Polizia Municipale

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Police officer of the City Police in Florence

The Polizia Municipale (also Polizia Locale or Polizia Comunale , in German in South Tyrol city ​​police and municipal police ) is the civilian Italian municipal police . All cities and almost all municipalities in Italy have such a police force , which is subordinate to the respective mayor or city council and is subject to the legal supervision of the Italian regions or autonomous provinces (for example: South Tyrol ). The prefects or government commissioners, i.e. the representatives of the Italian central government in the provinces , can also use these local police forces in special emergencies.

tasks

The regions or autonomous provinces determine the legal framework and the precise definition of the tasks of the municipal police. As a rule, they are responsible for regulating and monitoring local road traffic and take on protective police tasks, unless they are carried out by national police authorities. In addition, municipalities and regions assign them tasks in the areas of environmental protection , tourism safety, the fight against petty crime, market police and construction supervision. Especially in the larger municipalities, the municipal police also take on a large part of the tasks of the national authorities and can be armed for this purpose. As a local police unit, they are often the first and most important point of contact for the population.

"Vigili Urbani"

Boat of the Polizia Locale in Venice

The popular name Vigili Urbani ("city guards") is no longer officially used. In the past, the Italian municipal police were only active in closed (“urban”) settlement areas. In the 1990s, their area of ​​responsibility was extended to the entire urban and rural areas of the respective municipalities, which was accompanied by a name change. The Italian constitution uses the term Polizia Locale (local police), but most Italian regions require their municipalities to use the term Polizia Municipale . In some cases it is also called Polizia Comunale , in Lombardy Polizia Locale , in South Tyrol in German it is called “Stadtpolizei” or “Gemeindepolizei”, in Rome because of its special capital status since 2011 Polizia Locale di Roma Capitale , or Polizia Roma Capitale for short . The simple local police themselves are still popularly called vigili (singular: vigile , German for about "Wachtmeister"), but the official name today is agente di polizia locale . In many cases (depending on the municipality) they can be recognized by their headgear, which is similar to the helmets of the London "Bobbies".

In Sardinia , municipalities have been setting up so-called Barracelli or Barracellari companies since the 16th century . Their tasks are essentially the same as those of the municipal police force, but the focus is on rural areas. The legal basis is currently the regional law 25/1988.

Municipal security guard

According to a law (94/2009) passed in summer 2009, Italian cities and municipalities have the option of setting up municipal security guards . Citizens can get involved in non-profit organizations under certain conditions and do voluntary police service in this context . The requirements to be met include: a certain minimum age, no previous convictions, no membership in political organizations and the passing of an aptitude test. Former police officers and soldiers are preferred. The security guards and their members are controlled by the prefects and trained by the police. When deployed, they are subordinate to the municipal police, but do not belong to them. The volunteers of the security guard are not armed and have no uniforms, but can only be recognized by safety vests . You are not authorized to exercise direct coercion . The strips must not consist of more than three people. They are used to prevent local crime, including in schools, public parks and the like. They report security-related incidents to the regular police using mobile phones or radio.

The introduction of security guards is very controversial in Italy because of their alleged similarity to vigilante groups . For this reason, they do not exist in numerous municipalities, mostly dominated by left-wing parties. In many cases, however, municipalities have volunteers who - marked accordingly - give information and help to strangers on streets and squares, but do not take on any security tasks.

See also

Web links

Commons : Polizia Municipale  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. History of Barra Celli on regione.sardegna.it
  2. Regional Law 25/1988 on the Barracellari Companies