#BOPE

After long decades of mainly using pistols locally made by Forjas Taurus, Brazilian LE agencies have been turning their attention to products from overseas manufacturers, mainly in the wake of multiple reports of technical/safety issues with the “bull brand” weapons. It should be recalled that IMBEL – Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil has been a longtime supplier of pistols for the armed forces and  some police forces, but, somehow, their single-action M1911-based guns are not so popular in the local LE scenario, although some models have been adopted by local agencies.

Having started life as NuCOE – Núcleo da Companhia de Operações Especiais (Special Operations Company Nucleus) on January 19, 1978, Rio de Janeiro State Military Police’s famous  BOPE – Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (Special Police Operations Battalion) recently commemorated its 40th anniversary.  Since it became a full-fledged Battalion on March 1, 1991, the unit has been well known by its “faca na caveira” (dagger in skull, symbolizing “victory over death”) badge, proudly worn in patches on the troops’ black and camo uniforms.

In a previous post (http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/02/21/weapons-rios-crime-war/), TFB showed some of the weapons in use by criminals in Rio de Janeiro’s crime war, which demonstrated an apparent unlimited quantity and variety of guns available to the outlaws. On the other side of the conflict, as previously stated, the first line of defense rests in the hands of PMERJ – Polícia Militar do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Military Police), whose limited resources, both human and material, are somewhat compensated by the idealism clearly stamped on its members when in action. The tough urban warfare scenarios present in Brazil’s most popular city are hard to describe to anyone just sitting in front of a computer screen. Anyway, the pictures that follow, most of them  of actual operations, may give you an idea of what’s going on there (here, in author’s case).

Weapons in use by the world’s leading military and LE forces are usually well known to the general public due to their being frequently shown in the mainstream media as a result of their respective countries’ public relations efforts and/or some publicity generated by the manufacturers involved. TFB, incidentally, recently had a look at what Western ( http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/11/10/rifles-european-best-sniper-squad-competition-2016/)  and ComBloc ( http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/12/01/international-army-games-combloc-sniper-frontier/)  sniper teams use, but for lower-profile nations like Brazil, however, very little usually comes to light. Then,  the following pictures and concise info may be of interest. They follow no specific sequence, and are just here for your general appreciation. Nope, this is not a comprehensive list.

Weapons in use by the world’s leading military and LE forces are usually well known to the general public due to their being frequently shown in the mainstream media as a result of their respective countries’ public relations efforts and/or some publicity generated by the manufacturers involved. TFB, incidentally, recently had a look at what Western ( http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/11/10/rifles-european-best-sniper-squad-competition-2016/)  and ComBloc ( http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/12/01/international-army-games-combloc-sniper-frontier/)  sniper teams use, but for lower-profile nations like Brazil, however, very little usually comes to light. Then,  the following pictures and concise info may be of interest. They follow no specific sequence, and are just here for your general appreciation. Nope, this is not a comprehensive list.

Big thanks to Ronaldo Olive for sending this picture in to us.

BBC Two did a short documentary on BOPE. The special force police group in Rio de Janeiro. Lots of FN FALs in this video.

BOPE (Batalhao de Operacoes Policias Especias) stands for Special Police Operation Battalion. They are the elite unit operating in Brazil to counter domestic terrorism and armed criminals. They operate in the Favelas (Rio De Janeiro’s slums) and are adept at close quarters urban warefare. Their list of roles is extensive.