# How Bahia State Civil Police Monitored Crowd at the World's Biggest Street Party with Drones - Event: NestGen ’26 - Published: October 2, 2026 - Length: 35:24 - Watch: https://nestgen.org/library/watch/FkbAmTS2swo/ > The transcript of a recorded NestGen session, for reading or for use with an AI tool. It comes from the video's > captions; automatic captions can mishear names and terms. ## About this session Large-scale public events push crowd security teams past what ground personnel and fixed cameras can cover. Massive crowds, tight streets, and constantly shifting activity demand real-time aerial visibility and a way to verify incidents fast enough to act on them. In this NestGen session, OCA Drones and Bahia State Civil Police will share how drones supported crowd monitoring at one of the world's largest street parties, and what public safety teams should think through when deploying drone programs for major event security. ## Transcript **[0:00]** very good morning to the america and we are very excited to host you guys at n I hopeope everybody had a fantastic time at the keynde I ஹ you all ஹ like some interesting insit to share fre to share your thoughts your insites in the chat box over here we have a forum going on I think there some audio fe ச I மர சவாலஸ்லஜம் இடு டுடேஸ்ரன்செ இ க spe ெல் அஸ் இ பிகஸ்ஆஹலியாஸ்டேட்்சி பலஸ்வ பி est வல் இஸ் ofசல்vad காவல் அ இஸ்ய **[1:04]** கத கவல்ஸ் மலமஹச பஆவிஸ்ோர soஹ காலோஸ்அ பஅ காலோஸ் இலதி of drones இ that partners with public safety and cli across la amica to deoy end to autonomous drone prs and the work with specifically with state civil police during the carnal is one of the most real world public safe drone in the region right from like crow monitoring incident detection and real time commination all over a million person event pleas welc ம் காலோஸ் along வி காலோஸ் we ஹ கல பாபோச a on ஸ்டேஜ இலகர்விஹஸ்டேட் **[2:09]** பஸ்ஹ been பீஸ் ஆசர் 16 இஸ்ந அ பசோவெரலஸ்வ working with autonomous drones he is a part of the C unit the special operations and resources coordination he is also the coordinator of NOAP the unm aircraft unit carlos work has of course like he has been in the drone industry for almost a decade now and he has a lot of great insight to share so I'm looking forward to speaking with both of them a quick note for the session is going to be in brail and pug and we will have translation on as I present the sc ீ en and as car and ப talk you will be able to see all that they speak you will be able to see that t in english on my scene itself cle of things I want to mention if you really if you find this session valid ch are that someone in your network in your col will as வ so it will **[3:12]** be great you gu could just take any time during the session because it on your linked pleas Pleas feel free to tag car nen my spread the word about the session and whatev you have learned from the session something else is we will also be publishing this session so we will be putting it up on our youtube FlytBase's youtube there going to be a whole playlist of next 26 s free you want come back to this s and of like take notes once again th fre to come back to youtu we will link alles com [roncando] to the presentation for just give me a second first of all would like to give a வாவ c ம் to காலோஸ் and பஹவம் to the நஜஸ்டேஜஸ்ஹோ than you than you for the இஷ and than you again all the guys for this for this **[4:14]** invitation to be part of this this event it Amaz to be here and some of ஓகேஸ் மஸ்கரீன்ஷேரிங்ய பிரன்ஷத estar aqui com vocês apresentar o melhor do sobre nossas Operações no carnaval de Salvador, Bahia. A festival that attracts millions of people, and monitoring through the platform was unnecessary. So, here's a look at the best of what we did **[5:15]** during Carnival. Thanks. கஸ்டாதிசன்ஸ் ஆல்செட் ஓகே சோலெட்ஸ் கோநஸ்லை live. So let's go. Here are some numbers, right? Oh, from the Salvador carnival. We had... I'm going to give a quick explanation about the numbers and how public security works here in Brazil, because, well, part of the audience are police officers or people involved in public security in other countries, right? We'll talk a little about Carnival, and then we'll quickly discuss the operation of Carnival itself, okay? So these are **[6:18]** some of the numbers from Carnival. We were present in two of the three circuits that make up the Salvador carnival. These are days of celebration throughout the year, it's a very long time, it's a long period that requires a lot of work in that sense. Well, this year, a total of 9.4 million people attended the three carnival circuits. A large part of the demand from this audience, almost 6 million, was in the Barrondina circuit, the Dodô circuit, which is where we carried out operations both with the Civil Police, right? The proof of concept that we did with the Civil Police, as well as another action that we also did with Saltur, okay? Okay, next one. Just to give you an idea of ​​ how things work here in Brazil. So, we have a structure based on the federal government; it's the top of the Brazilian government chain, you know. Then we have the states; there are 26 states, Brazil is divided **[7:20]** into 26 states. Each country has its own security force, its own security department, and its own public security