AIDS / RIO DE JANEIRO: Security at Rio 2016 Games will feature 85 000 personnel in Brazil’s largest such operation to date – twice as many officers compared with the original plan.

Brazil’s Ministries of Defence, Justice and the Security State Department present their budgets the 2016 Rio Olympic Games last year, which were confirmed in the final month leading up to the event

“The Rio 2016 Games will be the largest security operation in the history of Rio de Janeiro,” said Rio State Security Secretary, Jose Mariano Beltrame.

“Allow me a correction: this will be the largest security operation in the history of Brazil,” were the words of the Security Extraordinary Secretary for Major Events of the Ministry of Justice, Andrei.

The two authorities confirmed that 85 000 personnel – 47,000 security, civil defence and land officers and 38,000 members of the Armed Forces – would be working during the Games.

General Luiz Felipe Linhares, Special Adviser to Major Events of the Ministry of Defence, highlighted that integration was reflected in the structure of the working groups responsible for the safety of the Games.

Network centres

There will be a national centre in Brasilia; centres in each of the four areas of competition (Barra, Copacabana, Deodoro and Maracanã) and even smaller centres at each sport and venue installation.

Besides these, there will also be units for specific issues such as an intelligence centre for foreign service; and the centre of anti-terrorism intelligence.

Last week, officers arrested 10 people on suspicion of preparing to carry out terror attacks for the Islamic State group during the Games. On Thursday, a man was arrested on suspicion of having ties to terrorist groups after monitoring his online activity

In 2015, Brazil’s Ministry of Defence confirmed a R $ 350 million (96.7 million euro) budget for the Games,

The 47,000 security officers to be deployed, will work exclusively in Rio de Janeiro, as a part of local organs such as the military police, civil, federal and federal road, municipal police, fire department and the National Public Security Force.

The 38,000 men of the Armed Forces will also be present in the five cities hosting Rio 2016’s football tournament (São Paulo, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia and Manaus), and in Rio de Janeiro as a main focus point.

The Rio 2016 Organizing Committee is responsible for the security of 87 non-competition facilities (such as training and logistics) and the competition venues from 5 July 2016 until after September 26, 2016; in the interim period, the work was up to federal institutions, especially the National Security Force.

The Rio 2016 OC security team includes 6,000 officers, including private security guards qualified for major events and civil professional firefighters.

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