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 No one was injured in the maze of alleys and steps of the "favela"
that is home to 6,000 people, but the shootout raised concerns a
police campaign - for which Santa Marta was the model - is running
out of steam a year before half a million visitors arrive for the
2016 Olympics.
The shootout, in the wake of the stabbing deaths of a cyclist and a
German tourist, sparked fears that after years of progress, violence
was on the rise again in Brazil's postcard city.
"I'm worried things are going to go back to how they were," said
Aldinho, who declined to give his last name for fear of
repercussions, as he served beers from a stall on the lower steps of
Santa Marta where the favela climbs a steep outcrop beneath the
Christ statue.
Official figures support his view. Last year, the number of
robberies in the city of Rio rose 25 percent, the biggest jump since
records began in 1991. The trend continues, with a 10 percent rise
recorded in the first three months of 2015.
Rising unemployment, low police morale and a growing sense of
hopelessness among Rio's poor are contributing to greater crime, say
security and development experts.
The trend is depressing for a city that strived to use last year's
soccer World Cup and the Summer Olympics to make Rio safer. The 2014
World Cup staged in 12 cities across Brazil passed largely without
incident after pre-tournament street protests and a security
clampdown.
"The years when security improved were the years when the economy
was booming, people's lives were getting better and they had hope,"
said Theresa Williamson, head of Catalytic Communities, a charity
that works with favela residents.
"Now that's disappearing," she said.
Booming commodity exports, a consumer binge and ambitious social
welfare programs fueled a decade of steady economic growth that
lifted 35 million Brazilians from poverty. But since 2012 the
economy has stalled, as commodity prices fall and consumer demand
dwindles, putting Brazil on track for its deepest recession in a
quarter of a century this year.
MURDER RATE STUCK
At the heart of Rio de Janeiro's security drive was the so-called
"pacification" of favelas, in which police set up units within
communities previously controlled by drug gangs.
Authorities credited the program for helping to halve the murder
rate between 2006 and 2012 but it has attracted criticism for an
excessive use of force by some police officers that resulted in
deaths of innocent people.
The decline in murders was a fundamental part of the city's
renaissance as it became a center for Brazil's oil and mining
industries and grew again as a tourist destination.
But the murder rate is stubbornly stuck at 20 per 100,000 people,
still putting Rio among the world's most dangerous major cities. It
is three times higher than the four previous Summer Olympic hosts
put together.
Olympic organizers say they are working closely with authorities to
ensure a safe environment during the Games and that Rio has a strong
track record hosting big events. Rio plans to employ 60,000 security
personnel during the Games, a source with direct knowledge of the
plans told Reuters.
As the first favela to be "pacified," Santa Marta became a model for
the program. On a recent sunny afternoon it was easy to see why.
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A guide showed tourists around while children played soccer on an
artificial pitch overlooking Rio and the Atlantic ocean.
Lieutenant Gabriel Cavalcante dismissed last month's shootout as an
"isolated incident" and said the police presence had since been
beefed up. The culprits were identified but escaped, likely into
thick jungle around Santa Marta.
"A sense of peace and calm has been restored," Cavalcante said.
But others think the return of violence to Santa Marta is a mark of
a crumbling empire.
REMINDER OF 'BAD DAYS'
Since 2008, police units known as UPPs have been introduced in 38
favelas creating a network which now employs around 10,000 officers.
One officer in Santa Marta, who asked not to be identified because
he was not permitted to talk to journalists, said he thought the
program had been expanded too quickly and was suffering from a
varying quality of officers.
Such rapid expansion has also weighed on morale.
"A lot of the police officers being sent into the UPPs don't want to
go. They're not happy and there's an issue with motivation," said
Ubiratan Angelo, a former Rio police chief who heads security at
Viva Rio, a charity and research institute.
Cost concerns are also growing as Brazil heads into recession and
Rio's state coffers are hit by falling oil royalties.
The struggles in the UPPs coincided with high profile killings in
areas residents had come to think of as safe.
In May, a 56-year-old doctor was stabbed to death as he cycled home
from work in the early evening around the Lagoa, a lagoon in the
affluent south zone that will host Olympic rowing.
In February, a German tourist died after being stabbed during the
day in the downtown business district.
"The recent killings were so senseless, without fear of reprisal. It
reminds me of the bad days in Rio," said Maureen Ferreira-Walters, a
lawyer who moved back from Europe in 2011.
The violence is making her think about leaving again.
(Additional reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Editing by Mary
Milliken and Grant McCool)
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