Military Police Polícia Militar | |
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![]() Insignia of the Military Police used since 1957.[1] | |
Abbreviation | PM |
Agency overview | |
Formed | 1809 |
Employees | 385,883 active personnel (2020)[2] |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction | Brazil |
General nature | |
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Agency executive |
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Parent agency | Military Reserve Force of Brazilian Army |
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Military Police[a] are the uniformed 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 responsible for policing and maintaining the public order. Their formations, rules and uniforms vary depending on the state. Investigative work and forensics are undertaken by the Civil Police of each state.
All state Military Police and Military Firefighters Corps are classed as reserve troops and ancillary forces of the Brazilian Army.[3] In time of war (or other emergencies) the military police forces can be pressed into federal service. But they remain distinct from the provosts belonging to the other services within the Brazilian Military: the corps Army Police (Portuguese: Polícia do Exército, PE) for the Army, Police Company of the Naval Battalion (Companhia de Polícia do Batalhão Naval) for the Navy, and Air Force Police (Portuguese: Polícia da Aeronáutica, PA) for the Air Force.
In 2004 the National Public Security Force (Portuguese: Força Nacional de Segurança Pública) was created to handle major security crisis. The unit, which is composed of the most qualified Military Police personnel from all federal states, can only be deployed through the express command of a state governor.
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