Polizia di Stato

Template:Short description Template:Refimprove Template:Use dmy dates Template:Short description Template:Template other The (State Police or P.S.) is one of the national police forces of Italy. Alongside the Carabinieri, it is the main police force for providing police duties, primarily to cities and large towns, and with its child agencies it is also responsible for highway patrol (), railways (), airports (), customs (together with the Guardia di Finanza), as well as certain waterways, and assisting the local police forces.

It was a military force until 1981 when the Italian State Law 121 was passed. This converted the State Police to a civil force, which is in contrast to the other main police forces of Italy: the Arma dei Carabinieri, which is a military police (gendarmerie) force and the Guardia di Finanza, the Italian customs and border protection police that also falls in the military corps category.

The Polizia di Stato is the principal Italian police force for the maintenance of public security and as such it is run directly by the Department of Public Security (), and the keeping of public order (). Interpol summarizes the primary focus of this force: "Its responsibilities include investigative and law enforcement duties, and the security of motorway, railway, and waterway networks."

History

While the modern Polizia di Stato was created in 1981 with the merger of the many civil police services of Italy, its roots date back to 1852 as the police force of the then Kingdom of Sardinia.

It is the successor and heir to the traditions of military and civil police organizations under both monarchy and republic.

Before unification

On 11 July 1852, the King of Sardinia Victor Emmanuel II established the Public Security Guards, a prototype city police service created to serve Turin and Genoa for the protection of their citizens (Law no.1404), and also formed detachments of municipal police. This date is marked as the official anniversary of the State Police.

At that time there were a number of provincial National Guard and Municipal Militia battalions, plus cavalry platoons detached from the army and Carabinieri.

Unified Italy

In 1859, given the current situation regarding the Unification of Italy, the Public Security Guards became the de facto national civil police of a unified Italian nation. Law 3570 (13 November 1859) officially introduced police inspectors into the growing force, and to ensure the security of the residents of a number of provincial capitals and other major cities, the , appointed by the leadership with Royal assent, were also introduced becoming the police chiefs of these areas.

On 9 October 1861, the General Directorate of Public Security of the Kingdom was formally established (Royal Decree 225) to serve as the central authority for civilian law enforcement.

Mission

Europol (the EU's law enforcement agency), provides this summary of the force's responsibilities: "protecting the state, safeguarding the rights and freedoms of citizens, supervising the maintenance of public order, maintaining public safety, providing assistance to public entities and private in the event of accidents and disasters as well as the peaceful resolution of disputes between private individuals. It also deals with the training and education, at its facilities, of members of other police bodies ... speciality departments include the Traffic, Railway, Communications Police, the Mobile Departments and the Scientific Police."

Strength

The State Police has an authorised strength by law of 115,000 people. However, there are approximately 110,000 people of which 16,000 are women. Just under 6,000 employees are civilian support personnel with technical skills who provide logistic and technical support. In 2005 the State Police contained 105,324 members as follows: 893 dirigenti (leaders/officers), 1,839 vice questori (Vice-Questors), 723 commissari capo (Chief Superintendents), 19,230 ispettori (Inspectors), 666 vice ispettori (Sub-inspectors), 13,677 sovrintendenti (Sergeants), 38,976 assistenti (Senior agents), and 29,320 agenti (Constables/Agents).

Approximately 1,500 officers are assigned to the "neighbourhood police" service, the , which has a police presence on the streets and deters crime. Pairs of (policemen) patrol areas of major cities on foot.

