BOPE (Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais, or Special Police Operations Battalion), is the elite group of the Military Police of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Special Forces (SF) or Special Operations Forces (SOF) are highly-trained military units that conduct specialized operations such as reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, and counter-terrorism actions. ... Urban warfare is a modern warfare conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. ... For the band, see The Police. ... A Rio de Janeiro favela Favela is a term commonly used in Brazil to describe squatter areas such as shanty towns and slums. ... Counter-terrorism refers to the practices, tactics, and strategies that governments, militaries, and other groups adopt in order to fight terrorism. ... This article is about the Brazilian city. ... This article is about the Brazilian city. ...

Urban Warfare

Due to the nature of crime in favelas, BOPE units have extensive experience in urban warfare ^{[citation needed]} as well as progression in confined and restricted environments. It also utilizes equipment deemed more powerful than traditional civilian law enforcement, such as weapons chambered in .50 BMG. ^{[citation needed]} It is also told that american SWAT forces come to Brazil to train with BOPE, internationally recognised as the "best urban police war unit". Vidigal, a Rio de Janeiro favela A favela is the Brazilian equivalent of a shanty town, which are generally found on the edge of the city. ... Urban warfare is a modern warfare conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. ... For the band, see The Police. ... .50 BMG rounds and 20MM Vulcan round, with a golf ball and a stick of RAM posed to provide scale. ... This article is about Special Weapons and Tactics. ...

The armored vehicles - The "Caveirões"

The force has a fleet of armored vehicles, which are known as “Pacificador” (Peacemaker), or “Caveirão”^[1] (Big Skull). These vehicles are used in operations in favelas where BOPE faces intense conflicts with drug dealers. They are equipped with heavy armament: firing ports for IMBEL MD2 rifle variants of the FN FAL, or the H&K G3 rifle, and in the back and front, .50 caliber machine guns. ^{[citation needed]} A Rio de Janeiro favela Favela is a term commonly used in Brazil to describe squatter areas such as shanty towns and slums. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Fusil Automatique Leger, or Light Automatic Rifle (LAR). ... The Heckler und Koch G3 The G3 (G3A3) series battle rifle is manufactured by Heckler und Koch. ...

Missions

• Break barricades constructed by drug traffickers;
• Extract police officers or civilians injured in confrontations;
• Serve high-risk arrest warrants;
• Hostages rescue;
• Suppress prison rebellions;
• Special missions in swamp or mountainous terrains;

BOPE using the caveirão as a cover

BOPE policemen in training

An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a public officer which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Criticism

In 2004, the Project on Extrajudicial Executions (New York University School of Law) reported that BOPE had been implicated in the killing of four youths under the false pretense of their being drug traffickers who resisted arrest: "BOPE officers falsified the crime scene to incriminate the victims in an attempt to make them seem like members of a drug trafficking gang. No weapons were found with the victims and none of them had a history of criminal activity."[1] Assassin and Assassins redirect here. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Amnesty International has stated that, "Brazil's police forces use violent and repressive methods that consistently violate the human rights of a large part of the population," and attribute a number of civilian deaths to BOPE in particular.[2] In March 2006, Amnesty specifically condemned the use of the Caveirão, stating that by deploying the vehicle aggressively, and indiscriminately targeting whole communities, it "has become a powerful symbol of the failings of public security policies in Rio de Janeiro. It typifies the police's confrontational and divisive approach to Rio's public security crisis." Amnesty highlighted civilian deaths directly resulting from Caveirão use, and noted that BOPE as a whole, "has been involved in a string of human rights abuses."[3] Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is a pressure group that promotes human rights. ...

"Elite da Tropa"

In 2006, a book by sociologist Luiz Eduardo Soares and two BOPE policemen, André Batista e Rodrigo Pimentel, provided a semi-fictional account of the daily routine of the BOPE a well as some historical events, based on the experiences of the latter two. The book was controversial at the time of release, and reportedly resulted in Batista being reprimanded and censured by the Polícia Militar. The book was controversial in its description of the BOPE as a "killing machine", as well as detailing an alleged aborted assassination attempt by some police officers on then-governor Leonel Brizola.^[2] The book has been made into a movie, Tropa de Elite, directed by José Padilha (the director of Bus 174), with a screenplay by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Bráulio Mantovani. Leonel Brizola. ... Tropa de Elite (English working title, Elite Squad) is a Brazilian film released on August 24, 2007. ... Bus 174 (Portuguese, Ônibus 174) is a brazilian documentary film released on October 22, 2002. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ...

References

The newspaper Folha de São Paulo represents the development of the communication media in Brazil. ...

See also

• City Guards
• Brazilian Federal Police
• Military Police of Brazilian States
• Força Nacional de Segurança
• Military of Brazil
• Civil Police of Brazilian States
• SWAT (U.S.A)
• GSG 9 (Germany)

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Polícia Federal or Departamento de Polícia Federal or the Brazilian Federal Police is the police of the federal government of Brazil, whose main assignments are: the investigations of crimes against the Federal Government or its organs and companies, the combat of international drug trafficking, and immigration and... A group of Polícia Militar troops from São Paulo In Brazil, the Military Police (Portuguese: Polícia Militar, or PM) is the name of the preventive state police forces in Brazil. ... Military branches: Brazilian Army, Brazilian Navy (includes naval air and marines), Brazilian Air Force, Federal Police (paramilitary) Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age (compulsory) Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 47,732,285 (2000 est. ... In Brazil, the Civil Police (Portuguese: Polícia Civil) is the name of the investigative state police forces. ... This article is about Special Weapons and Tactics. ... Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (GSG 9 - Border protection group 9) is a German counter-terrorism unit, and is considered to be among the best of such units in the world. ...

External links

• Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil Official web site, in Portuguese
• http://www.diariodeumpm.net/
• http://www.policiamilitar.rj.gov.br/bope/fotos.htm
• http://g1.globo.com/Noticias/Rio/0,,MUL12558-5606,00.html
• http://aledesousa.multiply.com/tag/caveirao
• http://www.vivafavela.com.br
• http://www.viaseg.com.br/artigo_vinicius_viatura_blindada.htm