Abstract
This article addresses a type of bank robbery, currently registered in all Brazilian regions, that shows the following characteristics: the assaults occur late at night or during the early hours; they are carried out by gangs, whose number of armed men vary from two to five dozens, their preferred targets are small and medium-sized cities. Using large-caliber weapons and explosives, robbers subtract amounts from two or more banks simultaneously. During such assaults, part of the gang attacks and obstructs the work of local public security forces and, thus, lay siege to neighborhoods and even entire cities for a few hours, subjecting the entire population. Before police reinforcements from neighboring towns can arrive, the bandits flee. Residents are often taken hostage and experience moments of fear and dread, even being shot when there are clashes between gangs and police. This article argues that the type of crime under analysis involves meticulous planning and investment in infrastructure and logistics, instrumental and performative use of violence, being understood as an economic activity and business by its practitioners. Regarding the sociability within such gangs, the study reveals the temporary and circumstantial condition of these groups, based on exchanges of knowledge, technical cooperation and “entrepreneurship” of the robbers, whose common objective is to obtain high amounts through their armed attacks. Research and data analysis, presented in this text, have ethnographic inspiration and fieldwork resorted to in-depth interviews and informal conversations with practitioners of these robberies, interviews with police chiefs and police officers, survey and analysis of news from newspapers, newscasts and web portals from all regions of Brazil.
Keywords
robberies; crime; bank robbery; violence; performance