Organization

The headquarters of the Polizia di Stato are in Rome and its chief is referred to as the (Chief of the Police) with official Rank of (Chief of the Police – Director General of Public Security). The Chief of the State Police is also the Honorary President of the National Association of State Police (). Three vice chiefs/directors-general report to the chief and their main functions are:

• accomplishment of the functions
• planning and coordination activity
• Director of the Criminal Investigation Police

The force is organized on a regional and provincial basis. The territory of the Italian Republic is divided into 20 regions. They include 107 provincial commands—one each in the 14 metropolitan cities (), 80 provinces (), 6 free municipal consortiums (, the formal provinces of Sicily), 4 abolished Friuli-Venezia Giulia provinces, 2 autonomous provinces—Bolzano – Alto Adige and Trento and 1 in Valle d'Aosta, which is an autonomous region with no provinces nor akin administrative subdivision at all. The administrative centre of each provincial command is the local headquarters, called which is commanded by a Questore (that is also the highest State Police authority for the province – – Provincial Authority of Public Security). The only exception is the recently created province of South Sardinia (established in and operational since 2016). The territory of each province is further divided into Public Security Offices (), commanded by a or (Chief Commissioner). The lowest public security authority is the police station or precinct ().

Headquarters organization

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Historic Italian State Police "Panther" Alfa Romeo Giulia Super of the Flying Squad

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Italian policemen on duty in Piazza di Spagna, Rome, in 2007

Main Offices, Divisions and Specialties of the State Police ():

• State Police Band ()
• Data processing and computer center ()
• Interregional and Regional Collection Centers ()
• Central Directorate for the Criminal Police ()
• Central Anticrime Directorate ()
• Central Directorate for the Anti-Terrorism Police ()
• Central Direction for the Instruction Institutes ()
• General Inspectorate of Public Security for Civil Aviation and Ministry of Transportation ()
• General Inspectorate of Public Security for Ministry of the Economic Development ()
• General Inspectorate of Public Security for Ministry of Labor and the Social Politics ()
• General Inspectorate of Public Security for Palace of the Viminale () The Viminale is the headquarters of the Italian Ministry of Interior;
• General Inspectorate of Public Security for the Senate of the Republic ()
• General Inspectorate of Public Security for the Chamber of the Deputies ()
• General Inspectorate of Public Security for the Vatican City ()
• General Inspectorate of Public Security for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers ()
• General Inspectorate of Public Security for the Presidency of the Republic ()
• Central Operational Core of Security ()
• Gaming and Betting police ()
• Alpine Aid ()
• Postal and Communications Police ()
• Immigration and Border Police ()
• Air Border Police ()
• Maritime Police ()
• Railway Police ()
• Scientific Police ()
• Highway Police ()
• Police Mobile Units ()
• Mounted Divisions ()
• Artificers Units ()
• K-9 Units ()
• Superior School of Police ()
• Police Air Command ()
• Medical Service ()
• Gold Flames ()

Interregional organization

The Interregional Directorates (), organized since 2007, are:

• Piedmont, Aosta Valley and Liguria (HQ: Turin);
• Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna (HQ: Milan);
• Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia (HQ: Padua);
• Tuscany, Umbria and Marche (HQ: Florence);
• Lazio, Sardinia and Abruzzo (HQ: Rome);
• Campania, Molise, Basilicata and Apulia (HQ: Naples);
• Sicily and Calabria (HQ: Catania).

Questure

There is a in each of the 105 Italian provincial capitals. It is responsible for all the activities carried out by the Polizia di Stato within the province.

It is commanded by the Questore, who is the public safety authority and has at his disposal all the police forces in the territory of competence, including the Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza.

Commissariati di Pubblica Sicurezza

In major cities and highly populated towns, there are police stations named (Public Security Offices). Each is under the Authority of a . Their task is to control, prevent and fight crime in their jurisdiction, and to deal with paperwork as to, among other things, requests for gun licences, passports, permits, and regularization of foreigners.

Special operations

About 24,000 officers, that is almost a quarter of police personnel, work within the Highway Patrol (), Railroad Police (), Postal and Telecommunications Police () and Border and Immigration Police ().

