Military Police, also known as PM, are the uniformed preventive state police of the states and 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.Article 144 of Constitution of Brazil. In time of war (or other emergencies) the military police forces can be pressed into federal service. Thus are organized in a military manner, following military hierarchy and ranks and in case of crimes or misconduct, they are tried in state military courts instead of the common (or civil) courts. But they remain distinct from the provosts belonging to the other services within the Brazilian Military: the Army Police () for the Army, Air Force Police () for the Air Force and similar units in the Brazilian Marine Corps for the Brazilian Navy.

The Military Police was founded in 1809 by the Portuguese Crown with the Military Division of the Royal Police Guard in Rio de Janeiro, based on the model of the Gendarmerie created in France: a public security force that combined police and military functions. In most provinces they were named Public Forces () or Police Corps (). After the Proclamation of the Republic, these police forces were subject to state authorities, where they had a role not only in law enforcement, but also in warfare, to face the various revolts and rebellions during the period of the Old Republic. These "small state armies" had larger contingents than the federal military forces themselves — the Public Force of São Paulo, for example, had artillery and military aviation divisions — and were more loyal to state governments, especially local oligarchs and "colonels". The name "Military Police" was only standardized in 1946 under the regime of Getúlio Vargas, with the new Constitution of 1946 after the Vargas Era of the Estado Novo (1937-1945), which had the objective of limiting the military capacity of the Public Forces in order to focus on being exclusively police forces. All federated units adopted the term, with the exception of Rio Grande do Sul, which still maintains the name Military Brigade () in its police force.

In 2004 the National Public Security Force () was created to handle major security crisis. The unit, which is composed of the most qualified Military Police personnel from all federal states, is deployed in cases of major security crisis to augment local security forces by the request of local authorities.

History The first militarized police in Portugal (when Brazil was still a colony) was the Royal Police Guard of Lisbon (), established in 1801;Decree of December 10, 1801. which was followed by the model of the National Gendarmerie () of France, created in 1791.

When the Portuguese Royal Family was transferred to Brazil, the Royal Police Guard of Lisbon remained in Portugal, and another equivalent was created in Rio de Janeiro, under the name of Military Division of the Royal Guard Police of Rio de Janeiro, in 1809.Decree of May 13, 1809.

With the abdication of Emperor Pedro I in 1831, the Regency held reformulations on the Brazilian Armed Forces. The Royal Guard Police of Rio de Janeiro was abolished,Law of July 17, 1831. and replaced by the Municipal Guard Corps of Volunteers;Law of October 10, 1931. a type of security force similar to the French National Guard. The same law allowed each province to establish its own Guard of Volunteers.

In 1834 Pedro I died in Portugal and this reduced the fear in Brazil of a reunification of the kingdoms. The Guard of Volunteers were then transformed into Province Police Corps, with professional troops.Constitutional Reform of 1834, Article 15, § 11. The Police Corps were created with the same structure as the Army, and to serve as reserve troops when necessary.

With the fall of the Empire, the First Brazilian Republic adopted a constitution based on the United States' one, where the federal states have a large degree of autonomy. The Police Corps began to be administered by the states and became small state armies, with infantry, cavalry, artillery, and later, even air forces. This danger to national security remained until the end of World War II, with the deposition of the dictatorial government of Getúlio Vargas.

After World War II, the Military Police became a more "traditional" police force, similar to a gendarmerie, subject to the states.Decree Law 8.660, January 14, 1946.

Structure

Organization The Secretariat for Public Security (Secretaria de Segurança Pública—SSP) supervises all state police activities. The SSPs are subordinate to the National Council of Public Security (Conselho Nacional de Segurança Pública - CONASP).

According to Article 144 of the federal constitution, the function of the Military Police "is to serve as a conspicuous police force and to preserve public order." The Military Police of any state are organized as a military force and have a military-based rank structure. Training is weighted more heavily toward police matters, but counterinsurgency training is also included. Arms and equipment of state forces include machine guns and armored cars, in addition to other items generally associated with police.

Article 144 of the constitution stipulates that: "The Military Police forces and the Military Firefighters Corps, ancillary forces and army reserve, are subordinate, along with the Civil Police forces, to the governors of the states, Federal District, and territories." Between 1969 and 1985, the Ministry of Army has controlled the Military Police during periods of declared national emergency. Before 1930 these forces were under individual state control, and known as "the governors' armies." They sometimes outnumbered regular troops in many states. In 1932, after Constitutionalist Revolution in São Paulo, the Federal Army took steps to reverse this situation. In 1964 most Military Police members were on the side of the successful conspirators.

