The São Paulo military police (Polícia Militar de SP) launched 928 disciplinary procedures in the first half of 2026 to investigate suspected misuse of body‑worn cameras, known locally as COPs (Câmeras Operacionais Portáteis). This figure represents more than five cases per day and marks a 208 % rise compared with the previous semester, when 301 procedures were opened, according to a semestral report from the state Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) finalized on 20 August.
The report notes that the number of operational cameras grew from 11,900 in December 2025 to 15,000 by May‑June 2026, a 26 % increase. The SSP said the rise in proceedings must be viewed alongside the expansion of the COP fleet, adding that over one million videos were generated in June alone. It also emphasized that procedural initiation does not prove an infraction; every indication of improper use is investigated, and sanctions depend on the conclusion of each process after a contradictory hearing.
Folha de S.Paulo highlighted recurring cases in which officers activate the cameras only after firing their weapons, preventing recording of the alleged confrontation and hindering investigations by the civil police (Polícia Civil). Late activation contradicts the commander‑general’s directive that lists 16 situations where monitoring must be mandatory, such as operations, approaches and inspections.
The SSP report fulfills an agreement made with the Supreme Federal Court (STF) in 2025, whereby São Paulo pledged to build a robust disciplinary system and institute audit mechanisms for body‑camera use.
Of the 928 procedures opened between January and June 2026, 175 were concluded, resulting in 107 penalties: 81 reprimands, 25 disciplinary detachments (where the officer remains confined to his battalion) and one warning. By contrast, the second half of 2025 saw 41 detachments and 79 reprimands, totalling 187 sanctions from completed cases.
The audit identified three main categories of irregularities: incorrect classification of incidents accounted for 62.52 % of records; non‑compliance with the applicable norms—a 26‑page directive signed by former commander‑general José Augusto Coutinho in 2025—made up 29.67 %; and alleged obstruction of the camera represented 7.6 %.
The report does not specify which exact infractions were alleged.
A change in equipment may be contributing to the problem. The previous Axon system recorded continuously throughout an officer’s shift, but after a new tender under Governor Tarcísio de Freitas’s administration, the cameras were replaced by a Motorola model that must be activated manually by the officer, although it can also be switched on remotely via the 190 emergency center or Bluetooth. Folha reported instances where the camera was turned on only after shots were fired, such as in the killing of businessman Carlos Alves Vieira by agents of the Rota (Rondas Ostensivas Tobias de Aguiar); that case remains under investigation.
Retired São Paulo military police colonel José Vicente da Silva Filho, former national secretary of public safety, described the 928 proceedings as "extremely grave" despite being a small fraction of the 15,000‑camera fleet, stressing that the incidents involve critical events, including deaths, that must be controlled.
He criticized the equipment switch as a setback, noting that continuous recording could enable scale‑wide gains for the force, citing an ongoing experiment in Arizona where artificial intelligence analyses footage and instantly provides feedback on officer performance.
Guaracy Mingardi, a criminal analyst and member of the Brazilian Forum of Public Safety, warned that missing footage undermines the credibility of investigations into lethal encounters, saying the absence of recordings benefits "the officer who kills, the corrupt officer, the one who acts wrongly."
The SSP added that other indicators show positive trends: between August 2025 and June 2026, justice and police judiciary requests for digital evidence from the new COP model were met in 92.83 % of cases on average, and the share of videos reviewed for possible non‑conformities dropped from 4.76 % in November 2025 to 2.09 % in June 2026, averaging 3.28 % over the period.