Highway patrol

The Polizia Stradale, or for short, is a highway patrol organization. PolStrada police public roads all over the country, including the of motorways (), the main highways and arterial roads outside towns. Their duties are the prevention and detection of driving offences, car accident reports, planning and carrying out services to regulate traffic, providing escorts for road safety, protection and control of the road network, rescue operations and cooperation in the collection of traffic flow data.

Railway Police

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Police golf carts at Venice Railway Station

The Polizia Ferroviaria, or for short, ensure the security of travellers and their belongings on trains and at stations plus the safety and control of dangerous goods. Railroad Police officers patrol, in particular, long-distance and night trains, and at stations in big cities where vagrants often accumulate. Rete Ferroviaria Italiana and other Ferrovie dello Stato companies co-operate fully with the railroad police in dealing with railway security for passengers.

Post and telecommunications

The Polizia Postale e delle Comunicazioni, or for short, investigates all crimes that use communications as part of its modus operandi such as computer hacking, online child pornography, credit card fraud, spreading computer viruses or software copyright violations.

Immigration and Border Police

To control the flow of migrants into Italy, the Department of Public Security set up the Immigration and Border Police Service (Polizia di Frontiera), to enforce regulations concerning the entry and stay of aliens in Italy. The service operates at both central and local levels with many land, air and maritime border police offices.

The service is also responsible for passport control, the issuing of residence permits, as well as the prevention and control of illegal immigration. Although due to the Schengen Agreement the land borders have disappeared, the division is still present on all borders to do systematic or random checks. In airports, the border police are in charge of security (hand baggage searches are done by airport companies or private security companies but are supervised by the Polizia di Frontiera and by the Guardia di Finanza) and immigration checks.

Mobile units

There are 13 mobile units of "Reparto Mobile" located in the main Italian cities. These can be deployed throughout the country to maintain public order with crowd-control equipment and vehicles or perform rescue services in areas affected by natural disasters. These units employ personnel that are trained and equipped for their task.

The P.d.S.'s bomb disposal units, mounted detachments, canine units, air support squadrons and maritime and river police units all fall under the mobile unit HQ.

Anti-Terrorism Police

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Photo of Army Parade in Rome, 2 June 2006, Republic Day. NOCS special groups.

The Anti-Terrorism Police is a specialist body made up of the Central Directorate for the Anti-Terrorism Police and of the Branches for General Investigations and Special Operations Division (DIGOS – Divisione Investigazioni Generali e Operazioni Speciali), located in the questure at the local level. The Directorate for the Anti-Terrorism Police has two departments: one is mainly responsible for information collection and analysis while the other develops and coordinates investigations aimed at preventing and fighting terrorism. The Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza (Central Operational Core of Security) is the State Police's elite police tactical unit.

Training

Entry into the Italian State Police is achieved through a public competitive exam based on qualifications and examinations. The announcement may include specific quotas reserved for personnel already serving or for the children of victims of duty.

Starting from 1 January 2005, following Law No. 226 of 23 August 2004, all positions in the recruitment process for trainee police officers were reserved exclusively for individuals who were serving or had completed a voluntary term in the Italian Armed Forces, either as one-year volunteers (VFP1) or four-year volunteers (VFP4).

Since 1 January 2016, the competitions have once again been opened to civilian applicants, provided they meet all the required criteria, maintain an unblemished record, and fall within the required age limits. Nonetheless, part of the available positions continues to be reserved for fixed-term volunteers of the Armed Forces.

The recruitment procedures are still governed by several decrees of the Ministry of the Interior: Decree No. 115 of 6 April 1999, and Decree No. 276 of 2 December 2002; psycho-physical eligibility requirements are established by Decree No. 198 of 30 June 2003, while the exam subjects are regulated by Decree No. 129 of April 28, 2005.

After passing the competition, the successful candidates are assigned to the appropriate training institutions (such as the Trainee Officers’ School or the Higher Police School), with training durations varying depending on the role.