teams . And in total we have almost 5600 municipalities, right, subdivisions of these states, some of which, being larger, also have their own security forces, the Municipal Civil Guard, and they need to interact during these large events, especially during Carnival. Ah, basically, that's how it works, right? What is it, what is the structure like? So, at the federal level, we have the Federal Police, which operates at major government-related events, the Federal Highway Police, which handles road security, road inspections, and so on; the armed forces—the army, navy, and air force—and the National Security Force, which is a specific force for rapid response, for when states need support or request assistance. All of these **[8:26]** teams are already using drones in some aspect, in some missions. In the government of Bahia, in the state of Bahia, which is responsible for leading, right, the management of public security during Carnival, the main entity is the Public Security Secretariat, which has three main forces under its control, under its management, which are the Military Police, the Civil Police, and the Fire Department. It involves rescue operations, and providing support to the population as well. All three branches of the armed forces have been using drones for some time now. And that was an interesting milestone in this year's carnival, that all three, all three forces, all three institutions made use of drones during the carnival. Until last year's carnival, basically only the Military Police were using drones. Some say the fire department had already started using them, but this year all three forces used drones, right, for some kind of operation. And a third element is the **[9:29]** city hall, the city hall of Salvador, which is the body that organizes and manages Carnival and also has the Municipal Civil Guard, which also uses drones and is also integrated into the organization of the festival, okay? Ah, this year, this year we had, just to complete, a different role, because the Civil Police, just to be clear, is a judicial police force, it's an investigative police force. And this year NOARP also had the function of doing prevention work and monitoring the coast where there are many incidents and many crimes, and there our drones would have to be used. The idea was to monitor in real time and through a reliable platform that we could transmit to the Control and Command Center right there in the circuit, right? And there, within the circuit, was a room—we'll **[10:32]** show the circuit itself later—a room where the government officials and authorities were monitoring in real time and seeing everything that was happening through the platform. The drones, you 'll see later that they were modified to have rotating beacons and lights, and our job was simply to show the authorities what was happening in real time. Perfect. So, basically, this integration, you know, how these three entities end up organizing themselves, they need to integrate into Carnival. So, the coordination of security for the entire event falls to the Public Security Secretariat, with the support of its institutions, each within its area of ​​ responsibility, providing support to the municipal structure that manages it. And we still have an element of coordination, when necessary, of cooperation and coordination with the federal entity, because we **[11:36]** have, for example, visits from the president. So, every time the president comes to visit the festival, to participate in some event, some element, the Federal Police, the federal agency, comes along, and everyone has to be integrated, everyone has to coordinate these actions, okay? Regarding Carnival, just so we can understand a little bit about how it works and what happens during Carnival. Eh, eh, next one. This is the picture, right, of what happens in Salvador, right? We basically have three circuits where we call the party circuits. Ah, the Dodô circuit, the Barra Ondina circuit is the most famous nowadays, it's the one that attracts the most people. This white circuit, at the bottom of the image, is the most luxurious, so to speak; it's the one that attracts the most tourists, where you have the VIP boxes, where you have a higher concentration of people, right? Ah, the blue circuit, the Osmar circuit, is the slightly older circuit, the **[12:38]** traditional one, where Carnival effectively took shape, where the electric trios emerged, and where the concept of street bands grew and developed. It's still a very popular circuit, very visited, but it has lost, it ended up losing some ground to the Dodô circuit over the years . And the Batatinha circuit, the one in green, is a more traditional circuit, it's in the historical center, it does n't have large crowds, there aren't as many parades or street parties, it's a somewhat calmer circuit in terms of crowds and people circulating. That's why we focused on it ; we're going to talk a little more about the Dodor circuit on the Salvador coast, okay? Ah, this is the circuit diagram. We have some, it has some very interesting characteristics, which is that it is the longest, this entire route that starts from the right, where the Barra lighthouse is located , it goes all the **[13:42]** way to the end. It's 