Número de armas

 Em boa hora uma pesquisa realizada pelo Ministério Público de São Paulo e pelo instituto Sou da Paz vem solapar ao menos dois argumentos tão incorretos quanto frequentes
nas discussões relativas à área da segurança pública.
 Primeiro, a maior parte das armas com as quais se praticam crimes em território paulista não tem sua origem no exterior, mas na própria indústria brasileira.
 De acordo com o levantamento, consideradas 10 666 armas de fogo apreendidas em 2011 e 2012, nada menos que 78% delas tinham fabricação nacional – proporção que sobe para 82% quando se levam em conta somente artefatos confiscados vinculados a roubos e 87% no caso de homicídios.
 O segundo argumento atingido pelo relatório costuma ser usado por quem apregoa a facilitação do comércio de armas sustentando que as restrições afetam só o “cidadão de bem”, deixando-o  indefeso diante de bandidos armados.
 Ocorre que, se os artefatos utilizados nos crimes são nacionais, isso significa que um dia eles foram vendidos legalmente no país.
 Ou seja, se há muitos criminosos armados, isso se deve, em larga medida, ao comércio legal de armas, que abastece o mercado ilegal; obstruir esse duto resulta num benefício à população, e não o contrário.
 Daí a importância de campanhas como a “DNA das Armas”, promovida pelo Ministério Público e pelo Sou da Paz a fim de implantar, no Brasil, um sistema de marcação indelével dos artefatos de fogo.

(Folha de S.Paulo, 05.06.2015. Adaptado)

A imagem de Capitu ia comigo, e a minha imaginação, assim como lhe atribuíra lágrimas, há pouco, assim lhe encheu a boca de riso agora: vi-a escrever no muro, falar-me, andar à volta, com os braços no ar; ouvi distintamente o meu nome, de uma doçura que me embriagou, e a voz era dela.

(Obra completa. Vol. 1. Rio de Janeiro, Nova Aguilar, 1992, p. 840)

How cities can better prevent fires

August 29, 2018

America’s deadliest building fire for more than a decade struck Oakland, California, on December 2nd 2016, killing 36 people attending a dance party in a warehouse that had become a cluttered artist collective. The disaster highlights an open secret: many cities lack resources to inspect for fire risk all the structures that they should. Even though the Oakland building had no fire sprinklers and at least ten people lived there illegally, no inspector had visited in about 30 years. How might cities make better use of the inspectors they do have?

A handful of American cities have begun to seek help from a new type of analytics software. By crunching diverse data collected by government bodies and utilities, the software works out which buildings are most likely to catch fire and should therefore be inspected first. Plenty of factors play a role. Older, wooden buildings, unsurprisingly, pose more risk, as do those close to past fires and leaks of gas or oil. Poverty also pushes up fire risk, especially if lots of children, who may be attracted to mischief, live nearby. More telling are unpaid taxes, foreclosure proceedings and recorded complaints of mould, rats, crumbling plaster, accumulating rubbish, and domestic fights, all of which hint at property neglect. A building’s fire risk also increases the further it is from its owner’s residence.

Predictive software designed at Harvard that Portland, Oregon, will soon begin using will do that. Perhaps more importantly, the city’s fire chief noticed that buildings marked as being the biggest risks are clustered in areas lacking good schools, public transport, health care and food options. Healthier, happier people start fewer fires, he concluded. He now lobbies officials to reduce Portland’s pockets of deteriorated areas.

(The Economist. www.economist.com/the-economist-explains /2018/08/29/how-cities-can-better-prevent-fires. Adaptado)

How cities can better prevent fires

August 29, 2018

America’s deadliest building fire for more than a decade struck Oakland, California, on December 2nd 2016, killing 36 people attending a dance party in a warehouse that had become a cluttered artist collective. The disaster highlights an open secret: many cities lack resources to inspect for fire risk all the structures that they should. Even though the Oakland building had no fire sprinklers and at least ten people lived there illegally, no inspector had visited in about 30 years. How might cities make better use of the inspectors they do have?

A handful of American cities have begun to seek help from a new type of analytics software. By crunching diverse data collected by government bodies and utilities, the software works out which buildings are most likely to catch fire and should therefore be inspected first. Plenty of factors play a role. Older, wooden buildings, unsurprisingly, pose more risk, as do those close to past fires and leaks of gas or oil. Poverty also pushes up fire risk, especially if lots of children, who may be attracted to mischief, live nearby. More telling are unpaid taxes, foreclosure proceedings and recorded complaints of mould, rats, crumbling plaster, accumulating rubbish, and domestic fights, all of which hint at property neglect. A building’s fire risk also increases the further it is from its owner’s residence.

Predictive software designed at Harvard that Portland, Oregon, will soon begin using will do that. Perhaps more importantly, the city’s fire chief noticed that buildings marked as being the biggest risks are clustered in areas lacking good schools, public transport, health care and food options. Healthier, happier people start fewer fires, he concluded. He now lobbies officials to reduce Portland’s pockets of deteriorated areas.

(The Economist. www.economist.com/the-economist-explains /2018/08/29/how-cities-can-better-prevent-fires. Adaptado)