Polizia di Stato
Encyclopedia
The Polizia di Stato is one of the national police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 forces of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

It is the main police force for providing police duties and it is also responsible for patrolling motorways (autostrade), railways (ferrovie), airports (aeroporti), customs (together with the Guardia di Finanza
Guardia di Finanza
The Guardia di Finanza is a Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. Like the Carabinieri, it is part of the Italian Armed Forces. The Guard is essentially responsible for dealing with financial crime and smuggling; it has also evolved into Italy's...

) as well as certain waterways, and assisting the local police forces.

It was a military force until 1981 when, with the Italian State Law 121, became a civil force, in contrast to the other main police forces of Italy, the Arma dei Carabinieri
Carabinieri
The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations, and is a branch of the armed forces.-Early history:...

, which is a military police
Military police
Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...

 (gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...

) force and the Guardia di Finanza
Guardia di Finanza
The Guardia di Finanza is a Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. Like the Carabinieri, it is part of the Italian Armed Forces. The Guard is essentially responsible for dealing with financial crime and smuggling; it has also evolved into Italy's...

, the Italian customs and border protection police that also falls in the military corps category.

The Polizia di Stato is the principal Italian municipal police force for the maintenance of public security as since it is run directly from the Dipartimento della Pubblica Sicurezza (Department of Public Security), and the keeping of public order (ordine pubblico).

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 Commissioners), 19,230 ispettori (Inspectors), 666 vice ispettori (Vice-Inspectors), 13,677 sovrintendenti (Superintendents), 38,976 assistenti(Assistants), and 29,320 agenti (agents).

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

Organization

The headquarters of the Polizia di Stato are in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 and its chief is referred to as the Capo della Polizia (Chief of the Police) with official Rank of Capo della Polizia - Direttore Generale della Pubblica Sicurezza (Chief of the Police - Director General of the Public Security). The Chief of the State Police is also the Honorary President of the National Association of State Police (Associazione Nazionale della Polizia di Stato). Three vice chiefs/director generals 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. Every major Italian town or city has a main P.d.S. station called a Questura run by a Questore (that is also Autorità Provinciale di Pubblica Sicurezza - Provincial Autorithy of Public Security). In smaller settlements, a Vice Questore Aggiunto or Commissario Capo (Commissioner Chief) runs the P.d.S. offices. There are also sub-stations for some districts.

Headquarters organization

Main Offices, Divisions and Specialties of the State Police (Uffici, Reparti e Specialità della Polizia di Stato):
  • State Police Band (Banda Musicale della Polizia di Stato)
  • Data processing and computer center (Centro Elaborazione Dati)
  • Interregional and Regional Collection Centers (Centri Raccolta Ragionale ed Interregionale)
  • Central Direction for the Anticrime Police (Direzione Centrale della Polizia Anticrimine)
  • Central Direction for the Instruction Institutes (Direzione Centrale per gli Istituti d'Istruzione)
  • General Inspectorate of Public Security for Civil Aviation and Ministry of Transportation (Ispettorato Generale di Pubblica Sicurezza preso il Ministero dei Trasporti e dell'Aviazione Civile)
  • General Inspectorate of Public Security for Ministry of the Economic Development (Ispettorato Generale di Pubblica Sicurezza preso il Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico)
  • General Inspectorate of Public Security for Ministry of Labor and the Social Politics (Ispettorato Generale di Pubblica Sicurezza presso il Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali)
  • General Inspectorate of Public Security for Palace of the Viminale (Ispettorato Generale di Pubblica Sicurezza presso il Palazzo del Viminale) The Viminale is the headquarters of the Italian Ministry of Interior;
  • General Inspectorate of Public Security for the Senate of the Republic (Ispettorato Generale di Pubblica Sicurezza presso il Senato della Repubblica)
  • General Inspectorate of Public Security for the Chamber of the Deputies (Ispettorato Generale di Pubblica Sicurezza presso la Camera dei Deputati)
  • General Inspectorate of Public Security for the Vatican City
    Vatican City
    Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...