During military dictatorship, Military Police units were often commanded by active-duty army officers, but that has occurred less frequently as professional police officers have achieved higher ranks and positions. The commandant of a state's Military Police is usually a Colonel. The command is divided into police regions, which deploy police battalions and companies. Firefighting is also a Military Police function in some states, but they are organized in separate units called Corpo de Bombeiros Militar. State traffic police are either the State Highway Police (Polícia Rodoviária Estadual), or the Traffic Police (Polícia de Trânsito) in the larger cities. Both are part of the state Military Police.

Field organization Military police are operationally structured into intermediate commands (area or specialized policing), battalions (), companies (), platoons (), and subdivided into detachments (). The battalions are based in major urban centers, and their companies and platoons are distributed according to population density in cities.

There are also other intermediate denominations, such as: special groups, garrisons and also independent military police companies (CIPM or Cia PM Ind) which are at the same level of administrative autonomy as the battalions; having, however, less personnel and smaller policing areas.

The mounted police is organized into regiments (), subdivided into squadrons () and platoons of mounted police ().

Nomenclature Throughout Brazil the Military Police is known by the acronym PM (for Policia Militar), followed by the abbreviation of the State, except in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, where the unit is known as BM (for Brigada Militar, "Military Brigade").

01 . PMAC - Acre 02 . PMAL - Alagoas 03 . PMAP - Amapá 04 . PMAM - Amazonas 05 . PMBA - Bahia 06 . PMCE - Ceará 07 . PMDF - Distrito Federal 08 . PMES - Espírito Santo 09 . PMGO - Goiás 10 . PMMA - Maranhão 11 . PMMT - Mato Grosso 12 . PMMS - Mato Grosso do Sul 13 . PMMG - Minas Gerais 14 . PMPA - Pará 15 . PMPB - Paraíba 16 . PMPR - Paraná 17 . PMPE - Pernambuco 18 . PMPI - Piauí 19 . PMERJ -Rio de Janeiro 20 . PMRN - Rio Grande do Norte 21 . BMRS - Rio Grande do Sul 22 . PMRO - Rondônia 23 . PMRR - Roraima 24 . PMSC - Santa Catarina 25 . PMESP- São Paulo 26 . PMSE - Sergipe 27 . PMTO - Tocantins

Uniforms

The Brazilian Armed Forces inherited Portuguese military traditions and during the period of the Empire and part of the Republic, with few exceptions, dark blue uniforms were used. In 1903 the Brazilian Army opted for khaki colored field uniforms, later copied by the Military Police. In 1934 the Ministry of War established khaki as the color for all reserve forces.

After the Second World War, the Military Police had the autonomy to adopt its own uniforms, but most stayed with the khaki. During the Military Government in 1976, the Army suggested that the Military Police adopt the blue color (color of the uniform of the Military Police of the Federal District). Since then, some units have changed their uniforms while others have not.

Currently the color khaki (with variations to beige) and blue (with variations of gray to dark blue) prevail in the colors of the uniforms of the Military Police. Forces with khaki uniforms (includes green): BMRS, PMAL, PMBA, PMCE, PMGO, PMMG, PMPB, PMPR, PMPE, PMPI, PMRN, PMSC and PMTO. Forces with blue uniforms (includes Blue-grey):PMAC, PMAP, PMAM, PMDF, PMES, PMMA, PMMS, PMERJ, PMPA, PMRN, PMRO, PMRR, PMESP, PMMT and PMSE.

This applies only to service uniforms, not to the formal uniform, which has different variations.

Ranks The Military Police of the Brazilian States have almost the same hierarchical ranking systemOrdinance of the Ministry of the Army 340, October 4, 1971. of the Brazilian Army, but with different insignias and with no rank of "general", although the role of commanding general has status and military precedence equivalent to that of brigadier general.Law 14,751, December 12th, 2023 - Institutes the National Organic Law of the Military Police and Military Fire Departments of the States, the Federal District and the Territories

Commanders Rank Colonel Lieutenant colonel Major Brazilian Military Police Colonel in the role of governor's military cabinet chief (SP) Colonel in the role of deputy general commander Colonel in the role of chief of staff or regional commander (PR) Colonel in the role of military court judge (SP, MG, RS) Lieutenant-colonel in the role of Governor military / chief of staff or regional commander (interim) Major in the role of Governor military cabinet chief or regional commander(interim)

Officers Rank group Senior officers Junior officers

Student officers Rank group Junior officer Student officer/Cadets 5th year 4th year 3rd year 2nd year 1st year Brazilian Military Police (APMBB) (APMBB) (APMBB) (APMBB)

Enlisted

Student NCOs Rank group Sargeants candidates Corporal candidates Soldier candidates Brazilian Military Police

Main types of policing

Aerial patrol Environmental police K-9 Riot control police Prison security Urban traffic police School patrol Police bicycle Police motorcycle Mounted police Highway patrol Railroad police Special operations D.A.R.E. Tourist police

Ratio of Military Police to Population