Physical Fitness Requirements from the Brazilian Elite Police

Physical Fitness Test B.O.P.E.

Picture by André Gustavo Stumpf on FlickR.com

BOPE, which stands for Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais is one elite police unit, also to be considered military. Very well known in movies, they are training hard to keep up their name and to service the people of the country Brazil.

Established in: "1978"

Motto: "Faca na Caveira"
Translation: Knife in the Skull / Victory Over Death.

They are known to use lethal force and are trained for various situations such as hostage rescue, suppress criminal activities, and prison riots.

To join B.O.P.E., one needs to be a police officer for at least 2 years. The minimum and the maximum age vary from city to city. Usually, the age requirement for a candidate is between 18 to 30 years of age. Since 2008, women are also allowed to join this force. One cannot have previous convictions and have to have a high school diploma.

Chart Standards BOPE - T.A.F.

#	Exercises	Pass	Good	Great	Gold
1.	Rope Climb	5 - 6 meter climb. This is a pass/fail event
2.	Tower Jump	10-meter jump. This is a pass/fail event
3.	Tread Water	20 - 30 minutes. This is a pass/fail event
4.	Pullups	+ 10 reps	+ 14 reps	+ 18 reps	+ 25 reps
5.1	Swim 200 Meter	- 5:00 min	- 4:00 min	- 3:00 min	- 2:35 min
5.2	Swim 400 Meter	12:00 min	10:19 min	8:40 min	7:50 min
6.1	Cooper Test	2400 Meter	2600 Meter	2800 Meter	3000 Meter
6.2	8 KM Run	50:00 min	42:00 min	38:00 min	35:00 min
7.	Sit-Ups	+ 48 reps	+ 56 reps	+ 64 reps	+ 78 reps
8.	Long Jump	+ 4.00 meter	+ 4.50 meter	+ 4.90 meter	+ 5.60 meter
9.	Pushups	+ 35 reps	+ 48 reps	+ 59 reps	+ 80 reps

This test involves 9 different exercises, which have to be completed in the listed order. Those are usually separated into 2 days of physical fitness testing. The 8K used to be standard for B.O.P.E. They had to perform it through the favelas, which is on concrete and hills up and down. However, they adapted to many other units around the world and decided to implement the 12 minute Run, also called the Cooper test. The standards vary from men to women. For example, the Cooper Test Requirements for Women are lower than for men. Women only need to be able to run 2000 meter within 12 minutes, instead of the 2400 meter. They also do not need to perform Pullups, rather they have to do Flex hangs. The rope climb has to be performed without the use of legs. However, on the way back, the candidate is allowed to use the legs. If during treading water, the candidates' head dips underwater, the candidate is eliminated. The chin needs to stay over the surface. When doing the jump from the tower, the candidate will be told to jump and has then 10 seconds to do so. If he does not do it within the 10 seconds, he is automatically eliminated from the course.

Physical Requirements and Information from other units

For Other Units, click below
GOPE	TOE	DINCO
GSG 9	GIGN	Eko Cobra
SWAT	FBI	GIS
SEK	JÖH	U.E.I.
Policia Panama	KSK	Delta Force
For MsigWarrior Blog, click here
All other available units, click here

B.O.P.E. Training

Once the physical fitness test, the medical exams, and the interviews are successfully passed, the candidates will get into the Special Operations Course called COEsp. This phase lasts 4 months and teaches the candidates about unconventional warfare & missions. During this course, candidates are subject to little sleep and little food intake. They gain experience in dangerous areas, such as the slums, jungles, and mountain regions. Under extreme pressure, they learn how to control their aggressiveness. They learn and get trained in various topics such as... marksmanship, self-defense, mountaineering, sea survival, first aid, hostage situations, and various ambush scenarios.

BOPE Fitness Test Video

B.O.P.E. Training (Continued)

Only 20% of those entering this course will make it through. They also spend a lot of time in classroom settings. They will learn to understand terrorist groups, such as their motives, their political aspirations, their methods, and behaviors, how to identify various forms of terrorism and terrorists, and study their history. In-depth, they will learn about human rights, law, sociology, psychology, and effective communication methods with the public, reading the body language of people. At the end of the training, their snipers will be able to shoot a target in the size of a 5 cent coin, from a distance of 100 meters. Each BOPE candidate will have fired about 2500 rounds and learned to handle about 12 different weapons. During Training Phase and once they become official members of BOPE, their physical training regiment lasts about 3 hours a day.

B.O.P.E. CAT Training

There is another course designed for police officers who would like to become versatile in technology and service B.O.P.E. in technology and operations.

B.O.P.E. Creed

Lealdade, destemor, integridade
Serão os primeiros lemas
Desta equipe sempre pronta a combater
Toda a criminalidade
A qualquer hora, a qualquer preço
Idealismo como marca de vitória.
Com extrema energia, combatemos todos
Os nossos inimigos
Criminosos declarados em igualdade
Derrotamos os omissos
Guerra sem trégua heróis anônimos
Operações especiais.
E o batalhão coeso e unido
Não recua ante a adversidade
Com ousadia enfrentamos realidade
Vitória sobre a morte é a nossa glória prometida. URRÁ!

Translation of the Creed

Loyalty, Fearlessness, Integrity
They will be our creed
Our team is always ready to fight
All types of crime
At any time, at any price
Idealism is our victory trademark.
With extreme energy, We Fight Everyone
Our enemies
Criminals are declared to be equal
We defeat the omitted ones
All-out War for the anonymous heroes
Special operations.
And the Cohesive and United Battalion
Don't back down in the face of adversity
With boldness, We Face Reality
Victory over death is our promised glory. URRÁ!

Characteristics of a B.O.P.E. Operator

B.O.P.E. believes that for success one needs to have the following traits ...

1. controlled aggressiveness, 2. emotional control, 3. discipline, 4. flexible in solving problems, 5. honest, 6. loyal, and 7. perseverance. He or she also must 8. take initiative, 9. be versatile, and 10. a leader.

It is said that those candidates who make it successfully through the training phase and further training, will develop the ability to, without losing control, think quickly and make hard decisions. Those candidates will become successful multitaskers.

BOPE Fitness Test

Facts about B.O.P.E.

B.O.P.E. is internally known. They previously trained with the GIGN of France and the Navy Seals of the U.S.

To reach certain areas in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, BOPE Operators recently acquired Yamaha Motorcycles and learned how to successfully master the narrow streets.

B.O.P.E. had been in the negative news for various situations in the last couple of years. Some of the operators were charged with becoming accomplices with the local gangs and behaving extremely hostile towards the local population.