     (Ispettorato Generale di Pubblica Sicurezza presso la Città del Vaticano)
  • General Inspectorate of Public Security for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (Ispettorato Generale di Pubblica Sicurezza presso la Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri)
  • General Inspectorate of Public Security for the Presidency of the Republic (Ispettorato Generale di Pubblica Sicurezza presso la Presidenza della Repubblica)
  • Central Operational Core of Security (Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza - N.O.C.S.)
  • Gaming and Betting police (Polizia dei Giochi e delle Scommesse)
  • Alpine Aid (Soccorso Alpino)
  • Postal and Communications Police (Polizia Postale e delle Comunicazioni)
  • Immigration and Border Police (Polizia dell'Immigrazione e delle Frontiere)
  • Air Border Police (Polizia di Frontiera Aerea)
  • Maritime Police (Polizia Marittima)
  • Railway Police (Polizia Ferroviaria)
  • Scientific Police (Polizia Scientifica)
  • Highway Police (Polizia Stradale)
  • Mobile Units (Reparti Mobili)
  • Mounted Divisions (Reparti a cavallo)
  • Artificers Units (Unità Artificieri)
  • Canine Units (Unità Cinofili)
  • Superior School of Police (Scuola Superiore di Polizia)
  • Aerial Divisions (Reparti Volo)
  • Sanitary Service (Servizio Sanitario)
  • Gold Flames (Fiamme Oro)

Interregional organization

The Interregional Directorates (Direzioni Interregionali) are:
  • Piedmont
    Piedmont
    Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...

    , Aosta Valley and Liguria
    Liguria
    Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...

     (HQ: Turin
    Turin
    Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

    );
  • Lombardy
    Lombardy
    Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

     and Emilia-Romagna
    Emilia-Romagna
    Emilia–Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of and about 4.4 million inhabitants....

     (HQ: Milan
    Milan
    Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

    );
  • Veneto
    Veneto
    Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...

    , Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Friuli-Venezia Giulia
    Friuli-Venezia Giulia
    Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...

     (HQ: Padua
    Padua
    Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

    );
  • Tuscany
    Tuscany
    Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

    , Umbria
    Umbria
    Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...

     and Marche
    Marche
    The population density in the region is below the national average. In 2008, it was 161.5 inhabitants per km2, compared to the national figure of 198.8. It is highest in the province of Ancona , and lowest in the province of Macerata...

     (HQ: Florence
    Florence
    Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

    );
  • Lazio, Sardinia
    Sardinia
    Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

     and Abruzzo
    Abruzzo
    Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...

     (HQ: Rome
    Rome
    Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

    );
  • Campania
    Campania
    Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

    , Molise
    Molise
    Molise is a region of Southern Italy, the second smallest of the regions. It was formerly part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise and now a separate entity...

    , Basilicata
    Basilicata
    Basilicata , also known as Lucania, is a region in the south of Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south, having one short southwestern coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania in the northwest and Calabria in the southwest, and a...

     and Apulia
    Apulia
    Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

     (HQ: Naples
    Naples
    Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

    );
  • Sicily
    Sicily
    Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

     and Calabria
    Calabria
    Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

     (HQ: Catania
    Catania
    Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...

    ).

These last ones only since 2007.

Questure

There is a Questura in each of the 103 Italian provincial capitals. It is responsible for all the activities carried out by the Polizia di Stato within the Province.

Commissariati di Pubblica Sicurezza

In major cities and highly populated towns there are police stations named Commissariati di Pubblica Sicurezza (Public Security Offices). Each Commissariato di Pubblica Sicurezza is under the Authority of a Questura. 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.

Polizia di Quartiere is the Quarter Police. Pairs of Poliziotti (Policemen) patrol areas of major cities on foot. They are equipped with palm computers and mobile phones to answer to citizens' requests in real time.

Special operations

About 24,000 officers, that is almost a quarter of police personnel, work within the Traffic Police (Polizia Stradale
Polizia Stradale
The Polizia Stradale is the national Highway patrol of Italy and is a sub-directorate of the Italian State Police.The Polizia Stradale patrols the 7,000 kilometers of motorways in Italy and the main highways and arterial roads outside towns...

), Railroad Police (Polizia Ferroviaria), Postal and Telecommunications Police (Polizia Postale e delle Telecomunicazioni) and Border and Immigration Police.

Traffic police


The Polizia Stradale
Polizia Stradale
The Polizia Stradale is the national Highway patrol of Italy and is a sub-directorate of the Italian State Police.The Polizia Stradale patrols the 7,000 kilometers of motorways in Italy and the main highways and arterial roads outside towns...

 are a highway patrol
Highway patrol
A highway patrol is either a police unit created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways, or a detail within an existing local or regional police agency that is primarily concerned with such duties.Duties of highway patrols or traffic...

 organization. They police the 7000 kilometres (4,349.6 mi) of motorways (autostrada) in Italy and 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 of 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

The Polizia Ferroviaria
Railroad police
Railroad police are different from one country to another. Their roles in some countries are not different from that of any other police agency in others they are more related to a type of security police. They are all commonly responsible for the protection of railroad vast networks of...