A general regulatory framework for recruitment is also provided by Legislative Decree No. 66 of 15 March 2010, which includes additional reservations of positions in cases strictly defined by law.

Weapons

Weapon	Origin	Type
Beretta 92FS	Italy	Standard issue sidearm
HK MP5	Germany	Submachine gun
Beretta PM 12	Italy	Submachine gun, to be retired
Beretta PMX		Submachine gun, replacing the PM12
Beretta AR70/90		Assault rifle
Benelli		Shotgun
Franchi GL-40/90		Riot control weapon made under license by Heckler & Koch.

Vehicles

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Polizia di Stato Lamborghini Gallardo

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BMW E91 Polizia di Stato

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Motorcyclists of the Polizia Stradale in Rome

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A state police boat in Venice

The State Police use Italian vehicles ranging from 1994 Fiat Puntos to the Alfa Romeo 159 2,4 JTD, and the Alfa Romeo 155 8v and foreign makes such as the Subaru Legacy SW and Subaru Forester, BMW E46 and E91, and the Volvo XC70. In May 2004 the PdS received two Lamborghini Gallardos equipped with V10 engines and in the classic blue-white livery with accessories such as a container for transporting organs and a defibrillator. The cars are used on the A2 Salerno-Reggio Calabria and the A14 Bologna-Taranto motorways.

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Alfa Romeo 159 Polizia di Stato

On 29 November 2009, one of the two Gallardos was severely damaged in an accident while returning from a public display in Cremona: it crashed into some parked cars while avoiding another car which crossed the road illegally. The Gallardo was fully insured, and is currently being repaired by Lamborghini itself.

On 30 March 2017, the PdS received the second Lamborghini Huracán equipped with V10 engines and 520 bhp in the classic blue-white livery with accessories such as a container for transporting organs and a defibrillator.

Rank structure and insignia

Directors of Police

The directors of police are not sworn police officers, but senior civil servants, and are not uniformed.

• (Chief of Police – Director General of Public Security) is the chief of the Polizia di Stato, and head of the Department of Public Security in the Ministry of Interior and as such in charge of coordinating all Italian police forces.
• (Deputy Chief of Police)
• (Deputy Director General – Director of Central Criminal Police)
• (Deputy Director General), in charge of planning and coordination.

Executive Officers

Rank	Technical Rank	Medical Rank	Insignia	Cap band	Promotion notes
(General Director)			File:Dirigente generale ps.png	File:Soggolo Dirigente Generale PS.png
(Superior Director)			File:Dirigente superiore ps.png	File:Soggolo Dirigente Superiore PS.png

Director Officers

Rank	Technical Rank	Medical Rank	Insignia	Cap band	Promotion notes
(First Director)			File:Primo dirigente ps.png	File:Soggolo Primo Dirigente PS.png	Promotion to through selection after 5 years as .
(Deputy Chief)		Medico superiore	File:Vice Questore PS.png	File:Soggolo Vice Questore PS.png	Promotion to through selection after 5 years as .
(Assistant Deputy Chief)			File:Vice questore aggiunto ps.png	File:Soggolo Vice Questore Aggiunto PS.png	After 6 years service as : 80% of the promotions go to direct entry officers after scrutiny. 20% of the promotions go to internal entry officers with a master's degree after a promotional exam.
(Chief Commissioner)			File:Commissario capo ps.png	File:Soggolo Commissario Capo PS.png	Direct after graduation from the police academy for those who entered through direct entry. For others, after 5 years service as
(Commissioner)			File:Commissario ruolo direttivo speciale ps.png	File:Soggolo Commissario PS.png	After two years service as for internal entry officers.
(Deputy Commissioner)			File:Vice commissario ps.png	File:Soggolo Vice Commissario PS.png	Direct entry: 80% from candidates with a Master's Degree and not over 30 years old. 20% are reserved for serving policemen with a Master's Degree, and not over 40 years of age; half of them from the , half from the other ranks. They are holding the rank of at the academy. Internal entry: 80% from with a bachelor's degree, 5 years of service, not over 35 years of age. 20% from not over 55 years old. They are promoted to the rank of after graduation from the academy.

