? Well, I think the issue is that the residents have no other choice. Use CV&T or don't have Internet. Sadly, a free market. If the other competitors are chased away with literal machine guns. In fallout for Gotero, we seem to have gained some kind of trust. The gang members are surprised we keep coming back each day and are definitely more comfortable with us around than they were at the start. A few have even waved or nodded at us as we moved past them at various checkpoints. We move further up the hills into the shakier heights of the favelas. See, as you move higher into the hills of a Brazilian favela, the physical, social and infrastructural landscape changes dramatically. Favelas are often built on steep land that the formal city avoids. The glass and metal sky rises of the city are certainly not built on hillsides, ravines and floodplains. The lower levels of the favela tend to be more accessible and as a result, have better access to what limited public infrastructure there is. Over time, these services might extend upwards, but not always. Housing near the base of the favela is usually denser and more established, built from brick, concrete, or, as we've seen, brittle breeze blocks. These homes are often two or more stories, sometimes with small shops or makeshift businesses on the ground level. As I travel further up into the favela, it's clear that construction becomes a lot more improvised. Buildings on the upper slopes are usually smaller, built from cheaper materials like wood or sheet metal, and many lack proper foundations. The angles of some of these dwellings look as if they're filmed on a fisheye lens. Outer walls are sometimes bowing with weight, and there are huge water butts hanging off the edges of many homes here, probably their only chance to get decent water. The jungle landscape becomes more dense also, and so the area is susceptible to landslides, particularly during rainy season. These upper zones are at greater environmental risk and often house the poorest families. One of the main issues here, believe it or not, is global warming. Amongst all of the guns and the drugs and the violence, even pollution is getting the people here. The community reporting platform Rio On Watch has covered this problem extensively. In an article by Carla Regina, she wrote, these phenomena leave some displaced and homeless, forced to live in public shelters or with relatives. Local governments in Brazil generally register them for social rent if they are unable to access Public housing programs such as Mina Casa Mina Vida. But not everyone affected is covered by these programs, and even when they are, many report the payments received are lower than the rents charged in the favelas. Thus, many favela residents choose to return to their former addresses to rebuild their homes. Others join the homeless movement, occupying vacant lots or abandoned public and private buildings that are not fulfilling the social function of property as outlined in the Brazilian Constitution. The complete absence of public services in higher parts of the favelas is alarming. Ravines are giving way gradually, eroding with each bout of rain. With a few more storms, which are common in Rio, it's likely these will collapse, wiping away everything and everyone in their way. Tall trees grow on unstable soil, and without proper care from the authorities, they're also a cause of concern amongst residents. They're close to falling onto their houses. It's a tragedy waiting to happen. One of the favela houses I visited in 2019 used to be occupied by a woman and her pregnant daughter. Back then, it was already in precarious conditions and did not have electricity. The woman and her daughter cooked outside in their backyard on a makeshift brick stove, using charcoal and a refrigerator grill. When I spoke to the pregnant daughter in 2019, she said she felt no danger living there. She was already used to it, and while almost everything got wet when it rained, she could sleep wherever the rain hadn't fallen. Today, the house is even more run down. End quote. In the time we've been here in the favela, it's rained heavily, several times. Each roof drips water constantly, and a stream of debris and uncollected rubbish pushes filth and probably disease down, down some parts of the open hills. One of the few benefits of living higher up in the favelas, though, are the views, if you can call that a benefit in such poverty. We turn a corner after five minutes, stomping up an almost vertical hill, and are greeted with the natural beauty of the jungle in front of us. Lush leaves, thick branches and green for miles. Just around the corner, though, on the other side of this strip, the view is the opposite. You can see all the main roads into the favela from here and the normality of the city out in the distance. Suddenly, I hear the crackle of a radio. Behind us, there's a young lad dressed in a black T shirt with a black hat and blue denim shorts, sat with a few guns at a higher vantage point. He's a lookout, watching here all day and informing his higher ups of any suspicious activity. His plastic chair is placed within a few feet of the front door of a makeshift house. It's decorated out front with a mix of different brightly coloured flowers. There's even a little tortoise moving slowly through the garden. I marvel at the tortoise as the lookout moves around, putting his pistol into the band of his trousers and nodding at us vaguely. He doesn't want to talk as he's busy working, but he's friendly and he seems chilled out with us around. I RECKON he's about 16 years old in this area. Despite the young gunman keeping watch of everything, there is a lot less going on and it does feel more peaceful socially. There's also a subtle status hierarchy in some favelas, depending on how high up you are. While in most cities the higher ground means wealth, in favelas the opposite is often true. As I've said, residents at the bottom tend to have better economic opportunities given their proximity to transport, employment and services. Those living at the top are usually more isolated and have to navigate these long steep hills. It's not uncommon for people to have to carry water, fuel or even construction materials by hand up the hillside. Community investment and urban upgrading projects typically begin in lower or mid level zones where access is easier and the property is more stable. Higher up areas tend to be last in line for improvements like lighting pavements and public spaces. Ultimately, the higher you go in a favela, the more precarious life can be structurally, environmentally and economically. I want to go even further up to see what life is like there. Carlos isn't sure, but he makes a few calls. After a few minutes he gets a message. Basically we have permission, but at our own risk. The motorbike taxis will come to take us further, but one of the gang members has to radio each checkpoint first to let the gang members know not to shoot us as we go past. It's taken him a while to radio each checkpoint on the route we're headed up. I'm happy about that as he seems to be doing a thorough job. I absolutely do not want to get shot today or tomorrow or ever.

