Daniel Veloso Hirata

Daniel Veloso Hirata is a professor of sociology at the Department of Sociology at Fluminense Federal University, and coordinator of the Study Group on New Illegalities (GENI/UFF). He is a member of the National Council of Justice and the Human Rights Council of the Brazilian State, as well as an affiliated researcher at BrazilLab at Princeton University.

The project

Title: Historical Map of the Armed Groups of Rio de Janeiro and Criminal Networks

"This research project aims to consolidate and expand the "Historical Map of Armed Groups of Rio de Janeiro", a six-year initiative led by the Study Group on New Illegalisms (GENI/UFF). It focuses on mapping territorial control by armed groups such as drug factions and militias, using over a million anonymous reports from Disque Denúncia and applying advanced geocoding, natural language processing, and network analysis methods. The project has three main objectives:

• To refine the methodology for cartographic representation of armed control;
• To update the historical analysis of these groups' dynamics;
• To deepen the understanding of their criminal networks.

Particular attention is paid to distinguishing the behavior and structure of militias from drug trafficking factions through patterns of social, economic, and territorial control. Through collaboration with institutions like the MPRJ and the Federal Police, the project leverages judicial data to map and analyze criminal networks, enhancing the depth and relevance of the findings. It aims to develop open-access tools that support public debate, academic research, policy planning, and journalistic reporting. Ultimately, this project fills a critical gap in public knowledge and policymaking by producing a methodologically robust, transparent, and historically grounded cartography of armed group control in Rio de Janeiro, with wide-reaching impacts across public security, urban planning, and social policy."

Hosting Institution: Sciences Po 

Selective Bibliography

• KNOBLAUCH, STEFFEN; MUTHUSAMY, RAM KUMAR; MORITZ, MAYA; KANG, YUHAO; LI, HAO; LAUTENBACH, SVEN; PEREIRA, RAFAEL H.M.; BILJECKI, FILIP; GONZALEZ, MARTA C.; BARBOSA, ROGERIO; HIRATA, DANIEL; LUDWIG, CHRISTINA; ADAMIAK, MACIEJ; DE A. ROCHA, ANTÔNIO A.; ZIPF, ALEXANDER. Crime-associated inequality in geographical access to education: Insights from the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. CITIES. v.160, p.105818, 2025.
• HIRATA, DANIEL; GRILLO, C. C.. Institutional Violence and Democracy: Historical Accumulations in the Brazilian Present. LASA FORUM. v.55, p.552, 2024.
• HIRATA, DANIEL; GRILLO, CAROLINA CHRISTOPH; Telles, Vera da Silva. Guerra urbana e expansão de mercados no Rio de Janeiro. REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE CIÊNCIAS SOCIAIS (ONLINE). v.38, p.1 - 17, 2023.
• HIRATA, DANIEL; GRILLO, CAROLINA; LYRA, DIOGO; DIRK, RENATO. Les opérations policières à Rio de Janeiro (2007-2020). De l’inefficacité programmatique à la visée stratégique. Deviance et Societe. v.Vol. 47, p.643 - 669, 2023.
• HIRATA, DANIEL; CARDOSO, ADAUTO; GRILLO, CAROLINA CHRISTOPH; DOS SANTOS JUNIOR, ORLANDO ALVES; LYRA, DIOGO AZEVEDO; DIRK, RENATO COELHO. The Expansion of milicias in Rio de Janeiro. Political and Economic Advantages. Journal of Illicit Economies and Development. v.4, p.257 - 271, 2022.