3 km, right, almost 3.5 km of circuit, where the electric trios start and walk. Ah, their main characteristic is that we have an L-shaped naval zone that creates a conflict area, and we have to be careful with operations. In the corner over there on the right, we also have a spot, a soccer field, that is used by manned aircraft, by helicopters from the security forces operating in the area. So you have helicopters from the Military Police and the Fire Department that take off from this field, cross the circuit, and just cruise along the shore, right? And these arrows indicate the entry points, which are the main streets, where people, the revelers, go to enjoy the party, they enter to access the carnival. So all these access points, these streets, access to them is controlled today. For some years now, the Public Security Secretariat has been installing some portals, and we've been controlling access for these people along the circuit, okay? It's very **[14:51]** important to point out that our biggest challenge was monitoring this entire circuit. As you can see, the circuit is very large, and we always fly over the sandy area to avoid flying over people, following the country's legislation, where it is prohibited to fly over people. So we flew over, the idea was to have a control and command center far from the circuit with live transmission and a command center inside the circuit, right in the middle, where the authorities and visitors who will be there to see the circuit are also located. So, we stayed, we put together some teams along the circuit, and these teams did coordinated transmissions through Noarp, one drone takes off, then another, and Carlos Galáci was always providing support from the platform. Perfect. Well, this is just a photo to give you an idea of ​​ what the circuit is **[15:54]** like, how it works, the beach area, the sand strip. So, the Barra lighthouse is on the far right, on the far left, sorry, and it continues along until you reach Christ the Redeemer. And he's still going on, right? So, just to give you a glimpse of the beauty of the place and how the party happens, where it takes place , okay? And the extension as well, right? Ah, exactly. So, next. Well, the challenges were similar to what we've already discussed. So, this stretch of sand, the challenges we had before the start, right, before the use of drones, and everything that happened was that you had a long stretch of sand to follow on the circuit. The party mainly takes place, it starts in the afternoon, in the late afternoon, but it continues throughout the night, turns into the night, and you have a very long strip of sand and some dark **[16:55]** rocks, which made it difficult to see what was happening in those areas, and there was also a structure underneath it. So, the use of drones was impactful in that sense, allowing us to visualize everything that was happening and all the movement, both to prevent crimes from happening and also in the search for people. Throughout Carnival, we have a series of events where people get lost , get hurt, or are stranded, and ultimately need some kind of support. And the drone, oh, we made use of it, we used it, it brought great benefits in that sense, okay? If you look closely, uh, right in the upper left corner , it's quite dark, isn't it? The area where the crowds pass by, what we call the revelers here—the people, the guests who will be at the party—is very well lit. However, the beach area, which is where violent crimes occur, does n't have much light. And the drone, the idea behind the drone is to be present to **[17:58]** deter someone who wants to commit a crime, right? So, judging by the position in this photo, the police can see that it's roughly the position the drone was in over the strip of sand to avoid flying over people. Of course, given our mission in Brazil, we have the prerogative, if necessary, to fly over people, but even so, we avoid flying over people to prevent accidents. Finally, this was the location where we positioned ourselves, you know, where the teams were positioned, the central, the main command center. So Pompilho stayed on the far left and the other points where the teams were positioned, besides the Barrondina circuit, we also had a position in **[19:00]** Campo Grande on the other circuit, okay? Oh, on the next slide there's a really interesting video of the preparation, showing the drone with the lights and the flyover, and what we managed to do in terms of action, you know, throughout Carnival. You can skip ahead to the video now. So what? But those were the lights we put on the drone. That. Those lights were essential in creating the feeling of presence, right? We used a lot of them, look, it was all dark, but the thermal imaging system was able to identify people. Then another drone is filming the drone's actions, right? So, here's the whole coastline that we're traveling along, and the drone. Of course, that was just the day before the party, as a test and preparation for the event, right? So, the drones were easily visible from a distance because the idea was to **[20:02]** deter the action, not just to correct it, but also to prevent it. Look, that strip of land over there that I told you about. And oh, those really dark places! And