Territorial organization of the Royal Carabinieri (Kingdom of Italy)
The main and foremost focus of the Royal Carabinieri is their territorial organisation, aiming to be present in every inhabited centre. The operational focus is the Provincial Command, which is further subdivided into Detachments, Companies, Lieutenancies and Stations; on the other hand, the Provincial Command is framed within Legion and Inter-Regional Commands. The 75% of he Royal Carabinieri belongs to the Territorial Organization.
Interregional Directorate of Public Security
The Interregional Directorates of Public Security (Direzioni Interregionali di Pubblica Sicurezza) are 5 interregional offices linking the Capital and the Regional Offices of Public Security (which have a data collecting co-ordination duty) and serving to ensure the functioning of the system. The Directorates operate reporting to the Chief of Police for the exercise of the decentralised inspection and control functions in all offices and peripheral organs of the administration of public security within their boundaries and for the carrying out of the decentralised organisational and administrative functions. The Interregional Directorates also contribute also to the development of plans and programs relating to the procurement, supply and allocation of human resources, equipment and logistics and the related checks. All the Interregional Directorates of P.S. (and their CPR counterparts) are based in Regional capital cities or towns, with the exception of the North East Interregional Directorate of Public Security, which is based in Padua.
Current Interregional Directorates of Public Security are:
- 1st Interregional Directorate of P.S.: HQs in Milan and in charge for Lombardy, Piedmont and Savoy, Liguria and Aosta Valley;
- 2nd Interregional Directorate of P.S.: HQs in Rome and in charge for Tuscany, Lazio, Marche, Umbria and Sardinia;
- 3rd Interregional Directorate of P.S.: HQs in Naples and in charge for Campania, Basilicata, Apulia, Molise and Abruzzo;
- 4th Interregional Directorate of P.S.: HQs Messina and in charge for Calabria and Sicily;
- 5th Interregional Directorate of P.S.: HQs in Padua and in charge for Trentino-Alto Adige, Emilia and Romagna, Veneto, Friuli and Venezia Giulia.
The Directorates have a primary responsibility for general affairs, for the personnel and resources use to meet temporary requirements, for transfers for environmental compatibility and to return to service. Finally, with regard to the Health Service, the Directorate Inter-discipline authorise absence, which is programmable not predictable, the medical and paramedical staff. The Directorates are headed by Directors General of Public Security; the Interregional Directorate of Rome is headed by a Prefect, 1st Class, drawn from the police ranks. The fact that the Interregional Directorate reports only and directly to the Chief of Police determines that it can be used (and sometimes it is actually used) to bypass both central Divisions and provincial Prefects; this allows a strengthening of the Quaestor's technical say, against the local Prefect's opinion, which may not be so technically qualified. The Directorate also functions as collector from logistics and support services Divisions, in order to provide an unified management.
Each Directorate is subdivided into eight Divisions, including the most important one, i.e. the General Affairs Division and the Personnel Division:
- General Affairs Division: it deals with general support activities. The Division includes the Secretariat, the Inspection and Audit Office (one of the most important office within the Directorates) and the Legal Office.
- Personnel Division: the Personnel Division deals with personnel transfers and includes the Recurring Temporary Needs Office, the Emergency Needs Office and the offices designed to assess the proposed environmental incompatibility (the Personnel Assessment Office) and to provide and alternative see (Transfers Office).
- Health Service Division;
- Investigation Division: the Investigation Division deals with organized crime, especially oriented towards trafficking in persons and other sexual offences;
- TLC Division;
- Motorisation and Logistics Division;
- Interregional Cabinet of Scientific Police;
- Facilities Division;
- Planning and Organisation Division;
- Internal Affairs Division.
Internal Affairs Division
The Internal Affairs Division deals with disciplinary and order enforcement matters within civilian personnel of the Directorate General; therefore, as it is should be emphasised, this organisation falls completely outside the military police duties and tasks of both the National Royal Guard and the Royal Carabinieri, although both officials (A-Group personnel) and executive clerks (C-group personnel) are subject to special regulations which mirror the Army provisions.
The Internal Affairs Division is aimed to provide discipline, integrity and order enforcement within civilian workers and it is framed within the general framework of the Public Administration: the political surveillance is carried out by the apposite Party delegations and organisations. However, due the peculiar context, it carries out detective work with the civilian officials and military officers and troops assigned. The Division is organised into four offices: a Secretariat, two operational offices (Police Ethics and Integrity Office and Police Misconduct Office) and the P.N.F. Delegation (including at least a G.N.R. officer assigned to military police duties), with limited executive powers but with a major consultative role. The P.N.F. delegation is composed of members appointed by the central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, which must choose members from the regional Commissions.
