General Command of the Royal Carabinieri (Kingdom of Italy)

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General Command of the Royal Carabinieri
Comando Generale dell'Arma dei Carabinieri Reali
Comando Generale CCRR.png
Active1814 - present
CountryFlag of Italy.svg Italy
BranchStemma CC.png Royal Carabinieri
TypeService command

The General Command of the Royal Carabinieri is the command, control and leadership body of the Arm of the Royal Carabinieri of the Kingdom of Italy, which the offices of the Commandant-General, the Deputy Commandant-General and various staff functions. The General Command consists of the Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri and those staff agencies that advise and assist him in discharging his responsibilities prescribed by law and higher authority.

Mission

In the Kingdom of Italy, overall management of the public security services is assigned to the Prefects appointed by the government (both at the top of the Directorate General and locally, in the provincial governments), but general and overall responsibility for the execution of the service is entrusted to civilian officials of public security, and finally the executive service is entrusted to a military corps. Therefore, the technical part of the administration of public security is the most important, although Prefects still retain a significant influence and guidance positions.
The Prefect is the highest authority of Public Security in the provinces and, with regard to the functions of the police, he may adopt the necessary measures for the protection of public order and public security. Prefects have functional superiority, besides being higher in rank, compared to the officials of Public Security. They, however, unlike Prefects, are policemen to all intents and purposes, whose shoulders the direction of public security services rests on. The Provincial Commander exercises the technical direction of all police services and public order in the provincial constituency. He belongs to the civilian personnel of Public Security.
In carrying out their activities the Director-General of Public Security, the Provincial Commander and other civilian officials of Public Security are assisted by military personnel of the Royal Carabinieri, which is part of the armed forces of the state, therefore being subject to the military law of peace and war, and, in the case of violations, judged by military courts.
Each of the components (Prefects, Officials, Civilian personnel, and Military) follows its own rules of reference with regard to disciplinary measures, professional training, remuneration and career prospects.

The main and foremost function and mission of the whole public security apparatus, led by the central administration, is to protect the public order and security, to protect the individual citens' security, legitimate interests and properties and to provide rescue for those who are in jeopardy. In case of necessity, the public security apparatus, through the lawfully pre-determined bodies, is entlited to issue decisions on or propose the suspension or termination of operations of agencies, organisations or individuals which are detrimental to public order and security; to requisition means of transport, communication equipments and other technical means of agencies, organisations, individuals and operators or users of such means according to the provisions of law. These functions are carried out almost exclusively by the Administration of Public Security (with the contribution of the Central Security Office and Party armed forces).
Functions of the whole apparatus of Public Security include taking part to protect the Duce and the State, protecting life and properties of the Italian people, to contribute to protect high-ranking leading officials of the Party and the State and foreign guests, to contribute to safeguard important events, targets and key projects of national security, foreign representative offices, representatives of Italy-based international organisations, individuals holding or closely related to state secrets. These functions are carried in conjunction by the public security apparatus and by the M.V.S.N. (and its branches).
Other functions include advising the Party and the State on protection of national security and maintenance of social order and security, performing the unified management in protection and maintenance of social order and security, preventing and fighting against crimes of all types and violations of law on national security as well as social order and safety. In order to carry out such duties, the Directorate-General of Public Security is tasked to collect information, analyze, evaluate and predict situation and propose the Party and the State to promulgate and direct the implementation of guidelines, policies, laws and strategies on protection and maintenance of public order and security. Such pieces of information, because their vastity and diversity, are collected by the whole Directorate-General and by all its Divisions, each according the relevant information required. Such functions, mainly the information gathering, are carried out by the Public Security apparatus as well as by the O.V.R.A., the intelligence branch of the M.V.S.N.

General Command

Coat of arms of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri

The General Command of the Royal Carabinieri is the Carabinieri department that deals with directing, coordinating and controlling all the activities of the corps, with particular attention to the operational activities carried out by the departments and those of analysis of criminal phenomena. It also maintains relations with the central organs of the public administration, for all that does not concern the military tasks.

Commandant-General

The Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri is an officer of the Royal Carabinieri who, at the time of his appointment, holds the rank of General of the Army Corps. He is appointed by decree of the Duce, on the proposal of the Minister of National Defence, after hearing the Chief of General Staff of Defence, on which he depends.
Within the Royal Carabinieri, the Commandant-General is hierarchically superior to all the General Officers and, in case of absence, impediment or vacation of the office, is replaced by the Deputy Commandant-General.
The Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri commands and is responsible for the Royal Carabinieri, is responsible for organizing and preparing the Royal Carabinieri and proposes to the Chief of the General Defence Staff the program relating to the Royal Carabinieri for the purpose of general interforce planning. The Commandant-General is a member of the National Committee of Public Order and Security and of the General Council for the Fight against Organized Crime.

