Royal Carabinieri Transportation Police Command (Kingdom of Italy)

The Royal Carabinieri Transportation Police Command (It.: Comando dei Reali Carabinieri della Polizia dei Trasporti) groups the specialities of the Royal Carabinieri dedicated to ground or air-based security: Traffic Police, Railway Police and Air Police. The institutional responsibilities specialities are called to fulfil is the safety and security of transportations, of railway lines and of the border. Operators have a high level of professionalism, thanks to the frequency of specific courses at educational institutions of specialities. Each speciality is organised into a "Service", directed by a Brigade General, assisted by two or more Colonels. Both Services are characterised by an high degree of militarisation: civilian officials are assigned only to the central offices and all the chain of command consists of military officers who, once assigned to the Division, complete their career in the Service which they are assigned to.
Current Commander is Lieutenant General Furio Zoccano.

General Staff

The General Staff coordinates and directs in an integrated and holistic manner the public security operations on the communication lines of the national territory. The General Staff is directed by a Division General.

Traffic Police Service

The Traffic Police Service (Servizio Polizia Stradale) activity takes place on the Italian highway network and on main roads outside highways. The Service performs tasks of prevention and detection of traffic violations and of traffic accidents, manages inventories for traffic safety, the use of the road assets, helps in the relief operations and detects the traffic flows.
The Service is the reference body of the Ministry of the Interior for the coordination and guidance of traffic police services carried out by all the subjects indicated by the law. Within the Royal Carabinieri, the Traffic Police Service is the organizational and operational management of the peripheral structures of the Traffic Police. The Traffic Police ensures patrol services on motorways and main ordinary extra-urban roads, while the territorial organization is responsible for the remaining ordinary roads.
The strength of the Royal Carabinieri operating on the national territory in the offices of the Traffic Police Service amounts to a total of about 13,000 Royal Carabinieri.

Central organization

The Traffic Police Service avails itself of a complex organization and is expressed centrally through the Traffic Police Service, which - based on the Transport Police Command - has a total force of 94 units, of which 79 belong to the Royal Carabinieri and 15 to the 'Civil Administration of the Interior (7 belonging to group B and 8 to C), which assists Royal Carabinieri personnel in carrying out bureaucratic activities.

The Service Command is subdivided into four Offices, each led by a Colonel:

• Office I - Personnel, Training and General Affairs; the Office also operates the Traffic Police Training Centre (Centro Addestramento Polizia Stradale, C.A.P.S.).
• Office II - Operations and Statistical Analysis; the Office is the operational subdivision, which coordinates the activities of prevention, suppression and rescue. The Office prepares road escorts and road surveillance targeted services. In addition, it deals with the statistical analysis and manages the Central Operations Room Information and Coordination Centre for Road Safety (Centro di Coordinamento per la Sicurezza Stradale, Ce.Co.S.S.).
• Office III - Analysis;
• Office IV - Technical equipment and Accounting.

Regional organization

The organization of the Service is separate from the general territorial organization.
The Service is based at regional level on 20 Compartments (1 for each Region, with the exception of Rome merged with Latium). Compartments prepare inter-provincial and inter-regional road traffic control plans, according to the development of the main road network, and coordinate the activities of the provincial and local offices. Each Compartment has its ownn Motorway Operational Centre (Centro Operativo Autostradale, C.O.A.) for the operational management of road surveillance services carried out on the motorway network.
Each Compartment is commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel. Latium, Lombardy and Campania also control dedicated Traffic Police Intervention Units (Reparti di Intervento di Polizia Stradale, R.I.P.S.) with territorial control tasks.

Provincial organization

At the provincial level, there are 110 Sections based in the provincial capitals, commanded by Majors. The Sections, in implementing the plans prepared at the regional level, coordinate the activities of 64 Subsections operating on the motorways and 81 Subsections and 188 Detachments, operating on ordinary roads within their territory, commanded by junior officers. The provincial structure is completed by:

• Special Section, within the Training Center for the State Police (C.A.P.S.) of Cesena
• Special Operations Unit of the Traffic Police in Rome for the greater needs of the capital.