[Ian Pfaff]

My Uncle Chris is definitely somebody worth talking about. He was the kind of guy that lived in a trailer with an ex con and a retired stripper, left loaded machine guns laying around, drank a bottle of whiskey a night, claimed he could kill a man with his bare hands, drove a garbage truck for a living, spoke fluent Spanish with a thick southern accent, and is currently buried in a crypt alongside the founding families of Panama. Listen to the Uncle Chris podcast to hear all about him and a whole lot more. Wild stories about adventure, romance, crime, history and war intertwine as I share the tall tales and hard truths that have helped me understand Uncle Chris. This collection of stories will make you look laugh. It'll make you cry. And if I do my job right, they'll let you see the world and your place in it in a whole new way. I can't wait to tell you all about Uncle Chris. Listen now to Uncle Chris on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Unknown]

From iheart Podcasts and Rococo Punch. This is the Turning River Road.

I knew I wanted to obey and submit, but I didn't fully grasp for the rest of my life what that meant.

In the woods of Minnesota, a cult leader married himself to 10 girls and forced them into a secret life of abuse.

Why did I think that way? Why did I allow myself to get so sucked in by this man and and thinking to the point that if I died for him, that would be the greatest honor?

But in 2014, the youngest of the girls escaped and sparked an international manhunt.

For all those years, you know, he was the predator and I was the prey. And then he became the prey.

Listen to the Turning river road on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Robaix]

Just like great shoes, great books take you places through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget.

[Jake Hanrahan]

I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies.

[Danielle Robaix]

I'm Danielle Robaix and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from hello Sunshine and I Heart Podcasts. Every week I sit down with your favorite book lovers, authors, celebrities, book talkers and more to explore explore the stories that shape us on the page and off. I've been reading every Reese's Book Club pick, deep diving book talk theories and obsessing over book to screen casts for years. And now I get to talk to the people making the magic. So if you've ever fallen in love with a fictional character or cried at the last chapter or passed a book to a friend saying you have to read this, this podcast is for you. Listen to bookmarked by Reese's Book club on the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts are wherever you get your podcasts.

[Unknown]

From. Iheart Podcasts before social media, before the Internet, before cable news, there was Alan Berg.

[Alan Berg]

You dig what I do. You have a need unfortunately, you have no sense of humor. That's why you can't ever enjoy this show and that's why you're a loser.

[Jake Hanrahan]

He was the first and the original shock jock.

[Unknown]

That scratchy, irreverent of kind, kind of way of talking to people.

[Alan Berg]

You're as dumb as the rest. That's. I can't take anyone. I don't agree with you all the time. I don't want you to. I. I hope that you pick me apart.

[Unknown]

His voice changed media his death shocked.

The nation and it makes me so angry that he got himself killed because he had a big mouth.

[Alan Berg]

KOA Morning talk show host Alan Berg reportedly was shot and killed tonight in downtown Denver.