Police interregional commands
In order to ensure a direct and costant surveillance of the territory, alongside the Interregional Directorates of Public Security, there are 5 Carabinieri and C.P.R. Interregional Commands having the same boundaries of the Interregional Directorates of Public Secrurity: these Commands are tasked with personnel general management with the same responsibilities of the Interregional Directorates, as well as training co-ordination of the Legions and administrative support. In case of war, they report to their relevant Army Corps. Each Carabinieri Interregional Command is considered a Division command and it is led by a Major General. Current Carabinieri Divisions are:
- 1st Division "Pastrengo" (established in 1936): HQs in Milan and in charge for Lombardy, Piedmont and Savoy, Liguria and Aosta Valley;
- 2nd Division "Podgora" (established in 1936): HQs in Rome and in charge for Tuscany, Lazio, Marche, Umbria, Corsica and Sardinia;
- 3rd Division "Ogaden" (established in 1939): HQs in Naples and in charge for Campania, Basilicata, Apulia, Molise and Abruzzo;
- 4th Division "Carabinieri dello Stretto" (established in 1991): HQs Messina and in charge for Calabria and Sicily; the 4th C.P.R. Division was established by splitting the 3rd Division.
- 5th Division "Vittorio Veneto" (established in 1991): HQs in Padua and in charge for Trentino-Alto Adige, Emilia and Romagna, Veneto, Friuli and Venezia Giulia; the 5th Division was established by splitting the 1st Division.
Current C.P.R. Divisions are:
- 1st Division "Pastrengo" (established in 1936): HQs in Milan and in charge for Lombardy, Piedmont and Savoy, Liguria and Aosta Valley;
- 2nd Division "Podgora" (established in 1936): HQs in Rome and in charge for Tuscany, Lazio, Marche, Umbria, Corsica and Sardinia;
- 3rd Division "Ogaden" (established in 1939): HQs in Naples and in charge for Campania, Basilicata, Apulia, Molise and Abruzzo;
- 4th Division "Polizia dello Stretto" (established in 1991): HQs Messina and in charge for Calabria and Sicily; the 4th C.P.R. Division was established by splitting the 3rd Division.
- 5th Division "Vittorio Veneto" (established in 1991): HQs in Padua and in charge for Trentino-Alto Adige, Emilia and Romagna, Veneto, Friuli and Venezia Giulia; the 5th C.P.R. Division was established by splitting the 1st Division.
Such Interregional Commands are led by Major Generals. The Interregional Commands are framed within 5 Interregional Inspectorates, direct emanations of the General-Inspector of the Militarised Police Corps; the Interregional Inspectorates coordinate the Carabinieri Interregional Command and the counterpart C.P.R. Interregional Command and are ledy by officers belonging to Carabinieri or to C.P.R. on a rotationary base; whoever is the commander, he is assisted by the relevant Carabinieri Interregional Commander and C.P.R. Interregional Commander, as well as by a Chief of Staff (of the opposite corps of the Interregional Inspector). Therefore in any case there are four generals in each Interregional Inspectorate, two from the Carabinieri and two from the C.P.R.
Interregional Commands
In order to ensure a direct and costant surveillance of the territory, alongside the Interregional Directorates of Public Security, there are 5 Carabinieri Interregional Commands having the same boundaries: these Commands are tasked with personnel general management with the same responsibilities of the Interregional Directorates, as well as training co-ordination of the Legions and administrative support. The Interregional Commands have therefore tasks of direction, coordination and control of the Legions and Groups (and not operational tasks). The Interregional Commands also assure the technical, logistical and administrative support of all the CC.RR. units located in their own territory, even if belonging to another organization within the Carabinieri, through the Administrative Logistic Technical Grouping.
In case of war, they report to their relevant Army Corps. Each Carabinieri Interregional Command is considered a Division command and it is led by a Major General. Current Divisions are:
- 1st Division "Pastrengo" (established in 1936): HQs in Milan and in charge for Lombardy, Piedmont and Savoy, Liguria and Aosta Valley;
- 2nd Division "Podgora" (established in 1936): HQs in Rome and in charge for Tuscany, Lazio, Rome, Marche, Umbria, Corsica and Sardinia;
- 3rd Division "Ogaden" (established in 1939): HQs in Naples and in charge for Campania, Basilicata, Apulia, Molise and Abruzzo;
- 4th Division "Carabinieri dello Stretto" (established in 1991): HQs Messina and in charge for Calabria and Sicily; the 4th C.P.R. Division was established by splitting the 3rd Division.
