Law enforcement in Italy
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Law enforcement in Italy is provided by eight separate police forces, five of which national.
During 2005 in Italy the number of active police officers from all agencies totaled 324,339, the highest number in Europe both overall and per capita, twice the number of agents in the United Kingdom.[1]
Structure
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Arma dei Carabinieri
The Carabinieri is the common name for the Arma dei Carabinieri, a Gendarmerie-like military corps with police duties. They also serve as the Italian military police.
The Carabinieri have become a separate armed force (alongside the Army, Navy and Air Force), thus ending their long standing tradition as the First Corps (Arma) of the Italian Army (Esercito). They are referred to as the Arma or La Benemerita (The Meritorious Corps), and are unrivalled in popular affection and national pride (though also the main target of jokes!).
Carabinieri units have been dispatched all over the world in peacekeeping missions, including Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.
In 2004, twelve Carabinieri were killed in a suicide bomb attack on their base in Nasiriyah, in southern Iraq. This was Italy's largest military loss in a single action since World War II.
Previously[when?], only men were allowed to become part of the Arma (or any military force, for that matter), but military reforms allow women to serve in the Italian military, including Carabinieri.
Guardia di Finanza
The Guardia di Finanza, (Template:Lang-en) is a corps of the Italian Army under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance, with a role as police force.
The Corps is in charge of financial, economic, judiciary and public safety: tax evasion, financial crimes, smuggling, money laundering, international illegal drug trafficking, illegal immigration, customs and borders checks, copyright violations, anti-Mafia operations, credit card fraud, cybercrime, counterfeiting, terrorist financing, maintaining public order, and safety, political and military defense of the Italian borders.
The Guardia di Finanza has around 68,000 employees among agents, NCOs and officers. Its agents are in service in the Europol and the European Anti-Fraud Office. Its Latin motto since 1933 is Nec recisa recedit (Template:Lang-en). The Guardia di Finanza also maintains over 600 boats and ships and more than 100 aircraft to fulfill its mission of patrolling Italy's territorial waters.
Polizia di Stato
The Polizia di Stato (State Police) is the National Police of Italy. Along with patrolling, investigative and law enforcement duties, it patrols the Autostrada (Italy's Express Highway network), and oversees the security of railways, bridges and waterways.
It is a civilian police force, while the Carabinieri are military. While its internal organization and mindset is somewhat military, its personnel is composed of civilians. Its headquarters are in Rome, and there are Regional and Provincial divisions throughout Italian territory.
A program called Polizia di Quartiere has been implemented which increases police presence and deter crime. Pairs of poliziotti (policemen) or carabinieri patrol areas of major cities on foot. Its critics contend that these efforts are ineffective, as the areas with the greatest concentration of crime are being neglected.
Polizia Penitenziaria
The Polizia Penitenziaria (Prison Guards, literally Penitentiary Police) operate the Italian prison system and handle the transportation of inmates. The training acedmy for the Polizia Penitenziaria is located in Aversa.
Corpo Forestale dello Stato
Similar to Park Rangers in the United States, the Corpo Forestale dello Stato (National Forestry Department) is responsible for law enforcement in Italian national parks and forests. Their duties include enforcing poaching laws, safeguarding protected animal species and preventing forest fires. Founded in 1822, the Corpo Forestale dello Stato is a civilian police force specialised on the environmental protection. A recent law reform expanded its duties to food controls[2]. In Italy it has the responsibility to manage the activities related to the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species)
Other police forces
Polizia Provinciale operate in all of the 109 provinces of Italy. In addition, Polizia Regionale operate in five of the autonomous regions. Their main duties are to enforce regional and national hunting and fishing laws but they have also expanded into wildlife management and environmental protection. The forces' vehicles are white, with a green stripe along the side.
In addition, each comune has its own Polizia Municipale (municipal police) whose main duty is to enforce local regulations and control traffic, but who also deal with petty crime and anti-social behaviour, especially in the largest metropolitan areas. In some regions these forces can also be called Polizia Urbana or Vigili Urbani.
In some regions Polizia Provinciale and Polizia Municipale are grouped into the Polizia Locale name, although they keep their own internal organisation. Very little comunes can join their local police forces in a consortium.
The Guardia Costiera (Coast Guard) provides law enforcement on the sea and is part of the Italian Navy.
Historical
The OVRA, Organizzazione di Vigilanza Repressione dell'Antifascismo Organization for Vigilance in Repression of Anti-Fascism was a secret police organization in Italy during fascism.
Issues
Police agencies in the country constantly suffered shortages of funds since their modern institution in republican Italy, but in the recent years the situation appears to have deteriorated: according to the police unions, many departments routinely run out of fuel and bullets, and as many as 40% of the cars in the fleet are over fifteen years old.[3]
Italy is also the EU-15 country ranked the lowest in the Corruption Perceptions Index,[4] indicating a high degree of perceived corruption among public officials.[5]
Transportation
Until recently, all Italian police forces were equipped with Italian-made police cars, with FIAT and Alfa Romeos remaining most common today. A patrol car belonging to Polizia is nicknamed Pantera (Panther), one used by the Carabinieri is nicknamed Gazzella (Gazelle) and every unmarked car is called a Civetta (Owl).
Every force has helicopters, trucks and campers (used as mobile offices usually in undercover missions). In Venice, which is built across several islands linked by bridges and surrounded by water, public security and fire brigades work with boats.
In 2004, Lamborghini donated two Lamborghini Gallardo police cars to the Polizia di Stato on their 152nd anniversary. This car is used for fast delivery (310 km/h maximum) of plasma and organs for transplantation.
- Arma dei Carabinieri patrol vehicles are very dark blue with a red stripe along the side. Their normal civilian law enforcement vehicles have registration plates beginning with "CC" whereas vehicles for military police duties have military plates beginning with "EI".
- Guardia di Finanza vehicles are dove grey or dark blue with a thin gold stripe along each side and the words Guardia di Finanza in gold underneath. The vehicle plates begin with the letters “GdiF” in red.
- Polizia di Stato vehicles are light blue with a white stripe along the side and the word Polizia in large letters underneath. The license plates start with the word Polizia in red usually followed by a letter and four numbers.
- Polizia Penitenziaria vehicles are dark blue with a light blue stripe along the side and Polizia Penitenziaria in white letters under the stripe. License plates have the entire name "POLIZIA PENITENZIARIA" on them.
- Corpo Forestale dello Stato vehicles are green with a white stripe and the words Corpo Forestale dello Stato in white along the side. The vehicle plates begin with the letters “CF” in red.
See also
References
- ^ Crime and Criminal Justice - Issue number 19/2008
- ^ http://www3.corpoforestale.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/317
- ^ Template:It "Polizia senza auto, benzina e proiettili", 18 July 2008
- ^ Corruption Perception Report accessed on January 9 2007
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions: TI Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI 2005)". Retrieved 2005-11-22.
External links
- Template:It icon Polizia di Stato (official website) (English; Francais; Espanol; Deutsch)
- Template:It icon La polizia italiana
| Polizia di Stato | .svg) | |
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| Arma dei Carabinieri | ||
| Guardia di Finanza | ||
| Others | ||