[Unknown]

He pointed to the Denver phone book and said, well, There are probably 2 million suspects. Respect. This guy aggravated everybody.

From iheart podcasts, this is Live Wire the loud life and shocking murder of Alan Berg. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Jake Hanrahan]

Eventually the bikes turn up. I catch a ride up to the higher parts of Fogarty. Tear up after a few minutes. I arrived first. Not ideal. They got to go back down to get Carlos. We pulled up to a wreck area with a load of concrete benches, a children's playground and a mesh fence football court. There's around a dozen well armed gang members sat around the benches, both young and older. As a unit, they're better armed than the shooters we saw further down. These lads have a variety of different long barrel guns and sidearms at their hips. They have AK pattern rifles, AR15 platform rifles, FAL Para and G3A3. With all these guns around. Just meters away in the courts, kids are playing football and little children are watching. Gang members all look at each other uncertainly, then at me. I'm starting to worry they didn't get the message. Don't shoot the gringo. I put on my friendliest smile, wave and I say hi. They kind of nod, then look to an older guy wearing all red with long hair down his back. He's also the first person we've seen in the favela with a beard. He has a Sega 12 semi auto shotgun slung over his shoulder and a whole belt of red shotgun shells fastened around his waist. He's like Favela Rambo. He nods to me and smiles wide. Everyone relaxes a bit and Carlos arrives on the back of the bike. Thank fuck it's all good despite us being higher up where, as I've mentioned, favelas usually become more impoverished. This is actually a really nice Neighborhood. The houses are makeshift and piled up still, sure, but on this street at least, they're all painted bright colors. Green, pink, yellow. There are large bushes with blooming multicolored flowers growing out of the tops of the flat roofs. I start to wonder if maybe a CV boss lives in this area. The guy with a combat shotgun, who we'll call Red and a younger member of the local gang, are about to head off on a patrol of the area. I ask if we can join them and they shrug. Okay, and they lead the way. The patrol is a pretty informal affair. The two armed gangbangers wander around the area with their guns drawn, but not like they're about to storm a front line. It's more just in case. The purpose of these patrols is to inspect the various CV checkpoints and make sure the gang members are all doing their job. That, and to make sure there's no trouble. Trouble in the neighborhood. It occurs to me that in a strange way, this is sort of what police back home do in the uk, or at least what they used to do. A bobby on the beat, we call it. As in police officers who are assigned to a local area to walk about, make sure things are okay, familiarize the people with the police. Now, though generally, police in the UK chase after insignificant nonsense and largely shy away from serious crime. I can't even remember the last time I saw a police officer get out of their car for anything other than an arrest. But the concept still sits in my head. As we walk around the upper levels of this favela neighbourhood, CV has really taken on the role of the authorities in more ways than one, whether they realize it or not. As we head down some uneven concrete steps out of the more colorful neighborhoods, it becomes clear that actually this area is more impoverished than the lower levels. The stench of shit and sewage is in the air. A few people around look addicted to drugs. We move through a CheckPoint and the CV members on it look very high. They giggle and laugh and say hello to us. It's not ideal when they're all armed to the teeth. Reds nods at them, says a few words, checks a radio, and we move off down a long set of stairs in a narrow side street, halfway. I want to know what would happen if we encountered the police. Right now, with the police come through here, what happens? Both the lads there just said without hesitation, we shoot at police straight away. We can't let them into the favela. We can't let them up here. This is not wannabe tough guy shit either. These lads are totally Serious. They've probably already done it. Almost without a doubt. It's a matter of fact, it happens here regularly. The cops kill them, they kill cops. The cops kill them, they kill cops. It goes on and on. Like Player said, this is a war that will probably last till the end of time. Just as we're about to keep moving, an elderly man, maybe in his 70s, was walks down the steps behind us with two huge bags of rubbish. He's trying to clean up the area or dump out his own home waste, I don't know. The two gang members part to let him through. The younger one, I notice, immediately puts his back to the wall and looks straight down at the floor. It's like a young kid put in a dunce corner. I could be wrong, but I sense he feels some kind of shame. He's wearing a mask over his head, so it's not that he wants to hide his face. And yet still he hangs his head so his chin is almost touching his chest. The old fella strides through the middle of us and doesn't look up at the gang members or me for a single second. He doesn't acknowledge any of us whatsoever. In my opinion, his body language like this suggests he is absolutely not a fan of these guys. It's a brief moment, but I see it almost as a silent protest. Maybe I'm looking into it too much, I don't know. These two gunmen are basically the security of his neighborhood. Impoverished young men with guns who are untrained and unscrupulous. In every neighbourhood there's a batch of these CV foot soldiers armed with black market guns. They're ready to fight at any time. In fact, last year There were over 2,500 shootings in this area of Rio. Over one third of them were during police operations. Hundreds of civilians have been caught in the crossfire and many don't even go to the hospital for fears they'll be accused of gang activity. Needless to say, the actual statistics are probably a lot higher. Believe it or not, the life expectancy in a favela like this is just 48 years old. If you're not killed in a gang shootout or by deprivation or assassinated for something, you might just get shot to death by the police. It is not at all uncommon. As I've mentioned several times in this series, police brutality in Brazil is a long standing issue. But in recent years it's become even more severe, especially in the favelas and poorer urban areas. Brazil has one of the highest rates of police killings in the world. A lot of the violence is tied to the so called war on drugs, which has given the police a kind of unofficial license to go in hard and ask questions later, if at all. Here in Rio and in Sao Paulo, operations often involve armored vehicles rolling into densely populated areas where shootouts erupt in broad daylight. Civilians frequently get caught in the crossfire and accountability for that is almost non existent. What I find most shocking is the number of kids being killed. 20, 23, for example. Police in Rio killed hundreds of people during operations, many of them just teenagers. These deaths are often justified as the result of confrontations with gangbangers. But investigations are very rare, so who even knows? Would you trust the word of a police force that is known to form illegal militias and deal drugs themselves? I wouldn't. Even if cases do get investigated, they rarely lead to prosecution. Video evidence and witness testimony is routinely ignored. And the cops involved in such killings are usually back out on the streets in just days. People living here in the favelas often describe feeling under siege by the police rather than protected. It's no wonder it's not just a few bad apple cops either. All the evidence suggests that this is a deeply embedded problem within the system here in Brazil. Many of these units are part of the elite forces like bope, who I spoke about in a previous episode. They operate with heavy firepower and little oversight. Politicians often praise these aggressive tactics as being, quote, unquote, tough on crime, especially during election cycles. What a surprise. The sickly former president Bolsonaro put this mentality on steroids when he openly encouraged police to kill suspected criminals and promised legal protection for those who did. Obviously that emboldened any local forces that were out for blood. Due to the nature of the combat in the favelas, there were no end of cops looking to take scalps. Community activists and human rights groups have been pushing back, but they face serious risks too. Some have been targeted or even killed for speaking out. In the end, it's the people living in the favelas who pay the ultimate price. Cycle of violence keeps turning and the gap between the state and its citizens keeps growing. Nothing gets resolved.

