RIO DE JANEIRO — Lawmakers in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro have approved a bonus for police officers who kill “criminals,” a move that sparked outrage among rights defenders who fear a “massacre.”

A similar measure, nicknamed the “Wild West Bonus,” was in effect from 1995 to 1998 when it was scrapped due to a sharp rise in deaths at the hands of Brazilian police.

The new measure, approved late Tuesday, “stimulates violence and turns death into public policy,” said leftist lawmaker Henrique Vieira, who voted against it.

In Rio, aggressive police interventions are common in the poor and densely populated favelas where drug traffickers reign supreme.