- 5th Division "Vittorio Veneto" (established in 1991): HQs in Padua and in charge for Trentino-Alto Adige, Emilia and Romagna, Veneto, Friuli, Venezia Giulia and Istria and Dalmatia; the 5th Division was established by splitting the 1st Division.
Such Interregional Commands are led by Carabinieri Major Generals. The Carabinieri Interregional Commands are framed within 5 Interregional Inspectorates, direct emanations of the General-Inspector of the Militarized Police Corps; the Interregional Inspectorates coordinate the Carabinieri Interregional Command and the counterpart C.P.R. Interregional Command and are ledy by officers belonging to Carabinieri or to C.P.R. on a rotationary base; whoever is the commander, he is assisted by the relevant Carabinieri Interregional Commander and C.P.R. Interregional Commander, as well as by a Chief of Staff (of the opposite corps of the Interregional Inspector). Therefore in any case there are four generals in each Interregional Inspectorate, two from the Carabinieri and two from the C.P.R.
Organisation
The Interregional Command is a complex body consisting of numerous offices and subdivisions:
- Staff;
- Administrative Logistic Technical Grouping;
- General Affairs and Personnel Affairs Section;
- Operations Office;
- Crime Section;
- Military Police Section.
The Interregional Commander is assisted by the Aide-de-Camp and by the Secretariat. In particular, the Secretariat takes care of the activities entrusted by the Captain, in particular the arrangement of correspondence and the negotiations for which the Captain is responsible.
Administrative Logistic Technical Grouping
The Administrative Logistic Technical Grouping (Raggruppamento Tecnico, Logistico e Amministrativo, R.T.L.A.) is the body tasked to handle all support duties. The Grouping consists of offices, services and all the executive bodies (such as infirmaries, workshops and telematic laboratories) that work for the Arma departments located in the area covered by the interregional command.
General Affairs and Personnel Affairs Section
The General Affairs and Personnel Affairs Section is divided into three Ofices: General Affairs Office, Personnel Affairs Office, Litigation Office.
The General Affairs Office guarantees the fulfillment of the tasks concerning "general affairs", relations with the public and "social protection". The Office acts as an intermediary between the General Command and the regional level: it directs the correct application of the instructions given by the General Command or the Interregional Command in the sectors of respective interest, intervening with specific directives, taking care of relations between the employees of the Regional Command employee and those of the General Command. The General Affairs Office also provides the general protocol and archive activities and performs any other task delegated or delegated by the General Command and oversees the planning and execution of the inspections of the Commander to the dependent departments.
The Personnel Affairs Office ensures the management of its personnel (officers, marshals and troops), including training activities. The Office avails itself of the "Matriculation Section" of the Legion Command for the management of Non-commissioned Officers and Troops, directs the correct application of the provisions governing the employment of personnel, gives detailed instructions in relation to the provisions of the General Command, directs reports between the corresponding articulations of the Legion Command employee and those of the General Command and ensures the fulfillment of any other task delegated or delegated by the General Command. The Personnel Affairs Office also manages administrative procedures in the field of discipline.
The Litigation Office provides all the preliminary activities for the decision of the hierarchical appeals against acts and measures adopted by the officers under examination; moreover, it sends opinions on external litigation (civil or criminal).
Operations Office
The Operations Office is divided into two sections. The 1st Section ensures the fulfillment of the duties related to the operational activity, expresses its opinion in the discussions concerning the attribution of the name of the buildings in use to the dependent departments and the construction of stones, gravestones and related monuments, performs any other task delegated . The 2nd Section verifies the adequacy of the subordinate departments in the performance of the service, defining the operational priorities.
Regional Office of Public Security
The Regional Offices of Public Security (Uffici Regionali di Pubblica Sicurezza, U.R.P.S.) are 21 multi-provincial police offices in charge of coordinating public security information-gathering work within their boundaries, which coincide with the boundaries of the Courts of Appeal and Assize, and with those of the special (anti-terrorism and anti-mafia) prosecution pools. The Regional Office of Public Security is an intermediate body between the Directorate General of Public Security and the Questure, grouping several provinces under the same command and direction. They have responsibilities especially on issues related to public order.