Powers in the operational, training and logistics fields

The Commandant-General is the central security body of the Royal Carabinieri and, based on the directives of the Chief of General Staff of Defence, identifies the departments and personnel to be used for the performance of military police tasks and participation in national defence and ensures availability, formulates proposals for operational planning. determines the implementation modalities of the mobilization and the entity of the relative stocks and defines the training activity and exercises the functions of operative command for the operations and the exercises of the Carabinieri, is responsible for organizing and preparing unit and departments for the accomplishment of military and police tasks.
The Commandant-General determines the ordering, the territorial circumscriptions, the organisms and the operating modalities of the commands, departments, units, institutes and various bodies, determines the establishment or the suppression of fixed places or temporary stations, training of personnel, approves the publications of the Carabinieri.
The Commandant-General also determines the policies of employment of technical material, on the basis of the directives of the Chief of General Staff of Defence.

Confidential Affairs Division

The Confidential Affairs Division (It: Divisione degli Affari Riservati, D.AA.RR. or more commonly D.A.R.) is a central office of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri, stemming from the reorganization of the 1990s. This Division deals with domestic intelligence (also including offensive and proactive operations) and political police functions, without a territorial scope. Differently from Political Police Division, the D.AA.RR. is a pure intelligence-oriented internal organisation, officially restricted to dealing with information, while Division VII is an overt security apparatus and has operational and police roles (with territorialised functions). The fundamental characteristic of the Confidential Affairs Division is the centralization, both of the information and of the investigations and their management throughout the national territory. The leadership of the Confidential Affairs Division is usually given to a trusted senior CC.RR. officer. While other Divisional heads may report to other officials outside the Administration of Public Security, the head of D.AA.RR. reports only to the Commandant-General, the Chief of Police, the Minister of Interior and to the Duce. Information acquired by the Division is filtered throught Political Police Division and then shared with other security services. The D.AA.RR. ensures the indispensable contribution of a general and preventive intelligence, capable of integrating the investigative activities, and conducted by police forces and specialized structures such as the U.C.S.
It is to note that personnel assigned to D.AA.RR. from the remaining public security complex do not retain the capacity of Judicial Police Agent or Judicial Police Officer.
The D.AA.RR. organisation is based on functional criteria and includes a General Staff, a directly reporting Department, six multi-Departmental Services, a Central Office and a Central Political Database (It: Casellario Politico Centrale, C.P.C.). Clandestine provincial teams are directly employed by the Confidential Affairs Division, which also uses the "Foreigners Surveillance Offices" framed within Provincial Commands. Each articulation handles its own informers, informants and sources.
Current Head of Division is Royal Carabinieri Division General Leonardo Nuvolone.

Deputy Commandant-General

The Deputy Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri exercises the vicarious functions in case of absence or impediment of the General Commander and assists him in carrying out the functions and tasks delegated, carries out inspections to the high commands of the Arma (by delegation of the Commandant-General) and presides over the ordinary commission of progress of the officers of the Carabinieri.
The Deputy Commandant-General is an Army Corps General in effective permanent service and is appointed by decree of the Duce, upon proposal of the Minister of National Defence, after hearing the Chief of General Staff of Defence. The Deputy Commandant-General remains in office for a maximum duration of two years, unless in the meantime he must not cease from the actual permanent service due to age limits or to another cause provided for by law, and is hierarchically superior to the other general officers of the Royal Carabinieri.

The Deputy Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri directly oversees the Inspectorate for Sports Groups and the Directorate of Historical and Documentary Heritage.

Directorate of Historical and Documentary Heritage

The Directorate of Historical and Documentary Assets of the Royal Carabinieri, reporting directly to the Deputy Commandant-General, is responsible for the protection, conservation and enhancement of the historical and cultural heritage of the Royal Carabinieri.

The Directorate houses a conspicuous documentary heritage and manages the Documentation centre, the Photo Library, the Historical Archive and the Library.

