On Wednesday, September 30, 2026, the City of Rio de Janeiro held the graduation ceremony for the new agents of the Municipal Force (Força Municipal). The Municipal Force is an armed elite division of the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Guard aimed at predicting and tackling robbery and theft through preventive and ostensive patrolling along the municipality’s main strategic corridors. Policing began on March 15, 2026, resulting in over 15.8 thousand stop-and-checks and 1,390 arrests and detainments. With this new class of agents, the Municipal Force now exceeds 900 officers, reinforcing the city administration’s commitment to relying on this elite division. This unit represents a change in Rio’s security, since it represents the integration of city management into public security, which was previously a task carried out exclusively by the state and federal governments.
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Composition and Operation
All Municipal Force graduates are career municipal guards selected through an internal recruitment process and trained by the Federal Highway Police and the National Secretariat of Public Security (Secretaria Nacional de Segurança Pública – Senasp) in subjects such as Differentiated Use of Force, Police Defense Techniques, Weapons, Ammunition, and Shooting, among others. The division operates across Rio de Janeiro’s main strategic corridors: in the Central Zone, covering the Bus Station–Gentileza Terminal–Leopoldina axis and the historic downtown area from Cinelândia to Central and Presidente Vargas Avenue; in the South Zone, securing Jardim de Alah, the accesses to Flamengo, and the dense core of Botafogo; in the North Zone, patrolling the commercial hub between Méier and Cachambi and the stretch of Tijuca between the São Francisco Xavier and Afonso Pena stations; and in the West Zone, maintaining a strong presence in Barra da Tijuca, Freguesia, and the major commercial and transit hubs of Bangu, Campo Grande, and Santa Cruz.
Results After 6 Months
In its first six months of operation of the Municipal Force, reductions in robbery and theft rates across all perimeters served by the Elite Division were recorded, according to the city administration. Data from the Public Security Institute (Instituto de Segurança Pública – ISP) show drops of up to 73.10% in reports of these crimes in areas where agents maintain a preventive and ostensive presence. The figures compare reports of street robberies and cell phone thefts during the same periods of 2025 and 2026 corresponding to the Elite Division’s operating hours in each perimeter. The data is partial and has not yet been fully compiled by the ISP. Since operations began on March 15, agents have conducted more than 15,500 stop-and-checks, leading to 1,367 arrests and transport to police stations. The operations also enabled the recovery and seizure of 360 cell phones and 271 motorcycles, along with the seizure of one handgun, 25 replica firearms, and 73 bladed weapons, as well as the execution of 33 arrest warrants.
Analysis
The data indicates a significant improvement in public security in Rio de Janeiro. According to the Public Security Institute (ISP), robberies and thefts decreased by 73.10% in areas monitored by the Municipal Force (Força Municipal). The Municipality’s selection of these areas and operational periods suggests a deliberate strategy to achieve rapid and measurable results.
However, from a security perspective, these data show a choice for an ostensive response from the police. Businesses operating in Rio de Janeiro should adopt a proactive security approach that combines situation awareness, careful planning of routes and schedules, access controls, and incident reporting with preventive measures and continuous monitoring of local crime trends.