Railway Police Service

The Railway Police Service (Servizio Polizia Ferroviaria) is a service of Public Security, responsible for the prevention and suppression of crime and the maintenance of order and public safety in the railway sector. The railway police service has as its purpose the prevention and repression of crimes, the protection of public order and of the safety of citizens in the field of transport carried out on railway lines, on parked trains, or in the run, in railway plants and in all their pertinence or in any sector of the railway service.
The service ensures surveillance in railway stations, on trains and in transit patrols along the line in collaboration with both the CC. and M.V.S.N. station. In particular, it provides supervision of railways and their dependencies, supervision of the regular circulation of convoys and to guarantee the integrity of travelers and goods, and supervision of the correct observance of laws and regulations that directly concern the safety of railways and the regularity of transport in the field of railway services.
The tasks for the protection of the interests of the Treasury, the maintenance of order and the prevention and repression of offenses in the railway sector are attributed to the Royal Carabinieri. The personnel of the Royal Carabinieri in charge of the railway police services perform their duties under the direction and responsibility of the Commissariats of Public Security established in the Compartmental Offices of the State Railways.
The general organisation of the service is carried out by the personnel of the Royal Carabinieri assigned to the railway police services and is managed by the Directorate General of Public Security - Division IX. Within the Directorate General of Public Safety, an Inspector General is tasked with supervising the railway police services carried out by the Commissariats of Public Security, keeping the necessary connections with the State Railways Administration.
The activity of the Inspector General is directed by the Head of the Transportation Police Division, in order to guarantee the uniformity of police action in the specific sectors. The supervision of the security services at the Ministry of Transport is separated from the railway police.

Territorial organisation

The Railway Police Service is organised on a territorial basis in peripheral offices, consisting of 17 "Railway Police Compartments" (based in Ancona, Bari, Bologna, Cagliari, Ajaccio, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Rome, Turin, Trieste, Venice, Verona, corresponding with the Railways Compartments), which control the peripheral, smaller detachments (17 "Sections", 27 "Subsections", 153 "Railway Police Posts"). Each Railway Police Compartment is staffed by a Battalion-level unit.
The Compartment commanding officer corresponds with the Director of the relevant State Railways Compartment for everything concerning the good performance of the railway police service. In particular, he arranges the surveillance and escort services according to a plan drawn up in agreement with the Director of the State Railways Compartment. The public security official, moreover, carries out requests for information from the railway offices on the aspiring contractors and porters assigned to the airports, on the aspiring railway guardians, on the aspiring supervisors in the railway stations and on the concessions within the railway stations; in addition, the public security official informs the railway administration offices of persons who are currently in disputes with the railway administration.

Central organisation

The Railway Police Service is organised, at the central level, in five offices, each directed by a Colonel:

• Office I - Planning and Coordination: The Office provides strategic planning and manages the coordination with the State Railways and the Railway Militia and with the dedicated Carabinieri units (mainly CC. Stations established in the proximity of the railway station);
• Office II - Analysis: The Office running the study and analysis of data on rail safety, monitors the technological innovation;
• Office III - Personnel and Material Resources: The Office develops strategies for employment of staff (including training) and is responsible for logistics;
• Office IV - Propaganda: The Office manages the propaganda for rail security;
• Office V - International Relations: The Office collaborates with the organs of the Railway Police of the neighbouring countries for the realization of joint services.

Airport Police Service

The Airport Police Service (Servizio Polizia Aeroportuale) is a specialised Public Security service, which consists of personnel trained in airport security, also in order to deter, prevent and counter terrorist acts. In addition to the traditional police and public security duties, the Airport Police act as the Air Navigation Police, such as aircraft control, complaints of breaches of aviation law and the surveillance of sensitive or confidential airport areas. Functionally, the Service depends on the Ministry of Transportations.

Present on the major airports of Italy, the Airport Police Service is competent throughout the national territory to ensure the traditional missions of the public security, air navigation police missions (such as aircraft control, findings of aviation law violations, judicial investigations following aircraft accidents and incidents), as well as the security missions of the airport security restricted areas.
The Airport Police Service personnel receive specific training in order to acquire a professional knowledge of this sector. Led by a Brigade General, assisted by a headquarters located in Rome, the Airport Police Service is articulated in two Airport Police Service Groups with 20 Airport Police Stations (located at major airports and are assisted by the nearest Territorial Police Stations) and several Airport Police Posts, which have less autonomy and personnel assigned. At the airports there are also the proper bodies of the Border Police which are kept separated.
The Airport Police Service has a national investigantion section and two subordinate investigantion units (north and south). The investigantion section is competent in the judicial field during air crashes in mainland Italy or abroad when it is a company either Italian or foreign but with Italian nationals.