Each and every public security organisation set up in municipalities (Commissariats of P.S.) and provinces (Questure) is under the coordination management of the local Prefect and the public security organs at the higher level; therefore, Commissariats are dependent on the Questura and Questure are dependent on - for coordination and information management purposes only - the Regional Offices of P.S., which in turn are overseen by the Interregional Directorates and the Chief of Police. The 21 Regional Offices are directed by a Director General of P.S. in charge of Peripheral Office and, for information purposes, are in direct touch with the Chief of Police - Director General of Public Security. All the Regional Offices of P.S. (and their C.P.R. and CC.RR. counterparts) are based in the Regional capital cities or towns, with the exception of the Veneto Regional Office of Public Security, which is based in Padua, alongside the North-eastern Interregional Directorate of Public Security.
The Regional Office of P.S. is mainly dedicated to the data and information collection management, and its administrative structure reflects the tasks entrusted to the regional level of the Administration with four information management-related Divisions:
- General Affairs Division;
- Supervision Office;
- Audit Office;
- Publicity and Public Relations Office;
- Personnel Office;
- Regional Counter Terrorism Division;
- Regional Domestic Security Division;
- Regional Criminal data management Division;
- Regional Administrative and Social Police Division;
- Regional Cabinet of Scientific Police.
Alongside the Regional offices, there are also the Area Inspectorates of the Royal Police Corps, which coincide with Legions of the Carabinieri. Militarised police forces are framed within the regional commands, direct emanations of the General-Inspector of the Militarised Police Corps, led by a Brigadier General belonging to Carabinieri or to C.P.R. on a rotationary base. Whoever is the commander, he is assisted by the relevant Carabinieri Legion Commander and C.P.R. Area Inspector, as well as by a Chief of Staff (of the opposite corps of the regional commander).
Each Division of the Regional Office of Public Security is directed by a senior Official of Public Security, ranking Police Inspector or Inspector General: this makes the Division of the Regional Office equal to a Section of the central organisation.
Regional Counter Terrorism Division
The Regional Counter Terrorism Division brings together intelligence, operations and investigation functions to help prevent, disrupt and prosecute terrorist activities. The Divisions are framed within the Regional Offices of Public Security and are composed of detectives, financial and cyber investigators, community contact teams, intelligence analysts, and forensic specialists. Each Regional Counter Terrorism Division is coordinated by the Political Office of the seat of the relevant Regional Office, which provides coordination and support for Political Offices of its respective region. Provincial Political Offices assist in protecting national security and are managed and tasked by the Regional Counter Terrorism Division for affairs pertaining terrorism. The Division, while working in close cooperation with the Regional Domestic Security Division and although it is not tasked with operational and judicial police functions, is directly linked to both the Political Police Division and the Confidential Affairs Division at the central level. The Division is subdivided into four Offices:
- Points of entry Office;
- Analysis Office
- Coordination Office;
- Economic Crime Information Office: it is to note that the Economic Crime Information Office of each Division is fully integrated with the other Economic Crime Information Office and with the Regional Regional commands of the Royal Guard of Finance.
Regional Domestic Security Division
The Domestic Security Division deals with information analysis related to homeland security matters without links to terorrism. The Division, while working in close cooperation with the Regional Counter Terrorism Division and although it is not tasked with operational and judicial police functions, is directly linked to both the Political Police Division and the Confidential Affairs Division at the central level. The Regional Domestic Security Division is mainly staffed by Political offices' delegates and has liaison officers from the Royal Guard of Finance and it is subdivided into two Offices.
- Economic Crime Information Office: it is to note that the Economic Crime Information Office of each Division is fully integrated with the other Economic Crime Information Office and with the Regional Regional commands of the Royal Guard of Finance;
- Public Order Information Office.
Regional Criminal data management Division
The Regional Criminal Division is charged with regional coordination tasks of the Mobile Squads against organised crime. The Regional Division is also responsible for the fight against organized and specialized crime and delinquency, the implementation and control of technical and scientific police and judicial identity means, computer tools and operational documentation to assist investigations, and this, throughout the territory under its jurisdiction. The Division is subdivided into four Offices:
- Banditry Office
- Narcotics control Office;
- Criminal Police Centre: the Criminal Police Centres are the peripheral subdivisions of the Central Operational Section and have information and investigative tasks against organised crime;
- Smuggling Investigation Office: it is mainly composed of liaison personnel of the Royal Guard of Finance.
