A GARRA SWAT team is sent out on the mission. A black Chevrolet Trailblazer is confused with the darkness of the night and, at the same time, with the blinding lights of the city of São Paulo. In high velocity with three police officers, it moves through the avenues of the town towards the zone to the verification in a favela a complaint of sale of drugs and the existence of arms of restricted use in the power of drug dealers.
At the moment of the arrival, the police team had to disembark and continue the search on foot. As alleys, passages, and corridors reach 23 inches in width; it’s impossible to use even the motorcycles. The incursion in these urban labyrinths where twilight predominates must be done with foot and extreme caution. The Imbel MD-97L 5.56mm caliber rifle also cannot be used. There is no space. Only a .40 pistol will have any effect on a showdown.
After walking a few dozen feet, a suspect sighting, the presence of the police, and start the escape. He is chased and captured and throws some crap and cocaine on the floor and money in his pocket. The police officers see all action and continuity of a hunt to the suspect who cannot jump over the wall. Caught by the police force team, he denounces where his cronies are. There are large quantities of drugs, 7.62mm assault rifles, 9mm pistols, and other artifacts.
The cops return with the bad guys to the car. In the ballistic vest, the acronym GARRA does not leave doubts about the forge of the police officers who participated in that small operation, but that resulted in significant loss for the drug traffickers. They are the elite and the most motivated police officers in the entire Civilian Police of São Paulo State (CPSPS). They are considered the most effective SWAT team in Brasil.
They are the strong arm of justice; They are the strong arm of the Law.
Intelligence, research, and special operations
A wave of so-called violent crimes, those of robberies followed by rape, was plaguing the city of São Paulo, the capital of the homonymous Brazilian state.
In the 1970s, the population was already tired of living with this fear, and the authorities sought to modernize the São Paulo police structure.
The ideal model used as a reference by the state authorities was found in a city more than 4.722 miles distant, located in the Northern Hemisphere. New York had motivated, proactive police that evolved at the same pace as the city.
The Armed Robbery and Robbery Repression Group was established in October 1976 and has since been subordinated to the State Department of Criminal Investigations (DEIC). The name recently changed to Armed Group of Robbery Repression but kept the same acronym GARRA.
In 1977, there were 26 teams formed; Each one by one delegate, three investigators, and one driver. Each car was equipped with a radio and directly contacted the Civilian Police operating center.
In the ’80s, the group consolidated. Through the rounds, he sought and arrested wanted criminals while assisting any other Civilian Police units to stop criminal and high-risk actions.
It is currently one of the three pillars of the Division of Special Operations (DOE). Created by Decree No. 59.219, dated May 22, 2013, the DOE is subordinate to the DEIC and is the response of the Civilian Police to the most severe crimes. In addition to the GARRA, it is composed of the Special Reaction Group (SRG) and the Aerotactic Service.
Its structure comprises five Operational Groups that work in shifts covering 24 hours a day. Each group (10, 30, 50, 70, and 90) has a chief delegate known as Pilot, its investigators, and its vehicles. Besides the Operational Groups, there are also two Special Groups with Motorcycles.
“We also have the Supervision of the GARRA composed of highly experienced investigators, who carry out the intelligence work by analyzing the occurrences, studying the routine of criminal activities, infiltrating the site through campaigns for the elaboration of detailed reports, so that the groups have the complete information for the realization of the prisons. This is one of the faces of GARRA, the investigative and intelligence work that has a very profound impact on the group’s activities, “explains Dr. Mario Palumbo Jr., GARRA’s supervisor.
The work of investigation and intelligence is fundamental and indispensable. In several situations, GARRA police officers, through planning and intelligence, avoided crimes minutes before they were carried out, such as attempting to rob a high-end residential condominium, as we will tell below.
Two vehicles. A luxury model SUV was obtained through theft. The other is a popular car with a chassis number altered.
