Day-to-day policing is a major source of state violence in Latin America today. This chapter begins by reviewing the normative ideals of democratic policing, which require police to enforce the law while obeying the law. Next, through the case of Brazil, the chapter shows how socioeconomic inequalities, limited citizenship, and weak rule of law contribute to the use of violent policing, which runs contrary to those ideals. From the colonial era through the 1964–85 military regime, the government used police violence to impose order in a highly unequal society. While there were small improvements in the 1990s–2000s coinciding with democratization, there has been a troubling resurgence since the beginning of the 2010s. Police reform in democratic Brazil has had minimal success due to limitations to their scope or duration, motivation by response to crises rather than planning for systemic change, and resistance from police and their political allies. The chapter concludes with a discussion of contemporary examples from additional cases throughout Latin America, showing how the militarization, political appeal of mano dura (“iron fist”) policies, and impunity for abuses make violent policing a serious challenge to democracy in the region today.