Reclassifying Deaths: Legal Intervention Deaths (Y35-Icd10) In The City Of Sao Paulo (2014-2015)

Abstract Background Police violence is a public health issue. Brazil is one of the most violent countries in the world and has one of the most violent police forces. The low reliability of official sources on police killings is recognized worldwide. In Brazil, the two official data sources on police killings are the Criminal Records (Security Department) and the Vital Statistics System that uses the death certificate coding (ICD10-Health Department). The Legal Intervention classification (Y35) presents underreporting when compared to the data from the Security Department. Our study aims to investigate the underreporting by health authorities of the deaths committed by police in the city of Sao Paulo between 2014 and 2015, seeking to identify the death cause coding used. Methods We performed a search of all death cases caused by police identified in the Criminal Records, but not classified in their death certificate as Legal Intervention (Y35). In divergent situations, we sought the ICD-10 classifications used. Mortality data were extracted from the death certificate records from the Vital Statistics System and the Security Department database. The databases were linked to identify the same record in both databases. For the linkage, we used the probabilistic method (RecLink software). The three key variables used to identify true pairs were: name of the victim, date of occurrence, and place of death. Results Through the linkage, we were able to find 726 true pairs. We highlight: Only 46% of deaths were classified as Legal Intervention (Y35);The other ICD-10 codings used were: Assault by Handgun Discharge- X93 (50%) and Other and Unspecified Firearm Discharge- Y24 (4%). Conclusions Our study made possible to reclassify deaths committed by police from the Vital Statistics System. Our method was able to expand the use of the category Legal Intervention (Y35) to more than 100%. The quality of data on police violence in Brazil must be improved. Key messages Our study made it possible to reclassify deaths committed by police. We expanded the use of the category Legal Intervention (Y35) in 100%. The data on police violence in Brazil must be improved. Police Violence is a public health issue. The low reliability of official sources is widely recognized. Reclassifying deaths committed by police it is essential for Vital Statistics System in Brazil.