Chief of Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri

The Chief of Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri is a Divisional General tasked of being the chief consultant and collaborator of the Commandant-General, on which he directly depends. He receives from the Commandant-General the directives for the activity to be carried out and directs the activities of the General Staff and defines, where necessary, the additional elements to translate the decisions of the General Commander into orders and plans.
As Chief of Staff, he represents the Commandant General and issues orders in his name, when authorized, and has some directly reporting departments and units:

  • Health Directorate;
  • Administration Directorate;
  • Selection and Recruitment Service;
  • Secretariat;
  • Autonomous Unit of the General Command;
  • Head of the Spiritual Assistance Service (military chaplains).

Royal Carabinieri Health Service

The Royal Carabinieri Directorate of the Health Services is the administrative structure that directs and coordinates the Royal Carabinieri Health Service health activities under the auspices of the Inspectorate-General of Military Health Service. The Health Service head is the a Division General. Physicians of the Royal Carabinieri Health Service may be civilian doctors, framed as medical officials, or medical officers, members of the Royal Carabinieri.
Centrally, the Directorate is subdivided into:

  • Section I - Health General Affairs;
  • Section II - Psychology: the Section manages the work and health psychology, investigative psychology, forensic psychology and communication psychology;
  • 3 Central Medical Institutes (Toxicology, Neurology and Medical Psychology, Preventive and Labour Medicine);
  • Monitoring Centre for Labour Safety. All the central bodies are staffed with civilian and military personnel;
  • Commission for the protection of psycho-physical health

Commission for the protection of psycho-physical health

The Commission for the protection of the health of the personnel of the Carabinieri Reali the Directorate of the Health Service within the General Command. The Commission is presided over by a Brigade General in the medical role and is made up of a Colonel belonging to the category of psychologists, and by an official belonging to the career of physicians.
Up to five decentralized sections of the Commission can be established by decree of the Commandant General. The president and the members of the Commission are appointed by decree of the Commandant General, remain in office for twelve months and can be reconfirmed, for the same period, even several times. An alternate is appointed for each effective member.

Peripheral organisation

The peripheral structure of the Directorate is complex and articulated according to a double chain of command. Every Interregional Command has a Medical Section (dependent on the Royal Carabinieri Health Service): the latter controls, directs and coordinates the Provincial Health Offices, which are part of the Provincial Commands, as well as the Royal Carabinieri affairs at the relevant Military Hospitals. The Provincial Health Offices are in charge of both military and civilian personnel attached to the Provincial Commands, as well as of providing medical personnel to police investigations and to prefectorial tasks.
The Interregional Command Medical Sections are in charge of providing medical services. In addition to the unit medical assistance, the Interregional Command and its Medical Section are in charge of providing medical officers of the Carabiniri to the Military Hospitals in their boundary.
Current Director of Health Service is Division General Quintilio Baracca.

Interregional Royal Carabinieri Hospitals

The Interregional Royal Carabinieri Hospitals carry out diagnostic activities, including specialist ones, statistical and epidemiological struggle activities and assessment of the assessment of the healthiness of the workplace. The diagnostic activities are aimed at assessing suitability for the service and promoting staff health. The Interregional Royal Carabinieri Hospitals are directly reporting to the Medical Sections responsible for the territory.

Administration Directorate

The Administration Department is employed by the Chief of Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri Corps and has national territorial jurisdiction for all bodies and entities dependent on the same General Command. The Directorate supports the General Staff. The Administration Directorate has three major subdivisions:

  • Asset Service: responsible for the logistical and administrative management of materials;
  • Administrative Service: ensures the economic treatment of activity and retirement, the management of registration numbers as well as tax and social security assistance for the personnel of the Arma
  • Contractual Service: signs all negotiation documents as a representative of the Administration and takes care of the legal and fiscal aspects of the negotiation activity.

The Administration Directorate also oversees the welfare foundations and endowments attached to the Royal Carabinieri.

National Selection and Recruitment Service

The Selection and Recruitment Service (Servizio Nazionale Selezione e Reclutamento, SER.NA.SE.R.) manages all competitive and selective recruitment activities, also guaranteeing psycho-aptitude assessments on the account of personnel to be assigned to particular sectors of activity.

Within the SER.NA.SE.R., the Office of Recruitment and Training supervises the recruitment of new members of the Royal Carabinieri, who are recommended by Corporations and public organizations. There, individuals with proven work records and positive moral attributes are directed to the Carabinieri. The local party and G.I.L. bodies screen candidates thoroughly to ensure their political reliability.