Regional Administrative and Social Police Division
The Regional Administrative and Social Police Division keeps relations with the Administrative Region and its Regional Commissioner in order to better coordinate the activities carried out by the Administrative and Social Police Divisions of the local Questure in relation to the matters whose administrative part is entrusted to the Administrative Region to those of the relevant Local Police.
Carabinieri Legion
The Carabinieri Legion is a territorial military unit of the Royal Carabinieri, with prevalent public order functions in the territory of an Administrative Region. It has functions of control and coordination of the Provincial Commands. Furthermore, he is responsible for the entire region of personnel management.
Carabinieri Legion responsibilities include mainly logistics support and other functions; Legion commanders also provide coordination of the Carabinieri activities in the territory of the subordinate commands, allocation of their personnel, for extraordinary tasks, for special military, public security or public order requirements, if necessary in conjunction with the military authorities or with the competent Prefect and Quaestor.
The Legion is commanded by a Brigadier General, who employs a Deputy Commander and a Chief of Staff, and is structured on a General Staff that has:
- Command department;
- Personnel office;
- Organisation, Training, Information, Operations Office;
- National shooting Office;
- Logistics office;
- Administrative service directed by a senior officer
- Office of spiritual assistance directed by a military chaplain
- Legion infirmary
The Provincial Commands depend on the legion command. When the Legion Command controls only one Provincial Command (i.e. in Rome and in Umbria) the Provincial Command is merged with the Legion organization; internal control functions are entrusted to the relevant Interregional Command.
Provincial Command
The Provincial Command (Italian: Comando Provinciale) has general policing responsibility in an administrative province and exercises the command, direction, coordination and control of subordinate units and is the main external reference point of the Royal Carabinieri. The Group has the responsibility of analyzing and fitting of operational activities and criminal law-enforcement in the province also conducted by specialized units. Departments (It: Reparti) and the Judiciary and Services Unit depend directly on the Provincial Command. Finally, each Provincial Command reports, for both preventive and repressive military police duties, to the relevant Army District Command, although it is not part of the Army.
The Provincial Command manages personnel, logistical and training matters of members of the Corps assigned to Questure and Commissariats. Other personnel assigned to the same city, but not part of the Specialities or other units rely on the Provincial Command only for the purposes of accomodation, food and logistics.
The fundamental feature of the Carabinieri lies in the Provincial Command organisation: every echelon with a jurisdiction over two or more Territorial Stations has a distinct investigation unit (usually qualified a "Operational"): the Provincial Command has an Operational Department (of a level and rank equal to other Departments); every Territorial Department has an Operational Unit (Company-level) and every Company has an Operational Section (Platoon/Lieutenancy-level). On the other hand, Operational bodies rely on the support provided by Territorial Police Stations and Lieutenancies.
Provincial Commander
The 110 Provincial Commands are commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel (in major cities). In a medium-sized city there are usually 1,200 to 1,500 Carabinieri, but considerably more in large cities such as Milan or Naples, where there may be as many as 4,000 CC.RR. members and the Commander of the Provincial Command is a Colonel. In the Governorate of Rome, when the number of police officers is very high, the commander is a Brigadier General, functionally subordinated to the Latium Legion.
The Provincial Commander is the propulsor, regulator and coordinator of all the activities of the Arma in the province and carries out its directional action in the framework of the superior directives and the particular requirements of the order and public security of the jurisdiction. He is responsible for the functioning and activity of the Arma in the province, and intervenes in the organization of the information service and of preventive surveillance activity.
In the field of judicial police, the Provincial Commander brings his personal contribution for the investigations to be conducted with assiduous commitment: he coordinates the investigations when they extend to the whole territory of jurisdiction and takes over when the exceptional gravity or particular require it. resonance of the crimes occurred. He must also have a profound knowledge of the province so as to be able to report immediately on facts, events and situations of particular importance.
The Provincial Commander inspects the services performed by the subordinate commands as often as possible, maintains relations with the prefect, with the Questore, with the public prosecutor of the Republic and with the commander of the garrison.
Organization
A Detachment may be a Territorial Department (Reparto Territoriale), grouping Companies in a given part of the Province with scaler organ functions, or may be a Functional Department (Reparto Funzionale), usually headquartered in the provincial capital, in charge of central services. Below the Provincial Group there are the local commands: Companies, which organize Stations and, in larger provincial centers, Lieutenancies. While Companies carry on autonomous existence and operations, both Lieutenancies and Stations are scaler commands, with limited capablities.