[Ian Pfaff]

My uncle Chris is definitely somebody worth talking about. He was the kind of guy that lived in a trailer with an ex con and a retired stripper, left loaded machine guns laying around, drank a bottle of whiskey a night, claimed he could kill a man with his bare hands, drove a garbage truck for a living, spoke fluent Spanish with a thick southern accent, and is currently buried in a crypt alongside the founding families of Panama. Listen to the uncle Chris podcast to hear all about him and a whole lot more. Wild stories about adventure, romance, crime, history and war intertwine. I share the tall tales and hard truths that have helped me understand Uncle Chris. This collection of stories will make you laugh. It'll make you cry. And if I do my job right, they'll let you see the world and your place in it in a whole new way. I can't wait to tell you all about Uncle Chris. Listen now to Uncle Chris on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

[Unknown]

For My Heart Podcasts and Rococo Punch. This is the Turning River Road.

I knew I wanted to obey and submit, but I didn't fully grasp for the rest of my life what that meant.

In the woods of Minnesota, a cult leader married himself to 10 girls and forced them into a secret life of abuse.

Why did I think that way? Why did I allow myself to get so sucked in by this man and thinking to the point that if I died for him, that would be the greatest honor?

But in 2014, the youngest of the girls escaped and sparked an international manhunt.

For all those years, you know, he was the predator and I was the prey. And then he became the prey.