, or PolFer for short, ensure the security of travelers 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
Rete Ferroviaria Italiana
Rete Ferroviaria Italiana is an Italian company fully owned by Ferrovie dello Stato . RFI is the owner of Italy's railway network, it sets train paths, provides signalling, provides maintenance and other services for the railway network...

 and other Ferrovie dello Stato
Ferrovie dello Stato
Ferrovie dello Stato is a government-owned holding which manage infrastructure and service on the Italian rail network. The subsidiary Trenitalia is the main rail operator in Italy.-Organization:Ferrovie dello Stato subsidiaries are:...

 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 Polizia Postale 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 level 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
Schengen Agreement
The Schengen Agreement is a treaty signed on 14 June 1985 near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, between five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community. It was supplemented by the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement 5 years later...

 many borders have or are about to disappear, 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
Guardia di Finanza
The Guardia di Finanza is a Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. Like the Carabinieri, it is part of the Italian Armed Forces. The Guard is essentially responsible for dealing with financial crime and smuggling; it has also evolved into Italy's...

) and immigration checks.

Mobile units

There are 13 mobile units 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

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
DIGOS
The General Investigations and Special Operations Division , mainly known with its acronym DIGOS, is an Italian law enforcement agency, charged with investigating sensitive cases relating to terrorism, organized crime and serious offences such as kidnapping and extortion.It is a special operative...

 - 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
Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza
The Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza is a special operations division of the Italian state police.-History:In 1974 the Chief of the Polizia di Stato Anti-Terrorism Bureau, Emilio Santillo, announced the necessity to establish a tactical unit with the capability to arrest known terrorists and...

 (Central Operational Core of Security) is the State Police’s elite SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...

 unit.

Training

Recruit training is carried out at the police academy and at an advanced school for senior police officers. There are schools for basic training of cadet officers and technical operators, for teaching police specialties, for instructors, pilots, dog handlers and mounted police officers and the community police school.

Vehicles

The State Police use Italian vehicles ranging from 1994 Fiat Punto
Fiat Punto
The Fiat Punto is a supermini produced by the Italian manufacturer, Fiat, since 1993.-1st generation :Internally codenamed Project 176, the Punto was announced in September 1993 and launched in late 1993 as a replacement for the ageing Fiat Uno. The Fiat Punto was voted European Car of the Year...

s to the Alfa Romeo 159
Alfa Romeo 159
The Alfa Romeo 159 is a compact executive car produced by the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo between 2005 and 2011. The 159 was introduced in production form at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show as a replacement for the successful Alfa Romeo 156. The 159 uses the GM/Fiat Premium platform, shared with...

 2,4 JTD, and foreign makes such as the Subaru Legacy
Subaru Legacy
The Subaru Legacy is a mid-size car built by the Japanese company Fuji Heavy Industries, and manufactured by its division Subaru since 1989, and is available as a sedan or wagon. Part of the original design goals for the Legacy model was to provide Subaru a vehicle in which they could compete in...

 SW and Subaru Forester
Subaru Forester
The Subaru Forester is an all-wheel drive crossover wagon manufactured since 1997 by Fuji Heavy Industries and sold under the Subaru brand...

, BMW E46
BMW E46
The BMW E46 is the fourth generation of the 3 Series compact executive cars produced by BMW, produced from 1998 when it succeeded the BMW E36 until it was replaced by the BMW E90 in 2005....

 and E91
BMW E46
The BMW E46 is the fourth generation of the 3 Series compact executive cars produced by BMW, produced from 1998 when it succeeded the BMW E36 until it was replaced by the BMW E90 in 2005....

, and the Volvo XC70.

In May 2004 the PdS received two Lamborghini Gallardo
Lamborghini Gallardo
The Lamborghini Gallardo is a sports car built by Lamborghini. The Gallardo is Lamborghini's most-produced model to date, with over 10,000 built in its first seven years of production...

s 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. The cars are used on the A3 Salerno-Reggio Calabria motorway and the A14 Bologna-Taranto
Autostrada A14 (Italy)
The Autostrada A14, called also Autostrada Adriatica, is a motorway which connects the town of Bologna to the town of Taranto. For most of its route if follows the Adriatic Sea coast of the Italian peninsula...

.
On November 29, 2009, one of the two Gallardos was severely damaged in an accident while returning from a public display in Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...

: it crashed on some parked cars while avoiding another car who has crossed the road illegally. The Gallardo was fully insured, and is currently under repair from Lamborghini itself.

Ranks

Funzionari role Ispettori role Sovrintendenti role Agenti e assistenti role
Dirigente generale di livello B Dirigente generale Dirigente superiore Primo dirigente Vice questore aggiunto Commissario capo Commissario Vice commissario Ispettore superiore sostituto commissario Ispettore superiore Ispettore capo Ispettore Vice ispettore Sovrintendente capo Sovrintendente Vice sovrintendente Assistente capo Assistente Agente scelto Agente

External links

Official website Official website
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