The National Public Security Force ( pt, Força Nacional de Segurança Pública) was created in 2004 and is headquartered in

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

, in the

Federal District A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they ...

, as a joint cooperation of various Brazilian

Public Safety Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensur ...

forces, co-ordinated by the ''National Secretariat of Public Security'' ( pt, Secretaria Nacional de Segurança Pública - SENASP), of the Ministry of Justice. It is an agency that was created during the administration of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist, and former metalworker who is the president-elect of Brazil. A member of the Workers' Party ...

, a concept developed by then Minister of Justice,

Márcio Thomaz Bastos Márcio Thomaz Bastos (born July 30, 1935, in Cruzeiro, São Paulo Cruzeiro ( Portuguese meaning the Southern Cross, the Brazilian national symbol) is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is located about from the state capit ...

Command

The Secretary of the SENASP, Police Commissioner of the

Brazilian Federal Police The Federal Police of Brazil ( Portuguese: ''Polícia Federal'') is a federal law enforcement agency of Brazil and one of the three national police forces. The other two are the Federal Highway Police, and the National Force. From 1944 to 1967 ...

, Luiz Fernando Correa, is in overall charge of the Force, while the Colonel of the Military Police of

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

, José Américo de Souza Gaia, has operational and direct control of the force.

Training

The National Force is composed by men of the

Brazilian Military Police Military Police ( pt, Polícia Militar, , also known as ''PM'', ) are the preventive state police of the states and of the Federal District of Brazil. The Military Police units are the main ostensive police force at the state level and are respo ...

of the various

states of Brazil The federative units of Brazil ( pt, unidades federativas do Brasil) are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation and self-collection) and endowed with their own government and constitution, which ...

, in coordination with the Secretary of Public Security of each different Brazilian state.

Law enforcement officer A law enforcement officer (LEO), or peace officer in North American English, is a public-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the enforcement of laws. The phrase can include campaign disclosure specialists, local police officers, pr ...

s receive initially 100 hours of further education, divided in ten days of training. There are classes in human rights, control of civil riots, ostensive policing, crisis management and shooting techniques.

BEPE

The BEPE or ''Batalhão Especial de Pronto Emprego'' (Quick Deployment Special Battalion) is the elite unit of National Public Security Force. It is headquartered in Gama, in the

. Its training with elite units of Brazil and abroad allows BEPE to be effectively suited for patrol or police special operations anywhere in the country. The BEPE was established by the Ministry of Justice as the leading and best-trained unit within the Brazilian police to act in emergency situations concerning public safety when the state law enforcement agencies request federal intervention. Urgency, that can be quickly answered, as his quota is effective and not demobilizable, remains in readiness to meet by Situation critical in public safety.

Operations

On different occasions, the National Force was called in the state of

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...

as well as in the state of

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul () is one of the Midwestern states of Brazil. Neighboring Brazilian states are (from north clockwise) Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná. It also borders the countries of Paraguay, to the southwest, and ...

, primarily to help containing rebellions inside prisons. On another occasion, the federal government offered to send the National Force to assist the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

against acts of violence organized there, in 2006, again by prisoners against the state public safety forces, but the federal government offer was refused by the state government, as the state claimed control over the prisoners. The governor of the state of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Sérgio Cabral Filho Sérgio de Oliveira Cabral Santos Filho (born January 27, 1963) is a Brazilian politician and a journalist He was elected governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro in the 2006 Brazilian general election and sworn into office on January 1, 2007 ...

asked for support from the National Public Security Force back in 2007 when the state suffered from a wave of attacks by several criminal factions. The Federal Government agreed to send a contingent of about 500 men and 52 vehicles to patrol 19 critical points within the state, primarily within the area of ''

favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of working-class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term was first used in the Providência neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was built by soldiers who had ...

s. The FNSP was called into action in the states of Santa Catarina, Minas Gerais and Bahia in 2013, and in

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the ...

in 2014. In these cases, the force provided strict security measures in these states. It reinforced local police work in

Teresina Teresina is the capital and most populous municipality in the Brazilian state of Piauí. Being located in north-central Piauí 366 km from the coast, it is the only capital in the Brazilian Northeast that is not located on the shores of t ...

, Piaui, in 2015. In 2016, aside from security duties at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics and the city elections there, detachments of the force were deployed to Rio Grande do Sul and Maranhão, and in the fall of 2017 in Espírito Santo.

Vehicles

Command

Training

BEPE

Operations

Vehicles

Weapons

See also