Autonomous Unit of the General Command

The Autonomous Unit of the General Command (Reparto Autonomo del Comando Generale, R.A.CO.GE.) is the unit of the Carabinieri Reali aimed at ensuring the immediate performance in a coordinated and effective way of the tasks relating to assistance and social activities in favor of the personnel of the Carabinieri Reali and their relatives, of activities of the Sports Groups of the Royal Carabinieri, of logistic support of the central offices and of the other offices of the Royal Carabinieri and of the Directorate General of Public Security without territorial jurisdiction located in the Rome area.

Deputy Chief of Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri

The Deputy Chief of Staff assists the Chief of Staff in the performance of his duties and replaces him in case of temporary absence, impediment or vacancy of the office, provides for the delegated determination of spending commitments, directs the provision of expenditure items to of the Heads of the Department, presides and coordinates the activity of the working and study groups for the study of problems of primary interest to the Carabinieri. The Deputy Chief of Staff directly manages the National Recruitment Centre.

Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri

The Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri (Stato Maggiore del Comando Generale dei Reali Carabinieri) ist the executive organ tasked to apply general orders of the Commandant-General and general directives of other bodies. It is led by the Chief of Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri and includes six Units:

  • I Unit - Forces organization: competent in matters of organization, training, personnel management, as well as disciplinary and assistance;
  • II Unit - Forces deployment: responsible for all operational activities;
  • III Unit - Telematics: deals with IT, telecommunications, special armament and equipment issues;
  • IV Unit - Logistical support of the forces: responsible for all support activities (procurement, supplies, repairs, maintenance and recovery);
  • V Unit - External Relations and Propaganda;
  • VI Unit - Planning, programming, budget and control: responsible for coordination of administrative and financial activities.

I Unit - Forces organization

The I Unit - Forces organization (I Reparto - Organizzazione delle Forze) deals with organization, training, personnel management, as well as with social assistance and disciplinary matters. The I Unit is subdivided into six Offices:

  • Organization Office;
  • Officers Office;
  • Marshals Office;
  • Troops Office;
  • Training and Regulations Office;
  • Personnel Assistance and Welfare Office;
  • Litigation Office.

Organization Office

Organization Office has jurisdiction in internal general affairs, support to general administration and coordination for the implementation of programs and projects. The Office is subdivided into eleven Sections:

  • Section I - External Personnel: manages the issues of personnel of the prefectorial career, of personnel of the civil administration of the Interior and other civilian personnel assigned to the Directorate General of Public Security;
  • Section II - Analysis: monitors the personnel needs of the central offices, and liaises with the National Fascist Party and with the Directorate General for the General Affairs and Personnel of the Ministry of Interior;
  • Section III - Central transfers: assigns the personnel (both civil and military ones) to the central offices of the Directorate General
  • Section IV - Viminale: manages access permits to the Viminale building and data related to the CC.RR. personnel assigned to the Directorate General;
  • Section V - Prefectorial personnel: manages personnel of the prefectorial assigned to the Directorate-General of Public Security, with the exception of Provincial Authorities of Public Security;
  • Section VI - General thematics Office: addresses problems and issues not addressed by other bodies;
  • Section VII - Archives;
  • Section VIII - Workplace: manages the healthiness of workplaces;
  • Section IX - Data Security: ensures protection of personal data and their availability for political and security purposes only;
  • Section X - Legislation: ensures technical support to the Minister of Interior, to the Chief of Government and to the Duce for regulation of the security sector;
  • Section XI - Documentation.

In order to protect the Royal Carabinieri against criminal or otherwise hostile infiltration, the formal instrument is that of "environmental incompatibility for personnel", incompatibility which can be seen through informational activity and hierarchical control. An information activity is also carried out during enrollment and, in case of transfer, pre-emptive information is used to avoid incompatibility in the place of destination.

Section IX - Data Security

Office IX - Data Security ensures protection of personal data and their availability for political and security purposes only. The Office analyzes the risks of data processing, analyzes the impact of risks on police action and prepares the specific directives. The Office head is an official with the rank of Police Inspector or an officer with the rank of Colonel of the Royal Carabinieri, with significant IT and telematic experience. Often office personnel comes from the Post Police Division.

Section XI - Documentation

Section XI - Documentation deals with the reception and analysis of the document flow directed to the Directorate-General and the subsequent transmission to the competent Divisions and offices of the same level of the same Directorate-General and to the central and peripheral offices of the Administration of Public Security, provides fulfilments relating to the secretariats of the rest of the Directorate-General and, finally, it takes care of the organization of special security transfers.