Inspectors

Rank	Technical rank	Insignia	Cap band	Promotion notes
(Station Inspector Coordinator)		File:Sostituto Commissario Coordinatore PS.png	File:Soggolo Sostituto Commissario Coordinatore PS.png	Promotion to after 4 years of service as .
(Station Inspector)		File:Ispettore superiore sostituto commissario ps.png	File:Soggolo Sostituto Commissario PS.png	Promotion to based on scrutiny and at least 8 years of service as .
(Senior Inspector)		File:Ispettore superiore ps.png	File:Soggolo Ispettore Superiore PS.png	Promotion to based on scrutiny and at least 9 years of service as , as well as the possession of a Bachelor's degree.
(Chief Inspector)		File:Ispettore capo ps.png	File:Soggolo Ispettore Capo PS.png	Promotion to after scrutiny.
(Inspector)		File:Ispettore ps.png	File:Soggolo Ispettore PS.png	Promotion to after 5 years of service as
(Sub-inspector)		File:Vice ispettore ps.png	File:Soggolo Vice Ispettore PS.png	50% are recruited through direct entry from civilian life; 50% are recruited from lower ranks with at least 5 years of service. For both recruitments, a secondary school diploma qualifying for university studies is required.

Superintendent

Rank	Technical rank	Insignia	Cap band	Promotion notes
(Chief Sergeant Coordinator)		File:Sovrintendente Capo Coordinatore PS.png	File:Soggolo Sovrintendente Capo Coordinatore PS.png	Promotion to after 8 years of service as
(Chief Sergeant)		File:Sovrintendente capo ps.png	File:Soggolo Sovrintendente Capo PS.png	Promotion to based on scrutiny and at least 5 years of service as
(Sergeant)		File:Sovrintendente ps.png	File:Soggolo Sovrintendente PS.png	Promotion to after 5 years of service as an
(Sub-Sergeant)		File:Vice sovrintendente ps.png	File:Soggolo Vice Sovrintendente PS.png	70% are recruited through selection from ; 30% from and with at least 4 years of service through an examination.

Agent and Assistant

Rank	Technical rank	Insignia	Cap band	Promotion notes
(Chief Assistant Coordinator)		File:Assistente Capo Coordinatore PS.png	File:Soggolo Assistente Capo Coordinatore PS.png	Promotion to after 8 years of service as an
(Chief Assistant)		File:Assistente capo ps.png	File:Soggolo Assistente Capo PS.png	Promotion to based on scrutiny and at least 4 years of service as an
(Assistant)		File:Assistente ps.png	File:Soggolo Assistente PS.png	Promotion to based on scrutiny and at least 5 years of service as an
(Senior Constable)		File:Agente scelto ps.png	File:Soggolo Agente Scelto PS.png	Promotion to based on scrutiny and at least 5 years of service as an
(Constable)		File:Agente ps.png	File:Soggolo Agente PS.png	Civilians and volunteers of the Italian Armed Forces are eligible to take part in the exam to become an

Decorations awarded to the State Police

• 1 Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Italy
• 17 Gold Medals of Civil Valour
• 14 Gold Medals of Civil Merit
• 3 Silver Medals of Civil Merit
• 1 Bronze Medal of Civil Merit
• 2 Bronze Medals of Militar Valour
• 1 Gold Medal of Public Health Merit
• 1 Bronze Medal of Civil Defense Excellence 1st Class
• 2 separate Medals of Merited Service in Earthquake Relief (1908 and 1915, respectively)
• UN Peacekeeping Medal (for service as part of UNMIK Kosovo 1995–2004)

See also

• Law enforcement in Italy
• Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City

External links

• Template:In lang Official website
• Template:In lang Official website