Da “nota de pesar” à “injusta agressão”: notícias sobre morte escritas pela PMSC

Abstract

This paper is a reduced and synthesized version of the
ethnography on PMSC Notícia, the news platform of the Military Police of Santa
Catarina (PMSC). Based on news about death, dying and the dead published on the
website in 2021, social inequalities in deaths, representations of dying and the way
of dealing with the dead are explored. Five types of deaths are categorized: (a) natural;
(b) “guilty” violent acts; (c) “intentional” violence caused by “criminals”;
(d) “intentional” violence caused by PMSC; and (e) suicides that explain the gaps
and inscriptions that reinforce the police institution, while it legitimizes its actions
and values through narratives of “notes of condolences” and “unjust aggression”.