Less than 40% of the personnel of the Police Special Operations Battalion (BOPE) used body cameras during the containment operation carried out on October 28 in the Peña and Alemão complexes in Rio’s northern district. About 215 members of the force took part in the joint military-civilian operation, but only 77 were equipped.
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This information was communicated last Monday by Lieutenant Colonel Marcelo Corbage, commander of Beaupe, in a statement to Rio’s Public Ministry (MP-RJ). The records were sent to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) along with other documents regarding the MP’s role in the mega operation.
Colbarge said there were 77 body cameras available to the force’s approximately 215 officers. The commander reported that the need for reserve batteries was not anticipated as the operation was expected to take normal duration, i.e. up to five or six hours. He also said the cameras were “more than sufficient for a typical day’s work,” but that on larger operations, the devices were distributed so that every group of agents had at least one equipped officer.
Additionally, Kolberg said BOPE currently has 18 backup batteries and reiterated that containment operations are a deviation from the police’s normal operations. According to him, primarily because of its size. and secondly, by the intensity of the offender’s reaction. He also added that the action was originally scheduled to take place a few days ago, but was postponed due to various reasons, including bad weather and holidays.
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A week before the corvage, Ranulfo Souza Brandon Filho, Undersecretary for Military Police Operations Management, also attended the Prosecutor’s Office headquarters and issued a statement regarding this large-scale operation. He reported that tests already conducted showed that body camera batteries do not have substantial autonomy for 12 hours, the estimated duration of a large-scale operation.
Ranulfo also informed that the action stemmed from a civil police investigation that lasted approximately one year and investigated the actions of the Commando Vermelho (CV) in two favela complexes. He said about two months ago, civilian police requested military police assistance in executing arrest, search and seizure warrants.
Thus, according to 570 people from the units of the Special Operations Command (CoE), 1,800 agents were used, in addition to 18 conventional and 4 more specialized units. Agents in the traditional force wore body cameras during operations. However, as for the Kor force, not all officers had cameras due to the limited amount of equipment available.
He also emphasized that members of the intelligence community are exempt from the obligation to use the equipment.