Polizia Penitenziaria

Coat of arms of the Polizia Penitenziaria

The Polizia Penitenziaria (German for "prison police ") is an Italian police organization that is mainly responsible for guarding the correctional facilities and their inmates. It reports to the Department of Penitentiary Administration (dipartimento dell'amministrazione penitenziaria) of the Ministry of Justice in Rome . The approximately 43,000 members of the Polizia Penitenziaria have blue uniforms . The emergency vehicles are dark blue and have a light blue stripe.

tasks

In addition to the mentioned tasks in prisons, the Polizia Penitenziaria also takes on the transport of prisoners and demonstrations at court . It monitors persons to whom enforcement easing was granted under house arrest are similar or sanctions are subject. Contributions are also made to rehabilitate prisoners.

For guarding high-security prisons and for emergencies, the Polizia Penitenziaria maintains a 700-man special mobile unit known as the Gruppo Operativo Mobile (GOM) . Criminal activities that take place in prisons or are controlled from there are combated by special investigation teams. The Polizia Penitenziaria also acts as a general security body in the area of responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, for example in protecting various departments or people at risk. As part of the administrative assistance , the Polizia Penitenziaria can also support other police forces with general tasks if necessary .

history

The origins of today's Polizia Penitenziaria lie in the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont , which for the first time created a uniform legal framework for security guards in prisons in 1817. In 1873, twelve years after the unification of Italy, a national organization was set up to guard the prisons and their inmates, which came under the Ministry of the Interior until 1922 and then became part of the Ministry of Justice. Until 1990, this police organization was as Corpo degli Agenti di Custodia or " correctional officer corps known," then it was in train major reforms in Polizia Penitenziaria renamed.