In every Province there are at least the Operational Department (Reparto Operativo), which groups the Patrol Car Unit, the Informmation Unit, the Investigative Unit and the Section of Judicial Police; there may be a variable number of Territorial Detachments and Companies. The Provincial Group Commander is usually a Lieutenant Colonel, but in more inhabited provinces the Commander may be a Colonel or even a Brigadier General (only in Rome). Territorial Departments also have an Operational Unit (Unità Operativa, in turn grouping the Information Section and the Investigative Section).
In the Arma dei Carabinieri the lieutenant colonels, when they are in charge of the Group Command, perform exquisitely managerial duties, and the captains in charge of the Company Command have executive tasks.
Operational Department
In every Province there are at least the Operational Department (Reparto Operativo), which groups the Patrol Car Unit, the Informmation Unit, the Investigative Unit and the Section of Judicial Police. Territorial Departments also have an Operational Unit (Unità Operativa, Company-level, in turn grouping the Information Section and the Investigative Section). Within a Provincial Group Command, the Operational Department is a Battalion-level subdivision. The Operational Depatment is subdivided into four organisations:
- Investigation Unit (Nucleo Investigativo);
- Information Unit (Nucleo Informativo);
- Patrol Car Unit (Nucleo Radiomobile);
- Section of Judicial Police (Sezione di Polizia Giudiziaria).
Investigation Unit
The Investigation Unit (Nucleo Investigativo) is the provincial investigative body of the Royal Carabinieri, also being the provincial coordination unit of the Carabinieri territorial companies. The Investigative Unit, which is Company-level subdivisions of the Operational Department, is divided distinctly by specialty, called "Sections" commanded by an officer or a senior subofficer:
- 1st section: Homicides and crimes against the person in general;
- 2nd section: Drug trafficking and arms trafficking;
- 3rd section: Robberies;
- 4th section: Organised crime;
- 5th section: Kidnappings
- 6th section: Offences against the Public Administration
- 7th section: Search for fugitives;
- 8th section: Economic crimes.
In smaller Provinces some sections are merged according to the need.
Information Unit
The Information Unit (Nucleo Informativo)is the Company-level subdivision of the Operational Department in charge of obtaining the information necessary for the Carabinieri, also outside the investigation. Everything is aimed at public and political order and security, as well as collaboration with other entities.
Among the missions of the Information Unit there is also the surveillance of the political orientation of the Carabinieri, the aspiring Carabinieri and their relatives. Informaton Units are among the terminals of the Intelligence and Security Organization.
Group Commands
The Group Commands (Comandi di Gruppo) multiply the functions of direction, coordination and control of some important provincial commands, on which they depend. They have the same organization of the Provincial Command. Group Commands are commanded by a colonel or a lieutenant colonel.
There are 15 Group Commands: Aosta, Milan, Rho, North Rome, West Rome, Frascati, Naples, Torre Annunziata, Castello di Cisterna, Aversa, Locri, Gioia Tauro, Lamezia Terme, Palermo and Monreale.
Companies
Companies are the territorial Carabinieri garrisons. With the exception of command functions and duties, alongside with particular authorizations they cannot enact, they carry out almost the same role of the Provincial Group within the detective and investigation activities.
Companies in the municipalities that are not provincial capitals flank the local Commissariat of Public Security. In general, there is one Company per District, while Lieutenancies are one per Mandment: however, in particular cases, the rule could be ignored. In every Company there is an Investigation Nucleus and an Information Nucleus (grouped within the Operational Section) and an Autopatrol Detachment, belonging to the Autopatrol Squad, responsible for primary patrolling tasks. The officer in charge is therefore responsible for the activities of the station commands gravitating in that area (variable number 4, 5,6 but also 8 in some cases).
The Commander of each Company must ensure and provide order and tranquility of the people within its jurisdiction. For this purpose, the commander maintains frequent contact with the Provincial Group. The reports concerning the judicial sphere are also sent to the local Chief Prosecutor, while those of purely political nature are also sent to the Prefect. The action of the Commander focuses mainly on the monitoring of people dedicated to laziness and vagrancy, as potential serious offenders. Officers who could command a Captaincy are Lieutenent Colonel (very large Companies, usually in charge of co-ordinating some other small Companies as well as in charge of the local Territorial Detachment), Major (average Companies) or Captain (small or less important Companies).
The Company Commander directs, coordinates, activates and monitors the activities of the employee departments, effectively entering into the operating sector with direct personal participation and integrating the preventive and repressive surveillance activity of the subordinate stations. In the event of unrest and disruption of the public order, the Company Commander personally supervises the action of the subordinate units and ensures that the results of the judicial police are positive, intervening in person, where necessary, to direct and coordinate the investigations, and assuming the direction of those concerning the most serious crimes. The Company Commander frequently inspects the services performed by the subordinate stations.
Commissariat of Public Security
The Commissariat of Public Security is a structure of the administration of public security, framed in the territorial organisation of the Questura. The Commissariat of P.S. is an operational detachment of the Questura: inside the Commissariat are present, albeit smaller and tailored to the operational needs of the covered area, the same offices and services available to the Questura. There are two types of Commissariats: Sectional Commissariats, which are city police posts and cover provincial capital Sections of Public Security, and Detached Commissariats, which act as outposts in the Province. The operation jurisdiction of the latter ones is extended on their District, while the civilian police official in charge of the Commissariat is a Local Authority of Public Security only for the municipality which the Detached Commissariat is located in.
The Commissariat is directed by an Official of Public Security with the rank of Commissioner or Chief Commissioner, or in the case of the largest and most important ones, of the rank of Vicequestore. Within the Commissariat, like the Questura, they are typically present facilities at which the citizen can carry out different practices of administrative police (issuance or renewal of passport, firearms license, administrative licensing, residence permit, etc..). There is also an "Anti-Crime Team", in which is possible to file a complaint, issue lawsuit, filing a complaint or a grievance against government's actions (other than the complaint against a specific administration), and generally make the most of the possible actions of a legal nature.
Alongside the civilian P.S. official in charge for running the Commissariat's activities, the military commander is in charge of agents, subofficers and junior officers assigned to the Commissariat.
Detached Commissariat
In Detached Commissariats, which are head-quartered in minor provincial centres and have a police jurisdiction area consisting of rural zones and small centres, the military detachment usually is a Carabinieri Company, commanded by a Carabinieri Captain. He commands not only Carabinieri assigned to the individual relevant Commissariat, but also troops assigned to the various Territorial Police Stations and Lieutenancy in the territory assigned to the Commissariat/Company. Detached Commissariats are divided into two dimensional categories:
- A Category: includes Commissariats that are located in areas that require special attention or that oversee large portions of the Province. These Commissariats have a minimum number of 70 operators, whose direction is entrusted to a Deputy Quaestor
- B Category: includes the Commissariats that supervise smaller areas of the Province or those that manage quieter areas. These Commissariats have a staff of at least 50 Carabinieri, and are headed by a Chief Commissioner.
Each Commissariat may be augmented by the Director-General of Public Security if the need arises.
Sectional Commissariat
In provincial capital cities, on the other hand, the C.P.R. Subgroup is in charge only for the city itself and its immediate surroundings, and the Subgroup Command in charge for all agents assigned to the municipality is head-quartered in the Questura or, more often, in the main barracks of the Corps in the province. In some cities, Sectional (Urban) Commissariat retain specific names of historical significance but with the same functions and tasks. Sectional Commissariats are divided into two dimensional categories:
- A Category: includes Commissariats that are located in areas that require special attention or that oversee large portions of the city. These Commissariats have a minimum number of 50 operators, whose direction is entrusted to a Chief Commissioner.
- B Category: includes the Commissariats that supervise smaller areas of the urban settlement or those that manage quieter areas. These Commissariats have a staff of at least 30 policemen, and are headed by a Commissioner.
Each Commissariat may be augmented by the Director-General of Public Security if the need arises. In the largest cities, subidivided in boroughs, Districts of Public Security (Distretti di Pubblica Sicurezza) may be established, with a boundary coinciding with those of the relevant Borough and coordinating police work of subordinated Sectional Commissariats with the political and administrative action. Districts also coordinate relevant sectional commissariats and are the Questura's territorial interface. The District Head is the most senior police official in the Borough.
Territorial Police Station
The Territorial Police Station (Italian: Stazione Territoriale di Polizia) is the lowest operational unit of the Public Security apparatus, articulated on the organic forces ranging from a minimum of 4 to over 20 units; it is the direct and most visible legacy of the former Savoy-era Royal Carabinieri Stations, and in most cases they are still operated by the Carabinieri. Stations are staffed only with military agents and subofficers, commanded by a Subofficer of the minimum rank of Marshal. The station is responsible in a very specific area: large portions of the civilian infrastructure or city, or one or more municipalities. The Station Commander is responsible for direct control of land and related institutional activities. The national soil is so carefully covered by the dense network of stations of the Royal Police Corps and Royal Carabinieri, which are also the custodians of the first task of protecting public order and safety within the area they encompass, as well as the first line of military police and counter-espionage activities. Stations are divided into three distinct sections:
- 1st category: the stations are placed with an operational focus and a less open to the public 8 hours per day.