Litigation Office

The Personnel litigation Office deals with the discussion of judicial remedies with respect to the employment relationship in the fields of Legal Status, Courses, Competitions, Abusive Transfers, Disciplinary Proceedings, Social Security Claims, Compensation, and other issues. It also handles requests for legal protection for acts committed in service. The Office is subdivided into eleven Sections: eight of them are dedicated to litigation against the personnel of the Carabinieri, two sections are dedicated to the requests for legal protection made by members of the Administration of Public Security (both civilian and military ones) and by members of the Royal Guard of Finance; Finally, a Section exists in order to compensate citizens who suffered non unjustifiable damage from police operations.

II Unit - Forces deployment

The II Unit - Forces deployment (II Reparto - Impiego delle Forze) is the main operational body at the central level. The II Unit is subdivided into five Offices:

  • Operations Office (Ufficio Operazioni);
  • Security Office;
  • Organized Crime Office (Ufficio Criminalità Organizzata);
  • Plans and Military Police Office (Ufficio Piani e Polizia Militare);
  • Public Order Office (Ufficio Ordine Pubblico);
  • International Cooperation Office;
  • Crisis Command Centre.

The Head of the II Unit, on the basis of the orders and the superior directives, carries out command and address functions in the operative field; he also has disciplinary tasks for Carabinieri assigned to Division VI - Criminal Police: not only CC.RR. bodies subordinated to the Division, but also for those directly part of the divisional offices.

Operations Office

The Operations Office (Ufficio Operazioni) has management duties in the extraordinary operations related to control of the territory, performs the operational analysis and is responsible for the study and development of the military employment doctrine of the Royal Carabinieri. The Office also participates in the elaboration of the inter-agency doctrine referring to special operations.

  • Section I - General Affairs
  • Section II - Operational support;
  • Section III - Investigative support;
  • Situation Centre;
  • Crisis Command Centre.

Section II - Operational support

Section II - Operational support is tasked to support the Commandant-General in the management of particular forms of policing the Italian territory. Section II - Operational support includes senior officers and their own teams tasked with providing specialist support for the relevant issue:

  • Assistant for Rural territory: the Assistant is a senior officer who provides advice and technical support for rural policing. His area of expertise include mountain policing and operations in less populated areas;
  • Assistant for River policing: the Assistant is a senior officer who provides advice and technical support for river-specific policing. His area of expertise include lacunas, lakes and internal waters in general.

Section III - Investigative support

Section III - Investigative support is tasked to provide front-line policing with specialist skills and expertise to support major crime investigations such as abduction, serial sexual crimes and no-body murder. Made up of a number of specialised squads, the Investigations Support Office provides a readily deployable support to peripheral (interregional/regional/provincial) echelons. Whole Squads are functionally organized, individual specialists may be detached from every squad. Section III - Investigative support includes:

  • Archive Research Squad (Squadra di Ricerca Archivistica, S.R.A.): it provides documentation support to police investigations and liasies with I Unit - Forces organization, Organization Office, Section XI - Documentation and with General Affairs Office;
  • Special Interrogations Squad (Squadra Interrogatori Speciali, S.I.S.): it provides specialists for interview of vulnerable or intimidated witnesses. It has a significant quota of female operators;
  • Criminal Investigations Support Squad (Squadra di Supporto Investigazioni Criminali, CRIMINALSUP): it provides investigative advice and suggestions regarding the investigation of murder, no body murder, rape, abduction, suspicious missing persons, and series and serious sexual offences.
  • Searches Support Squad (Squadra Supporto Perquisizioni, PERQUISUP): it assists to peripheral organizations in search and mopping operations which necessitate special expertise;

Situation Centre

The Situation Centre of the General Command acts as a driving force: it updates the General Commander and the central authorities on the evolution of particular situations and employs the operational reserves of the Royal Carabinieri. In case of emergency, it requires the use of helicopters to the Air Service.

The Situation Centre is to maintain situational awareness of all major Royal Carabinieri operations world-wide and all significant external events or activities with potential Royal Carabinieri equities. The Situation Centre serves as the current operations information point for the Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri, coordinating information flow and providing decision support to national-level decision makers and Royal Carabinieri forces.

