Police Cooperation Center to have 200 foreign agents during World Cup

Security agents from the 31 foreign countries participating in the 2014 FIFA World Cup have started to work in the Brazil. Their job is to help Brazilian Federal Police (“PF”) officers keep fans safe and identify criminals seeking to use the international competition as an opportunity to enter the country.

Their work will take place at the International Police Cooperation Center, inaugurated in Brasília on Monday (Jun 9). The place was built where the headquarters of the Federal Police are located, and is now the workplace of 205 foreign and 75 Brazilian police officers, who will be given access to footage from security cameras placed in the 12 host cities, as well as data from Interpol.

“The Center will remain as a legacy in intelligence and information technology for the Federal Police. The Federal Police invested $8.5 million, to be used in the police operations after the World Cup,” said Commissioner Valdecy Urquiza Junior, the Center’s manager for logistics.

Furthermore, UN, Interpol and Ameripol representatives will also work at the Center, alongside agents from countries expected to send the largest number of tourists to the host country.

But the cooperation has already begun. Brazil’s Interpol chief Luiz Eduardo Navajas says lists with potential trouble-makers have been requested. “Argentina answered with a list of 2.1 thousand names of fans banned from entering any stadium in that country. Their names have been included in our systems and their entry in Brazil will not be allowed,” he declared.

Commissioner Luiz Cravo Dórea, the coordinator-general at the PF International Cooperation, described the action as preventive. “PF has a migration database, and we can limit the entry of inconvenient fans. We’ve done this in the past,” he added.

Foreign agents are not granted the same police power, nor are they allowed to carry a gun. Additionally, they will be accompanied by Brazilian officers. Since they will be wearing uniforms according to their country of origin, authorities believe international fans will feel more reluctant to cause problems.

“This model was applied during the World Cup in South Africa. I think it’s a good collaborative effort. The World Cup is usually a more of a family event, with fewer fans likely to pose a security risk,” noted Pedro Manuel Gouveia, head of the Portuguese Police Delegation, and director of the Public Security Police.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira