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Municipal police (Italy)

(Redirected from Polizia Municipale)

In Italy, polizia municipale, vigili urbani and polizia locale are police of the various comuni (municipalities).

Polizia municipale
Polizia locale
The Italian Local Police coat of arms
The Italian Local Police coat of arms
The signal of a police control by the municipal police
The signal of a police control by the municipal police
Traffic signs of a municipal police station
Traffic signs of a municipal police station
AbbreviationPL
MottoARS NOSTRA VIS URBIS (Latin)
Agency overview
Formed1861
Employees50.000
Annual budgetDifferent by municipal governememt
Jurisdictional structure
National agencyItaly
Operations jurisdictionItaly
General nature
Operational structure
Overseen byMunicipality
Elected officer responsible
  • Mayor
Agency executive
  • Commander/service director
Parent agencyMunicipal government
Notables
Significant Role
  • Traffic controls, public documents notification, public order and security, civilian police
Anniversary
  • Saint Sebastian
Website
www.poliziamunicipale.it (not official)

They are, in effect, the local police and work alongside the Ministry of Interior's Polizia di Stato the Ministry of Justice's Polizia Penitenziaria, the Ministry of Defence's Carabinieri, the Ministry of Finance's Guardia di Finanza and other emergency services.

Overview

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Municipal police headquarter with bilingual Italian-French signs, Mont Émilius st, Aosta.

Some municipal police forces in Italy trace historical origins to the vigili urbani and comes stabili of ancient Rome.[1]

Urban policing emerged in the 13th to 14th centuries in the Italian comunes (such as Bologna); although police forces have been assumed to be a modern innovation, these medieval forces had some similarities to modern police forces.[2] Today, Italian municipal forces go by various names, such as polizia comunale (comune police), polizia urbana (urban police), and polizia locale (local police).[3]

 
A pair of Compagnie Barracellari directing traffic.

in Sardinia, the Compagnie Barracellari operate as one of the oldest rural police forces in Europe.

Function

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Mounted Polizia municipale in Piazza della Signoria in Florence

These are bodies that are established by Italian local authorities and the central functions of municipal police are administrative in character, including traffic control and responsibilities relating to licenses and urban regulations.[4]

The municipal police also serve as auxiliaries to security police forces and have responsibilities for local crime prevention and community policing.[4] The competence (jurisdiction) of municipal police are limited to their specific municipality.[4]

Prior to the 1990s, municipal policing in Italy had a marginal role and was viewed as low-level in comparison to the Carabinieri, Polizia di Stato, and other police forces; since that time, the strength and reputation of the municipal policy has been enhanced, particularly in central and northern Italy.[4]

 
Three italian polizia locale officers in Milan

Numbers

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Polizia Locale of Milan motorbike. Notice the boots and white belt.

There are roughly 50,000 municipal police officers in Italy; since 2011, the Italian regions have been exclusively responsible for coordinating, organizing, and training municipal police.[4]

Equipment

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A member of the Polizia Locale during a road accident survey

Like most Italian police forces, the Polizia Municipale use a variety of police equipment for the execution of their duties. These include:

  • motor vehicles - typically Fiats, Renault or Alfa Romeo
  • firearms and personal defence equipment - more recently local police are being armed, like the state police forces
  • uniform - this varies between each municipality but often features white belts and white-topped caps
  • other equipment - such as the paletta (white 'lollipop' stick to direct traffic)

Each commune has slightly different uniforms and equipment, unlike the state's police forces, as each Polizia Municipale is controlled locally, not by central government.

Vehicles

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Polizia Locale number plate
 
Venice Local Police dark blue Fiat Punto.
 
Polizia Locale Fiat Panda.

Most local police vehicles are white marked with green, blue, or red stripes with logos. Some forces use blue, vehicles almost always with white stripes.

Most vehicles are equipped with blue flashing beacons, or a lightbar, sometimes a spotlight and a two-tone (hi-lo) siren (sirena), as well as a radio.

There are various types of police vehicle used by different local government areas. The following types are used:

 
Polizia Locale boat

Firearms and Equipment

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As is customary with most European and Italian police forces, most agents are now armed with a personal protection weapon - a pistol.[6] This has not always been the case, but is becoming more common practice.[7][8] This is generally worn in a pistol holster on a belt, or slung from a tunic pocket flap, often on the left-hand side in Italian fashion, to allow for cross-draw of the weapon.[9]

Local police officers and officers in possession of the status of " public security officer ", issued by the prefect at the request of the mayor, can carry without a license the firearm assigned personally for self-defence.

The choice regarding the arming of the police force is up to the individual municipal councils, which regulate the quantity, the model and the occasions in which the armed service is provided. It is allowed to equip the local police corps with short weapons such as semi-automatic pistols or revolvers for personal defence reasons, while the provision of long guns is allowed only for rural and hunting police services.

The local police regulations approved by the city council may also provide for the provision of defensive tactical tools and aids that cannot be classified as weapons, such as the OC anti-aggression spray and extendable batons.

These devices must comply with certain low-harmfulness requirements established by law and the specific municipal regulation must be sent to the prefect.

The individual municipal regulations also establish the types of services to be provided in arms (usually no arming is provided for representation services or on the occasion of particular ceremonies).

The decree law 4 October 2018, n. 113 - converted into law 1 December 2018, n. 132 - Italian municipalities - with more than 90,000 inhabitants - were given the right to equip agents with tasers on an experimental basis.

Some sub-machine guns/machine-pistols are also issued, but this is less common.

Local Police weapons include:

Batons are also carried,[11] along with handcuffs, but the most noticeable piece of equipment is probably the paletta, a red and white stop sign used to stop and direct traffic.

Radios are used, as well as whistles, notebooks and pens.

Uniforms

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Cosenza Polizia municipale wearing custodian helmets in dress uniform.
 
Polizia municipale of Rende.

Uniforms vary greatly between each Polizia Locale, but the common features include:[12][13]

  • White helmet (similar to the British custodian helmet) - used for traffic duties and ceremonies.[14][15]
  • White-topped, yellow-topped or blue-topped peaked cap (for males) or bowler cap (for females)
  • Blue beret
  • Blue baseball cap


  • White or Dark Blue Tunics
  • Blue or White Shirts
  • NATO jumpers
  • Polo-shirts
  • Jackets
  • Trousers
  • Coats
  • Black boots/shoes
  • High-visibility vest


 
Agente of the Polizia Locale del Veneto wearing a bowler cap, typically in white

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Daniel Donnelly, Municipal Policing in the European Union: Comparative Perspectives (2013), p. 34.
  2. ^ Gregory Roberts, Police Power in the Italian Communes, 1228-1326 (Amsterdam University Press, 2019).
  3. ^ Daniel Donnelly, Municipal Policing in the European Union: Comparative Perspectives (2013), pp. 4, 34.
  4. ^ a b c d e Elke Devroe & Paul Ponsaers, "European national police systems and metropolitan realities" in Policing European Metropolises: The Politics of Security in City-Regions (eds. Elke Devroe, Adam Edwards & Paul Ponsaers: Routledge, 2017), pp. 32-33.
  5. ^ a b c "Polizia Municipale/Locale". Flickr.
  6. ^ "Il sindaco acquista pistole per la Polizia locale e il solito Pd buonista grida allo scandalo". 15 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Pistole Alla Polizia Locale, l'Opinione dei Civatesi Tra Favorevoli e Contrari".
  8. ^ a b "La polizia locale ora è armata. Il Comune acquista due pistole". 6 January 2018.
  9. ^ https://www.civatenews.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/polizia-locale-pistola-2-777x437.jpg [bare URL image file]
  10. ^ "B&T Apc 9 per la Polizia locale di Cittadella". 8 December 2018.
  11. ^ "Polizia Locale: "tonfa" in pensione, al via il bastone estensibile - TRIESTE.news". 30 March 2019.
  12. ^ https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQcZ5PpYesgUzvLGXj6-UloAIEaLE-yHJXoA&usqp=CAU [bare URL image file]
  13. ^ https://www.repstatic.it/content/localirep/img/rep-parma/2016/02/23/144354522-205eae90-8ca2-4851-b961-e68486f5c33f.jpg [bare URL image file]
  14. ^ "Two female police officers on the Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Tuscany, Italy, Europe Stock Photo - Alamy".
  15. ^ "Two male Florence, Italy police officers patrol the street near the Duomo on foot Stock Photo - Alamy".
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