only with thermal lighting would we be able to locate any incident, right? OK. So that was basically the benefit we gained from thermal imaging: being able to carry out these actions, identify crimes, and prevent crimes from happening during the Carnival festivities. Ah, let's go to the next one. So, here are some numbers regarding what we saw during Carnival, the impacts, right? So, we had the transmission from the base station, and with the action we took, we managed to transmit the images, the six drones simultaneously live, to two different command centers: one at the general security center, where all the forces are located, and one deployed within the complex. It was also transmitted to other points where the governor's own **[21:07]** management teams were monitoring the event. Ah, we had the presence of the coordinator from Pompilho, who was permanently stationed there at the circuit handling that management and coordination, right? Well, and all the live coverage, right, from what we managed to get across, there were some other numbers. And you can also press play on the video. Well, in total, the platform recorded 194 flights. That's more than 26 hours of flight time over 7 days. Okay ? Yes, 100% uptime all the time with the platform, only via 5G connection. And that's an example of an operation that we followed, which was monitored during a flight while a person was being rescued. Note that the person was lying on the ground and the rescuers were nearby but couldn't see. And through the control center that was monitoring the situation the whole time, they were able to see and then pass the information on to the rescuers **[22:13]** who located the citizen who was feeling unwell there in the woods, in a dark place. And with thermal imaging they were able to coordinate this operation. This was one of the numerous operations we carried out. This was a rescue story that we found quite interesting to show. And at that moment, the person is being removed and injured from the location because they were found. Who knows, if he had stayed there longer, something might have happened, because the person wasn't feeling very well, right? So, this live broadcast was very important because we were able to create interaction between the forces. The force providing the first aid isn't from the Civil Police, but we, from the Civil Police, were broadcasting live through the platform and were able to bring them to the scene so they could provide assistance to the victim. OK. There was only one team, part of the team that worked on the carnival, the coordination and the part of the pilots, right, who were distributed along the **[23:19]** left side. In the photo on the left, the larger photo, there's the commander of the civil police, who we call the general delegate here. He is responsible for all the police officers in my sector, right, in the civil police. He's the top police chief here in Bahia, right? And he's there with the drone team, right? Part of the drone team, right? And in the other photo, the one on the right, I'm operating the platform there, and the name of the Civil Police is visible. And there, I was monitoring to ensure that , in addition to aircraft collisions, the real-time need did not occur. I would receive a radio message saying, "I need a drone in such and such a sector," and I would then instruct the operator in the field to go to that sector. At the same time, they would see the image and issue the necessary commands to execute a mission. OK. **[24:19]** Oh, and there was another experience we had, not just with the use of drones, we put a Doc 2 into the circuit, right? It was installed near the Barra lighthouse. So, this is the point where she was positioned here in the smaller photo. She doesn't appear very clearly where she is, but in the larger, overall photo on the left, she was right on top of the advanced point of the launch pad, and we used her as support for some coordination and management actions of the event itself, right? Oh, and most importantly, one of the functions of the drone was to serve as a control point in case we had adverse weather conditions, rain and all that, because the drone can operate, you know, the M3 TD can operate in the rain, and we were able to maintain that use as long as we had adverse weather conditions . And then there was an interesting thing that I already mentioned to the group, which was that the sound truck passing by and producing a very loud sound gave a false alarm of rain. **[25:23]** So we couldn't operate the drone that was passing nearby because the sound was too loud, the rain sensor was vibrating and it said there was heavy rain and it wouldn't operate the drone. So, and another question that people have also asked, and have asked me before, is that we didn't have any operations, all the operations were fast-paced. Given the characteristics of the circuit, and with many drones and manned aircraft flying, the DOOC (Drone Operations Control) – we were only able to operate it at a fast speed, not a fast one – because we needed someone to monitor airspace safety, okay? Okay, the next one is a simple video, showing a little bit of the impact, right? This video, filmed with Doc's drone, documented one of the situations that occurred