Crisis Command Centre

The Crisis Command Centre (Centro di Comando Crisi, C.C.C.) is a crisis planning and management tool available to the Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri. The Crisis Command Centre has a permanent projectable component that can be deployed for the benefit of the Public Security (tripartite) territorial command levels or made available to other administrative authorities faced with the management of a major crisis. The C.C.C. intervenes and brings its expertise to all levels of crisis management. Within the General Command, it provides analysis of operational information and prepares decision-making.
At the interregional, regional or provincial levels, the C.C.C. offers support for the planning of a large event, support for the management of an unexpected crisis or assistance in the conduct of a large-scale operational device. Its deployment allows the territorial command levels of the Royal Carabinieri to face an extraordinary event while continuing to deal with the daily activity.
To carry out its missions, the C.C.C. has staff experienced in planning and conducting operations in crisis situations. The C.C.C. is thus able to implement, even in very degraded environments, command and communication resources allowing it to continue its missions in total autonomy. It can thus deploy ad hoc communication networks, organize an emergency maneuver and conduct public order, public security, judicial police, road traffic or operational logistics operations. This allow the C.C.C. to be deployed also in the Italian Empire.

Security Office

The Security Office (Ufficio Sicurezza) has the task of maintaining security within the General Command, as well as to provide stable security conditions around the national territory.

  • Principal Special Secretariat: in charge of managing security and intelligence communications;
  • COSMEC laboratory;

Organized Crime Office

The Organized Crime Office (Ufficio Criminalità Organizzata) is the main criminal police office with judicial police duties at the central level of the Royal Carabinieri. Its subdivisions act as autonomous analysis bodies, producing analysis and assessments for both the Director-General and the General Command. It is the main arm of social surveillance of the military establishment. The Organized Crime Office also is the interface with the Operational Departments of the Provincial Commands, ensuring the coordination function in strategic sectors, such as the analysis of criminal phenomena and prevention measures, both personal and property, while ensuring, at the same time, the effective exercise of the powers of the provincial public security authorities.
The Organized Crime Office consists of six Sections:

  • Section I - Itinerant Delinquency: its area of expertise is the fight against crime committed by itinerant criminals;
  • Section II - Preventive Investigations;
  • Section III - Special custodial measures: information activities for the application and extension of special prison regimes.
  • Section IV - Protocols: prepares protocols for personal and property investigations, as well as for setting up the Provincial Commander's proposals on the matter;
  • Section V - Strategic analysis;
  • Section VI - International Relations: specialistic support to Central Office of International Criminal Police and cooperation outside INTERPOL system.

The Organized Crime Office is the point of contact, control, command and coordination of both the peripheral (provincial and regional) bodies and the Criminal Police Division (see infra).

Plans and Military Police Office

The Plans and Military Police Office deals with operational, contingency and emergency planning, with planning of current military operations, with the elaboration of the Strategic, Operational and Tactical Joint Doctrine, and with coordination of the activities of several bodies (CC.RR. territorial bodies, CC.RR. Military Police Command, and G.N.R. Military Police Command) with the the O.V.R.A. and the Military Information Service. The Office is subdivided into five Sections:

  • Section I - Plans: manages the military cooperation with the military forces of the Italian Empire and coordinates the military police issues at national level and within the Italian Empire.
  • Section II - Bilateral cooperation: manages bilateral or multilateral cooperation programs that involve the Weapon involved in foreign military employment and cooperation programs arising from diplomatic relations between Italy and other countries.
  • Section III - Current Military Operations: the section manages daily missions, that is, it manages all the aspects and problems related to the active participation of the Carabinieri contingents in operations outside police duties (in Italy, in one or more Realms of the Italian Empire, or abroad), which go from finding the appropriate personnel, then passing them to the operating theatre, up to the actual operational aspects that revolve around the missions;
  • Section IV - Internal inspections: manages judicial inquiries concerning the personnel of the Royal Carabinieri, as well as for the inspection and control of the service.
  • Section V - Defence: investigaes major cases such as spies of the whole army, subversion of national security, and betrayal of military intelligence. The conduct of affairs is under the guidance of the Military Information Service and of the O.V.R.A.

Public Order Office

Public Order Office (Ufficio Ordine Pubblico) is one of the most important offices within the Royal Carabinieri, because it deals with the top-level management of public order services, mainly on sensitive occasions. The Section is closely connected with the Prefectures and the Provincial Commands, as well as with other information channels, for the management of public order on the occasion of important events, including rallies, demonstrations and other mass events, both events organised by the Regime and non-authorised events. Public Order Office is therefore the organ which is responsible for the deployment and the centralised direction and management of the mobile units, of the other non-territorial units of the Royal Carabinieri, of the forces of the Voluntary Militia for National Security and of the Italian National Royal Guard units for both public order and rescue operations in case of public calamities. The Office is also responsible for the oversight of the objectives of public interest and of diplomatic and service of security for foreign dignitaries temporarily visiting in Italy. The Office is in charge of the public order network, being the direct collaborator and adviser of both the Commandant General and the Chief of Police for subversive and political matters. The Public Order Office is the terminal point all police bodies tasked of preserving the public order and security, including both Confidential Affairs Division and Political Police Division, as well as the Intelligence and Security Organization at large. The Office also maintains liaison with Joint Operational Command for the National Territory.
The Public Order Office, directed by an Brigadier General, is further divided into four Sections:

