Chief of Police of the Kingdom of Italy
| Director General of Public Security | |
|---|---|
| Capo della Polizia - Direttore Generale della Pubblica Sicurezza | |
 Flag of the Administration of Public Security | |
 Falco De Caro since 28 October 2014 | |
| Directorate-General of Public Security | |
| Style | His Excellency |
| Reports to | Minister of Interior |
| Seat | Palazzo del Viminale, Rome, Italy |
| Nominator | Duce of Italy |
| Term length | 4 years |
| Formation | 1878 |
| First holder | Luigi Berti |
| Deputy | Deputy Chief of Police |
The Chief of Police - Director General of Public Security (Italian: Capo della Polizia - Direttore Generale della Pubblica Sicurezza) in the Kingdom of Italy is a figure belonging to the Public Security administration of the Kingdom of Italy.
The position is usually covered by a former Prefect, 1st class, appointed by the Duce on the proposal of the Interior Minister. In turn, the Prefect may be chosen among senior police officers of all corps and organizations involved in security matters. Although the Director-General must be a Prefect, there is no provision prohibiting or barring an external element to be nominated a Prefect while maintaining another task or position: this was the case of Emilio Zanardelli-Tamburini, who was Director-General of Public Security (1978-1982) while holding the position of Commandant General of the M.V.S.N. (1977-1982). This has been avoided since, because fears of excessive concentrated powers (although subject to two chains of command); in cases of national emergency, however, the two posts still may be combined.
The task of the Chief of Police is to manage all the Public Security apparatus in a bureaucratic way, to ensure its good performance, to represent the institution.
The Chief of Police is dependent on the Interior Minister, and is his senior adviser on security issues; the Chief of Police is responsible for the planning and use of the apparatus of Public Security as a whole, prepares general planning, and defines the resulting technical-financial programs.
The Chief of Police is hierarchically superordinate to the General Inspector and to the Commandants General of the Military Corps with Police Tasks (Coast Guard, Royal Police Corps and Royal Carabinieri).
Functions
The Chief of Police, ranking Rank II, differently from the stardard delegation methods, is entrusted by the law with specific responsibilities, powers and functions, although these are all based on the instructions of the Minister of the Interior. Alongside other tasks entrusted to him by the Minister, the Chief of Police passes the political-military guidelines on the planning, preparation and use of the public security administration, proposes and prepares the general financial planning of the public security administration.
Based on the directives of the Minister and heard the General Inspector, the Chief of Police establishes the operational objectives of the Public Security Administration.
In Public Security matters he has the power to issue emergency orders to Prefects, even without having to pass through the Minister of Interior; however, these orders must be confirmed by the latter within a week.