Four motorized criminals carrying a 7.62mm AK-47 assault rifle, a .45 pistol, and a 9mm pistol-armament for the restricted use of the Armed Forces and police services – were reunited with four other members of the same gang to divide the tasks that day. They also wore a black balaclava, plastic cuffs as handcuffs, ten cell phones, and two HT-type communication radios.
The goal was to raise as much money as possible with an assault on a luxury condominium.
Everything was ready. And when the plan seemed to be going on in anticipation, the surprise: without realizing it, the gang was monitored a week ago by GARRA cops.
Guided by its Supervisor Delegate, Dr. Mario Palumbo Junior, the head of the company carried out all the investigation, raised the fundamental and routine information of those criminals, and planned all the action to be caught at the exact moment for the flagrant.
Without a shot being given, a specialized robber gang was dismantled, and armaments of restricted use were withdrawn from circulation.
Volunteers only
The GARRA is not a place where any cop works. You must like it. To be part of the GARRA, first and foremost, you must be a volunteer. None of his men were transferred to the unit without his consent.
However, this is only the first step and condition for any police officer to join this elite unit.
The choice of the supervisor, Dr. Palumbo, who now has 17 years of his career, followed analyzes of professionalism, technique, and vocation. He worked for eight years in the Special Operations Group (including his supervisor for one year); In the special operations sector of the State Department of Drug Prevention and Repression (DENARC); And in 2011 went to GARRA and since April 6, 2015, is the group’s supervisor.
The ability to join an operational group such as GARRA includes being physically fit, shooting above average, and being very fond of what he does. His cops are at the forefront of confronting heavily armed and well-trained gangs, and everyone must act calmly, including in extreme, high-risk situations. Thus, the daily occurrences in which GARRA gets involved are heavier. Being a volunteer and having vacancies, the policeman is interviewed and, if accepted, enters the GARRA, staying in a probationary stage.
“It is the routine that will prove to us, and especially to that police officer, whether or not he is fit for the functions that GARRA exercises. It can happen to him to experience the day-to-day and to realize that he does not have the aptitude for it. We act to solve the problems, and the police cannot become just a problem when a change of shots, for example. In many cases, the police officer realizes that he does not have this ability and asks to be transferred”, explains Dr. Palumbo.
Training
Once the probationary period is over, the police officer receives specialized training to fulfill the various missions of the GARRA. This includes the correct way to behave in an operating vehicle, learning and specializing in rappelling, martial arts (Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai), and advanced shooting techniques. “If you do not achieve 100% targeting using the rifle, the officer does not become eligible to operate with that rifle. We have a differentiated discipline. Another point that I highlight for our police officers and treatment of the population, which must be very well done and educated. Of that, I do not give up”, reinforces Dr. Palumbo.
GARRA police officers periodically improve techniques, shots, approaches and seek to introduce into their routine the modern equipment and doctrines employed by special police services worldwide. There are exchanges in other States. But the techniques are continuously adapted and modified according to the reality of São Paulo and the equipment used by GARRA.
The weapons and equipment of the GARRA
And an operational team is not complete without the dedicated equipment and armaments.
The GARRA officer uses a level III ballistic vest, with the option of adding ceramic plates that support the impacts of a higher caliber, such as 7.62mm. They have handcuffs, a tactical flashlight, a knee pad, a radio, glasses, and a pistol .40S&W Taurus PT840P. They also have helmets and ballistic shields for invasions in hostile environments or the control of civil unrest. The support guns are the caliber 12 models 586.2 Pump Action, Taurus / FAMAE MT-40 caliber .40S & W submachine gun, and the Imbel MD-97L 5.56mm assault rifle.
But GARRA follows the progressive use of the gallows, and its men are ruled, even in the Politics of Human Rights. Hence the importance of struggling knowledge to immobilize a criminal or person who is threatening the integrity of other citizens. The GARRA also employs low-lethality weapons such as elastomer ammunition (rubber bullets), pepper spray, gas bombs, moral and fumigant effects.