  • Section I - General Affairs: the Section supports the Office Director and prepares guidelines on the management of public events and provisions for the use of mobile forces. To achieve this, it plans reinforcements of the mobile units of the police and security forces for public order services or for rescue operations, assigning directly to the Provincial Authorities of Public Security any special units (canine units, mounted units, bomb disposal units, naval squads, divers and snipers and sharpshooters) and decides on any temporary aggregations of personnel of the Royal Carabinieri for such services. The Section also monitors and analyses events and other events relevant to public order, prepares the daily reports and produces statistical analysis.
  • Section II - Official Events, Surveillance and Emergency: Section II is in charge of official events attended by the most important State and Party leaders. In addition, it deals with the most critical situations and with surveillance operations. Therefore, it prepares guidelines on public order services on the occasion of such events, as it is responsible for the preparation of guidelines for the visits of foreign dignitaries in Italy. As regards the surveillance and emergency preparation activities, the Sector prepares the appropriate directives and emergency planning and crisis management that require the intervention of the Armed Forces. Finally, it is responsible for participation in exercises and international working groups for cooperation activities in the field of public security.
  • Section III - Sports Violence: Section III is responsible for the management of sports violence. Therefore, it mainly carries out studies and research for the prevention of violence in sport, performing a dynamic analysis of the illegality related to sporting events and establish the guidelines that result. The Section therefore takes the relations with the government's national and international sporting and other organs of the whole Directorate General for the coordination of law enforcement activities. Finally, the Office is responsible for the course material for the training and retraining of personnel in the field of public order.
  • Section IV - Civil Defence: Section IV is in charge for the management of Public Security contribution and intervention to civil defence operations in case of natural or man-made disasters. The Office is led by a Vice-Prefect Inspector.

International Cooperation Office

International Cooperation Office is responsible for relations of the Royal Carabinieri with foreign (i.e. not belonging to the Italian Empire) countries and with other Italian State administrations. Activities range from bilateral information exchange to operation of multilateral police organisations.
In international relations, Public Security divides the world into five areas, each with liaison officers and working groups. The system of liaison officers is also divided into five areas, with a hundred experts plus support staff. Currently, the Balkan area is the strongest. six Offices operate at central level:

  • Section I - Bilateral Exchanges, dealing with country-to-country cooperations;
  • Section II - Fascist and European Countries, dealing with affairs pertaining exclusively to nearby countries in Europe;
  • Section III - Multilateral Exchanges and International Organisations, which provides guidance for matters related to wider forums;
  • Section IV - Strategic planning, to take care of strategic planning in the field of international police cooperation.
  • Section V - Gendarmerie cooperation;
  • Section VI - Italian Empire;

Section VI - Italian Empire

Section VI - Italian Empire is responsible of the public security activity carried out at imperial level and for assisting the Chief of Public Security in managing and directing the police/gendarmerie forces of the other Realms of the Italian Empire. The Section main task is the analysis, advice and coordinating activity of high sensitivity between various Italian police forces. In addition to this task, the Section prepares documents for the general coordination activity, carries out the activities of the security secretariat and technical advice on issues relating to classified documents.
The section, alongside various subdivisions, also has a Consultative Commission, which consists of a representative from each Gendarmerie force and of a representative of the Montenegrin police.

