Santa Catarina Governor Jorginho Mello (LP) said families need to be close to children and teenagers to avoid episodes of violence. “We need to be more like our families,” he said.

Jorginho Mello, Governor of Santa Catarina – Photo: Cristiano Estrela/Northern North Special

The speech took place on Tuesday morning (18) at a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in Brasilia to discuss strengthening school security.

“We need to bring this into the school, speak analytically. It is impossible to give a cell phone to a child or grandchild and throw it away,” he emphasizes.

During his speech at a meeting of governors in the Planalto Palace, the governor of Santa Catarina recalled the April tragedy in Blumenau during the attack on the Bom Pastor Nursery.

“We are in an unprecedented situation. The monster jumped over the wall, so there is no point in high walls,” the governor says.

Mello said he has formed a statewide group of representatives from various bodies, such as the state ministry, military police, fire department, mayors and others, to draft the law. But the governor argues that what will really prevent attacks and any other situations of violence is the presence of families.

At the end of the meeting, the state’s chief executive announced that he would pass the document on to the federal government to help pay retired military police officers who are supposed to provide security in the state’s schools. “We will pay 4,000 reais for each. The costs amount to 70 million reais. We need resources,” he repeats.

Meeting with Lula and the governors

Governors and mayors from across the country, as well as Justice and Public Security Ministers Flavio Dino and Education Camilo Santana, as well as STF (Federal Supreme Court) President Rosa Weber and National Congress Representative Rodrigo Pacheco. were also at the meeting.

Governors and mayors are concerned about the wave of violence in educational institutions. The top was in the city of Blumenau.

The Minister of Education announced new measures to combat and prevent violence. These are the resources through the FNDE (National Endowment for Education) that will be made available.

Also about BRL 200 million from the Formulated Action Plan for Mental Health Action. According to the minister, it is important that the work is aimed not only at practical actions, but also at psychological support.

Flavio Dino, Minister of Justice and Public Security, provided an overview of what he did after the Blumenau attack. According to him, 225 teenagers were arrested or detained.

Another 624 people were intimidated into giving evidence. The police carried out 155 searches and seizures of materials for investigative actions.

A total of 1,595 reports of threats of assault were registered to the police. In addition to them, another 1224 cases are being investigated. 756 hateful social media profiles and 100 requests to save content for investigation were removed.

In total, 4,000 complaints have already been submitted to the Ministry of Justice. “We are facing an epidemic,” the minister says.