Listen to the Turning river road on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Robaix]

Just like great shoes, great books take you places through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget.

[Jake Hanrahan]

I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies.

[Danielle Robaix]

I'm Danielle Robaix and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from hello Sunshine and and iHeart podcasts. Every week I sit down with your favorite book lovers, authors, celebrities, book talkers and more to explore the stories that shape us on the page and off. I've been reading every Reese's Book Club pick, deep diving book talk theories and obsessing over book to screen casts for years. And now I get to talk to the people making the magic. So if you've ever fallen in love with a fictional character or cried at the last chapter or passed a bull book to a friend saying you have to read this, this podcast is for you. Listen to bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Unknown]

From, iheart Podcasts before social media, before the Internet, before cable news, there was Alan Burr.

[Alan Berg]

You dig what I do. You have a need. Unfortunately, you have no sense of humor. That's why you can't ever enjoy, and that's why you're a loser.

[Jake Hanrahan]

He was the first and the original shock jock.

[Unknown]

That scratchy, irreverent kind of way of talking to people.

[Alan Berg]

You're as dumb as the rest. That's I can't take anyone. I don't agree with you all the time. I don't want you to. I hope that you pick me apart.

[Unknown]

His voice changed media his death shocked.

The nation and it makes me so angry that he got himself killed because he had a big mouth.

[Alan Berg]

KOA Morning talk show host Alan Berg reportedly was shot and killed tonight in downtown Denver.

[Unknown]

Pointed to the Denver phone book and said, well, There are probably 2 million suspects. This guy aggravated everybody from iheart podcasts.

This is Live Wire, the loud Life and Shocking murder of Alan Berg. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Jake Hanrahan]

The next day I arrive early in the favela and it turns out we've been invited into the home of a local who lives under CV rule but is a civilian by choice. He has no intentions to join the gang and hopes to make it as a successful rapper. He goes by the name Floz and he is completely uninvolved in gang activity. Let me be clear, he wants to keep it that way. This lad wasn't brought to us by CV either. This is not some fake press tour. It's a friend of a very trusted friend of mine that put us in touch. For me, this is a perfect opportunity to speak to a civilian in his own home. Here in the favela, we head up an extremely steep hill to meet Floes. You almost have to put your hands out as you walk up it. Soon as we arrive, Floz is out. He's ready. I spot him at the back door of an alleyway that leads to his small favela rented dwelling. We going this way. I instantly like his vibe. He's clearly full of energy and he embraces me warmly like we're old friends. He's in his early 20s, skinny with a little goatee beard, a baggy T shirt and a flat peak cap with J Dilla embroidered into the front of it. J Dilla being the highly influential American hip hop producer and rapper known for his work with artists like A Tribe Called Quest and Common. A follow flows into his house. It's small, airy and honestly, pretty cozy. The walls are all bare concrete, as are the floors, but Flows has made it his own. There are world Maps on the walls, an old worn out punch bag hanging from the ceiling, and a desk with a laptop and various different music equipment spilling over it. Seeing as me and my team are from the uk, we. Floz tells us he has a drill beat ready and wants to show us his rapping ability. Now, if you don't speak Portuguese, his verses won't make sense to you, but I'm gonna let it play in full anyway, as I don't think it matters if you don't understand. Flos is a hidden favela talent. Trust me on this. That's it, bro. That good, that. So there's a. There's a lot of like, you know, gang activity around here. Do you find it hard to kind of stay away from that and just keep track, doing your own thing with your music, or is there a kind of like maybe a pressure that where you feel maybe you would be doing better if you did join the gang or something like that?

[Floz]

These people grew up close to complicated situations. It's not compulsory to join, you know. I know this because music rescued me. In the favela, we are hostages of the system. The system brings nothing good to us. The system only comes here to kill.

[Jake Hanrahan]

As someone who's grown up in this community, you were born here, raised here, you live here still. Still, it's run by cv. What do you think of the police? We haven't seen any, but I understand when they do come here, things really kick off as a local. What's your perception of the cops here?

[Floz]

I don't feel safe around the police in the community, when they come here, in almost all cases is to hurt people. They want to build a completely desensitized society. The police have a lot to do with this because it's like they have pushed people to become monsters.

