The Complexo do Alemo massacre (Portuguese pronunciation: [msaki u ~ nu kplksu w lemw]) was the result of an ongoing conflict between drug dealers and the police in the borough of the same name in Rio de Janeiro, which consisted of a group of large favelas in the northern region of the city. The massacre happened on June 27, 2007, when a large Military and Civil Police operation killed 19 people and injured several others. The Order of Attorneys of Brazil issued a report claiming that at least eleven of the people killed had no relations with drug trafficking whatsoever. Until the end of the XV Pan-American Games a large siege was formed by the police in the regionto secure the safety of the international event, some people claim. While it eventually got attached the demotic sobriquet Gaza strip, a report published by the federal government revealed that there were executions at the operation.



Military Police (Portuguese: Polícia Militar, IPA: [puˈlisjɐ miliˈtaʁ], also known as PM, [peˈẽmi]) 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 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. 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.