Brazilian government to double police salary during 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics

On Tuesday, January 26, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil signed a decree creating the Bolsa-Copa (World Cup Grant) and Bolsa-Olímpica (Olympic Grant), which provides for a bonus payment to public security officials who will serve during both events.
 
To receive the grants, the police officers must attend at least one course per year offered through the National Network for Advanced Studies in Public Security, which involves 66 institutions of higher education. The courses are free of charge and involve subjects such as community policing, human rights, progressive use of force, techniques for non-lethal weapons, crisis management, among others.
 
Minister of Justice Tarso Genro said that the new grants represent a structural change in the remuneration of public security servants in the country. "The most important investment is in personnel, in the men and women who work at the very end. This strategy translates into more qualified training as well as better pay—a fundamental aim of our program for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics”, he said. He also noted that the payment of grants will begin in July 2010.
 
The World Cup Grant will be paid to police officers and firefighters of the host cities that will be directly involved in security operations. The value of individual grants will start at US$ 295 in 2010, and increase to US$ 350 in 2011, US$ 405 in 2012, US$ 463 in 2013, and US$ 534 in 2014. State governments will include the benefit in the wages of all security professionals through the end of the World Cup. The number of police officers involved will depend on the voluntary adherence by states to the project.

The Olympic Grant will be offered in the fixed amount of US$ 640, and will be paid to all civil and military police officers, firefighters, and municipal guards in Rio de Janeiro. The Olympic Grant will also be administered by the state government and will be added to security officials’ wages by 2016.
 
The World Cup and the Olympic grants will effectively double the current wages of all security professionals.