[Jake Hanrahan]

So when you're out at the favela and you're in like the main areas of Rio, the less impoverished areas, how do you feel? Do you feel like that's the same place or not? Because for us, honestly, it feels like the government has completely abandoned the favelas and only cares about, like downtown. I mean, how does it feel to you?

[Floz]

I feel a very strong collective instinct. Here you have respect, affection, and a great admiration for the people you see there through good times and bad. In the city, it's more difficult because people are very elitist. They have ideas that are totally different from our collective one. In many buildings, they don't even greet a doorman, they don't even know their neighbor, even though they have lived there for years.

[Jake Hanrahan]

Do you have any fear of like CV though? Because you see them, they're up and down here, they're armed. Obviously there's a lot of violence when the police come in. Is that something you feel as a local? Like, are you scared of them or do you feel like they protect you?

[Floz]

We have learned to get used to it because our reality is in a certain way, safer. How can I explain this? Like here, if I leave my window open, I know no one will rob my house. No one steals from anyone here. So in a way I feel more at ease. However, we should never normalize situations like we have here because we know many people who are in CB and it's a very risky lifestyle. So to normalize this would be psychotic.

[Jake Hanrahan]

Have you lost anyone due to this life?

[Floz]

Oh yeah. I will tell you, he was a really good kid, a very nice person. Renato died at the top of Fogarteiro. The police were hiding inside a children's nursery. Bro, a nursery should be used for good things. Military police hid him there and they killed him. He was a good dad. Now his son is growing up to be a beautiful kid. Bro, I am tired of this. This is how we live in the favela. A favela resident is always discriminated against. Regardless of where you're at, you will always be a suspect.

[Jake Hanrahan]

How does it work if, say, someone comes into your house when you're not here, steals a load of stuff and then gone? Like, who do you go to say you have a dispute? Are you able to go to CV to deal with disputes like that or. No.

[Floz]

That'S an impossible possible situation. There is no way the favela boss will never happen here with this.

[Jake Hanrahan]

Floz starts laughing. I think the message is clear. No one would dare act up in the favela when CV is around. You've been listening to the Away Days podcast. Next week, the final part of favela government. To watch independent Away Days documentaries. Subscribe to our [e-mail]. the Awaydays Podcast is a production of H11 Studio for Callzone Media Reporting, producing, writing, editing and research by me, Jake Hanrahan co producing by Sophie Lichterman Music by Sam Black and in this episode, Diamond Stein. Sound mixed by Splicing Block Photography by Johnny Pickup and Louis Hollis Graphic design by Laura Adamson and Casey Highfield.

[Ian Pfaff]

I'm Ian Pfaff, the creator and host of the Uncle Chris podcast. My uncle Chris was a real character, a garbage truck driver from South Carolina who is now buried in Panama city alongside the founding families of Panama. He also happens to be responsible for the craziest night of my life. Wild stories about adventure, romance, crime, history and war intertwine as I share the tall tales and hard truths that have helped me understand Uncle Chris. Listen now to Uncle Chris on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Unknown]

I knew I wanted to obey and submit, but I didn't fully grasp for the rest of my life what that.

Meant for my heart. Podcasts and Rococo Punch this is the Turning River Road. In the woods of Minnesota, a cult leader married himself to 10 girls and forced them into a secret life of abuse. But in 2014, the youngest escaped. Listen to the Turning river road on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts from.

Iheart Podcast before social media, before cable news, there was Alan Byrd.

[Jake Hanrahan]

He was the first and the original Shock Chuck.

[Unknown]

That's scratchy, irreverent kind of way, talking to people and telling them that you're an idiot and I'm going to hang up on you.

This is Live Wire, the loud life and shocking murder of Alan Berg.

And he pointed to the Denver phone book and said, well, there are probably 2 million suspects.

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A body, a suspect, and a hundred years of silence. Buried Bones is a podcast about the forgotten crimes history tried to leave behind.

A common mispercept about serial predators is.

[Jake Hanrahan]

That every single time they commit a.

[Unknown]

Crime, they commit it the same way.

The past has a way of talking if you know what to listen for.

[Jake Hanrahan]

New episodes every Wednesday on the exactly Right network.

[Unknown]

Listen to Buried bones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an iHeart podcast.