The Battalion of Special Police Operations (Portuguese: Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais, BOPE) is the tactical unit of the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State (PMERJ) in Brazil. The BOPE was created in 1978 for PMERJ to have police officers who were specifically trained to act in hostage rescue operations and extreme risk situations.
With time, BOPE had to do operations raiding favelas to combat Rio de Janeiro's growing drug traffickers and organized crime, and it soon became recognized as one of the world's best units in urban warfare. The unit was subject of the 2007 film Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad), which helped popularize the unit in Brazil and internationally, shaping public perceptions of its tactics and operational culture.