- 2nd category: the stations are located which have a greater operational focus and are prepared to receive the public 14 hours a day distributed in 2 shifts from 8.00 to 22.00.
- 3rd category: the stations are those of crucial importance and cover the entire 24 hours through the system of shifts.
Regardless the category, each station is permanently manned. The most experienced non-commissioned officers are assigned to the command of the 3rd category stations, while the criterion of seniority determines the positions of command in the 2nd and 1st category. The station is the central element of territorial control and they are located in buildings specially constructed or upgraded in order to promote an effective defence. The premises of the station include a security prison, a chamber of discipline, a kitchen and a dining hall, housing the commander, one double every two agents, and, if married, one for each room and a garage. The stations, according to their own staff and to operational needs, can organize territorial mobile patrols, although it is not strictly required to do so.
The Station reports to the relevant Company/Subgroup commander for military, personnel and disciplinary matters, as well as for military police duties, and to the head of the Commissariat for all operational and functional police activities. Territorial Police Stations are usually responsible for more than one municipality, but the Carabinieri Marshal who is the Station Commander is the Local Authority of Public Security only in the municipality where the Station is located in and only if in that municipality there is not a Questura or a Detached Commissariat of Public Security.
Station Commander
The Station Commander (It: Comandante di Stazione) has several duties: he has the immediate direction of institutional service within his jurisdiction, where carries out the investigation, both proactive and delegated by the Prosecutor, as Public Security officer he intervenes in public and private disputes and exercises all initiatives in order to take appropriate preventive measures against socially dangerous people and, from a strictly managerial point of view, he is responsible for technical and operational using, for discipline and staff training, as well as for the properties, vehicle, computer and electronic equipment and furnishings.
The Station Commander responds personally of the smooth execution of orders and requests he received and, within the limits of his competence, prepares and implements the measures deemed necessary for the maintenance of order and public security, promptly proposing to the direct superior the needs he cannot face or the services he cannot perform. To this end, he keeps abreast of the situation, focusing attention on everything that may directly or indirectly affect the service, so as not to be surprised by the events.
In particular, the Station Commander must direct the services of the station, participating in it himself every time he sees the need, but always heading the most important ones, and must execute or direct the judicial police services, making use, for minor offences, of the work of subordinates for minor investigations; the Station Commander must assume the information, using, for those of minor importance, of the work of the subordinated Carabinieri, must supervise, without prejudice, parties, fairs and public meetings and must visit at least once a month municipalities and fractions included in the territory of the station, in order to constantly keep track of the facts, the events and the local situations.
For reasons of exceptional seriousness and urgency, the Station Commander may request reinforcements or other forms of collaboration from neighboring stations and must in turn adhere to similar requests, informing the direct superior in one case or another. The Station Commander also maintains the necessary relations with the civil and military authorities and provides them with the expected news and information.
Lieutenancy
The Lieutenancies are territorial garrisons, competent on a single municipality with a high number of inhabitants. They provide a 24-hour emergency response service and have independent judicial police activities. From the operational point of view, Lieutenancies are considered as particular Territorial Police Stations with more than 25 Carabinieri.
Lieutenancies are commanded by a Lieutenant, a Second Lieutenant (in most cases coming from the special role, then a former Subofficer), or an experienced Marshal Major - Special Grade.
Police units naming conventions
The names of the units of the Royal Police Corps must meet four main conditions:
- Do not repeat the same name;
- Do not attribute to the subordinate units of the same name of the command (at Brigade level) to which they belong;
- Remember, when possible, feats of arms;
- Call up alive the names of the most decorated dissolved units.
Area Inspectorates resume the names of Infantry Brigades who took part in the first World War, and which are not used by the Army or by Carabinieri; in addition, and for all Brigade-level commands, names of mythological creatures are used; the Mobile Forces Brigades adopt the name of battles or of significant events in the national history. Battalion and Regiment-level units have a more complex naming convention:
- Celere Units and Groupings take names of feats of arms;
- Provincial Groups take names of fallen decorated with a gold medal;
- Specialist Groups take Winds names;
- Other units at battalion level adopt names of birds of prey.
A common factor, finally, is the criterion to remember the town where for many years the unit resides, where it is not possible to adopt the above criteria.