involving the replacement of the tractor-trailer truck pulling the sound system, and we were asked to provide coverage of that event. So, just so you all have a little idea of ​​ what the party is like, right? The electric trio, that huge truck with **[26:25]** the band playing on top, which is pulled by another truck along the entire circuit, right? So, just look at the number of people there, right? They are very close to each other. And we managed, despite the festival having millions of people, right, an average of 1 million people per day at this festival, to have very low violence, thanks to drone monitoring and also real-time monitoring, right? So there, people are very, very close together, dancing, playing, having fun, drinking, and we're there working, you can see how big the party is, right? We managed to ensure security in several ways, right? Because you were inside the venue, you were restricted from bringing glass bottles in for security reasons. So with the drone we were able to identify people who had these glass bottles, bladed weapons, firearms; they were identified, and some were seized. **[27:26]** So, drone surveillance allowed for a number of incidents to be prevented, you know, and to avoid a number of things throughout the party, okay? So that's a bit of the general overview of the festival. The one coming up now is my... he's the chief of police, right? He's the highest authority in the police force, and he's thanking the platform. That was an exponential gain. That's basically it. We ended up going on a bit longer, talking a lot, with little time for questions, but we are here and available to answer any questions, any doubts whatsoever. s was carly **[28:32]** demonstrated by the vide was tr and I think this was very very successful deyment espcially looking at the இதி எத கசரிலஹளமோர [laughs] கnல்ஹல தவ இன் question ஹரட்ஐலதி this one just p it up for you on the screen for other public safety considering this how far in advance did you start planning the drone deyment for this event and what was the approval process like how much time did this the approval was quite fast we had we already started planning a few months before the the carnival it took place in **[29:36]** February a month a month and a half before the event the authorization to get all the licenses we need was fast because we had a close deal with the airpace control and for instance next year we are going to have the the feminine world cup here in Brazil and we're gna having some uh games happening here in Salvador And we are already starting to planning how the the how we are going to use the platform how the action we are going to do with it and I think like everything else the more far in advance you plan the better it is but it seems like with a mon time you were able to get sm this one is another interest question what was the coordination like between the drone team and the ground police unit officers get feeds on their devices or it was **[30:39]** everything routed through a central command and security this question comes up a lot that flies over a den cris ser safy concerns what was the fa if a drone had a mechanical failure directly above Like Pompli said over here in Brazil we cannot fly drones over the crowd only **[31:44]** the the police the security forces are allowed to fly drones over the public over the crowd but most of the the flying was done by the the beach by the sheline just taking looking at the crowd obliqu not on top of the crowd where we could stop the drone on top of structures in the one above it. quickly put there take a look and take the drone out all the op any you think that there was a r ல that because I would ass that the ஹ is pryable we think it was a b risk we don't have we don't have the history **[32:54]** It was it was a concern but not afraid if needed to go on top of the crowd for some specific reason for the public safety crew to go top it was okay but that's why but most of the operations were done not on top of the cr Another one I think last question that we can take because we are already overrunning by 3 minutes now when the drone sped something like a flight or a medical emergency what was the communication call to get answers to that exact sp of a million pomp had a radio with all the other crew and they started communicating through radio and also the drone of all those lights blinking one of the reasons was for the crow to see wasing and all toinate and to sign where **[33:55]** the assance was needed undst [snoring] I think that brings us to the end of s it was so lovely to host this session I think I learned so much and super inspired reading with a lot of insights and sure that like all the people who have ஆய question ஹ been ஆன் w pleas ஸ் கவிலோ on linked ன் he இ the founder and ச o drones and he would be வெஹ y to ஹ out வி any kind of பக் saf டி and சரி ity ரிட் question of your how are drones actually being deed to even you would like to partner with dr in that would be a good convation for car so pleases fre to connect வி on லன் and that **[34:57]** I would to the st த than you so much காலோஸ் and for ஜ and I ஹ you ஹ ob you for the thank you everyone thank you for the partnership for sharing. Join us here for this experience. Thanks. Well, bye bye.