By James Crook

165543961April 11 - Members of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee have met with members of State Public Security Institutions to strengthen the relationships between the parties involved at the Municipal Olympic Company (EOM) headquarters in Cidade Nova.


Public Security Secretary, José Mariano Beltrame, attended the meeting along with head of the Civil Police, Martha Rocha, and the Military Police Commander–General, Colonel Erir Ribeiro Costa Filho, who met with senior members of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, including chief executive Sidney Levy.

"They were here in order to get to know the Organising Committee's new headquarters and to make strategic adjustments to the operational planning." said Luis Fernando Corrêa, Rio 2016 Security Director.

"It was an important visit, aimed at optimising the institutional relations between Rio 2016 and all the State Public Security Institutions, with the aim of establishing efficient channels of communication and a full understanding of the Games demands"

The Games Security Plan is an Integrated Action Plan, which is coordinated by the three government levels; State, Municipal and Federal.

And Beltrame believes that this plan will be one of Rio 2016's greatest legacies to not only the citizens of the city, but of the whole country.

"The city's security planning is aimed at more than just the big events like the World Cup and Rio 2016 Games, it is aimed at serving the citizens," said Beltrame.

165543963Rio claims it has seen significant decreases in various levels of crime in recent years

"I believe that the integration exercise shared by the three Government levels and the population, will be the great legacy of the 2016 Olympic Games".

The Rio de Janeiro Public Security Plan has two priorities: the Pacifying Police Units (UPPs), for the favelas, and the Public Security Integrated Regions for the rest of the city.

The first UPP was officially created in 2008, in Dona Marta favela, in the Botafogo neighbourhood, and the State Government have pledged that by 2014, there will be 40 UPPs in operation.

Last month foreign tourist was raped and robbed on a minibus in Copacabana.

But Rio claims it has seen a vast improvement in terms of its security in recent years, with rates of homicide at a 21-year low, along with the lowest rate of street robbery since 2006, and robbery against tourists has dropped by 16 per cent.

These improvements coincide with the introduction of nearly 400 CCTV cameras, with a further 58 to be installed in the metropolitan area.

"Events such as the Olympic Games bring great changes to a city's daily routine." said Corrêa

"We need to be an easy partner and not a burden.

"It's important to emphasise that the relations between the parties couldn't be better.

"They are based on mutual respect".

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