Sao Paulo to send 1,000 police to Rio for Olympics

The government of Sao Paulo state has agreed to reinforce security at next month's Rio 2016 Games by sending 1,000 military police officers to the Olympic host city, it was announced on Wednesday.

Sao Paulo governor Geraldo Alckmin said the state's police would be paid extra to aid their Rio counterparts during the Aug. 5-21 Games.

"There won't be any loss (of police) in Sao Paulo because we will compensate those 1,000 officers with a higher hourly rate," Alckmin told reporters.

Alckmin said Sao Paulo would also beef up its own police presence during the Games. Brazil's largest city will host 10 football matches at Arena Corinthians, which was one of 12 venues used during the 2014 World Cup.

In addition to hosting football, Sao Paulo will be the pre-Games training base for 10 countries, including France, Canada, China and Argentina.

Meanwhile, justice minister Alexandre de Moraes said in an interview with Folha de S.Paulo that he was more worried about criminality than terrorism during the Olympics.

The government last month said that 88,000 soldiers and police would be deployed during the Olympics, more than double the number used at the London 2012 Games.
Source:XINHUA