Two drones from the GSI (Institutional Security Office) will provide security support for the free concert by singer Madonna, on May 4th, on Copacabana beach, south of Rio de Janeiro.
Two other police facial recognition drones will fly over the neighborhood. The Military Police, the city hall and the state government released this Thursday (25) the security and infrastructure scheme set up for the event, in a plan called ‘Operation Madonna’.
“It’s a big investment in technology that we’re making together to make the show a success,” said Colonel Marco Andrade, PM spokesman.
The security scheme will be similar to that of New Year’s Eve in Copacabana. The PM will carry out extensive patrolling with 3,200 police officers, 64 vehicles and 65 observation towers spread across the neighborhood. The corporation will also install a CICC (Integrated Command and Control Center) in Lido square, close to the stage.
“All the images generated by the city hall, the Military Police and the images produced by the drones will converge on the CICC. The facial recognition system will work at this center. This will speed up the possibility of identifying fugitives from justice who are circulating in the neighborhood on that day” , said the PM spokesperson.
Access to Copacabana will be closed to cars in the late afternoon of the 4th, a Saturday. From 7:30 pm onwards, not even buses and taxis will be allowed to travel through the neighborhood’s streets. Municipal buses will be parked in Botafogo cove, and the main means of transport to get to the show will be the metro — Copacabana has three stations, Cardeal Arcoverde, Siqueira Campos and Cantagalo.
The PM will set up 18 blocking points and 18 search points with facial recognition equipment on the streets across the beach. The objective of the inspection work is to prevent the entry of sharp objects, such as knives, scissors, box cutters and glass bottles. Metal detectors will also be used at metro station exits.
The PM’s scheme was reinforced to avoid repeating the problems of August last year, when a DJ Alok show to celebrate the centenary of the Copacabana Palace hotel was marked by incidents of theft and robbery.
At the time, the police said they had taken around 500 people to police stations during and after the show. There were robberies on the waterfront and in neighboring neighborhoods such as Botafogo and Laranjeiras. More than 150 sharp objects were seized.