III Unit - Telematics

  • Office I - IT and informatics needs;
  • Office II - IT, telecommunications and technical systems
  • Office III - IT and informatics maintenance;

Office II - IT, telecommunications and technical systems

Office II - IT, telecommunications and technical systems (Ufficio II - Tecnologie dell'Informazione, telecomunicazioni e sistemi tecnici) handles tender procedures in the IT, telecommunications and technical systems sectors also for the entire Ministry of the Interior. This Office ensures the organization and execution of technical management activities in the information technology sector, including by conducting research, development and testing of new technologies, provides support to the other Divisions as regards their activities and directs territorial logistical needs.
As regards telecommunications, the Office ensures the technical management and organization of the telecommunications networks of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri and the Ministry of the Interior, in coordination with the Army Signal Command. In addition, it provides for the detection and certification of quality indicators.
The IT Office has sixteen Sections:

  • Section I - Tender procedures for the IT sector;
  • Section II - Tender procedures for the technical services sector;
  • Section III - Financial and accounting services;
  • Section IV - Design of IT architectures;
  • Section V - Technical specifications of the IT sector;
  • Section VI - Research and technological experimentation;
  • Section VII - Relations with central and peripheral offices;
  • Section VIII - Logistic Security and Data Security;
  • Section IX - Software design and maintenance;
  • Section X - Relations with the Ministry of Grace and Justice;
  • Section XI - Document flow systems and open source software;
  • Section XII - Technical specifications for Administration;
  • Section XIII - Technical specifications for the Carabinieri Border Police Command;
  • Section XIV - Technical specifications for Confidential Affairs Division, Political Police Division and Transport Police Division;
  • Section XV - Technical specifications for Criminal Police Division and for Administrative Police Division.

IV Unit - Forces logistic support

The IV Unit - Forces logistic support (IV Reparto - Sostegno Logistico delle Forze) is the technical-operational body of the General Command tasked with ensuring logistic support to the Royal Carabinieri. The office heads are Lieutenant Colonels or full Colonels:

  • Office I - Motorization;
  • Office II - Facilities;
  • Office III - Vehicle accounting;
  • Office IV - Planning;
  • Office VII - Telecommunications and telephony services;
  • Office VIII - Facilities maintenance;
  • Office IX - Assignment of housing;
  • Office X - Armament, clothing, equipment and special materials;
  • Directorate of Military Commissariat.

Office I - Motorization

Office I - Motorization (It.: Ufficio I - Motorizzazione) ensures the organization and execution of technical management activities in the information technology sector, including by conducting research, development and testing of new technologies, provides support to the other Divisions as regards their activities and directs territorial logistical needs. The Section consists of twelve Offices and it is directed by an Inspector General. Its Sections are directed by Police Inspectors (Offices I, II, III, V, VIII, IX and X), by Colonels (Office IV) and by technical managers of the Civil Administration of the Interior (Offices VI and XI) assisted by officials and officers.

  • Section I - Organizational methodologies;
  • Section II - Survey of needs;
  • Section III - Assignment of the material;
  • Section IV - Insurance Register;
  • Section V - New land and sea technologies;
  • Section VI - Technical specifications for the calls for tenders;
  • Section VII - Coordination of maintenance;
  • Section VIII - Development of vehicle liveries;
  • Section IX - Logistical support to the Air Service;
  • Section X - New aviation technologies.

Office II - Facilities

The Office II - Facilities (It.: Ufficio II - Infrastrutture) deals with contractual and technical activities relating to the acquisition and management of fixed infrastructures to be used for all Carabinieri institutional activities.
The Facilities Office consists of four sections, in turn composed of offices:

  • Section II - Technical services;
  • Section III - Police facilities
  • Section IV - Central Logistic Support.

Office X - Armament, clothing, equipment and special materials

Office X - Armament, clothing, equipment and special materials (Ufficio X - Vestiario, Armamento, Equipaggiamento e Materiali speciali) takes care of contractual activities and of technical evaluation in relation to special materials, clothing, armament and equipment of the Royal Carabinieri.
The Armament, clothing, equipment and special materials Office is headed by a Brigadier General and its ten Sections are headed by Colonels:

  • Section V - Logistic management of the Interregional Commands;
  • Section VI - Warehouse management;
  • Section VII - Evaluation of police armament;
  • Section VIII - Research and technological experimentation;
  • Section IX - Coordination with the Ministry of National Defence and with the M.V.S.N.;
  • Section X - Italian Empire

Directorate of Military Commissariat

The Directorate of Military Commissariat the body responsible for providing logistical-administrative support aimed at ensuring the best quality of life conditions for the soldier, both in Italy and abroad. In particular, the Management guarantees logistical support through the management of provisioning services, clothing-equipment, barracks, local cleaning, labor and field mobile vehicles, commissariat materials and the general operating costs of the Royal Carabinieri. The Directorate is subivided into seven Sections:

  • Section I - Tender procedures for police clothing;
  • Section II - Tender procedures for police equipment;
  • Section III - Tender procedures for vehicles and support systems;
  • Section IV - Tendering procedures for special police materials;
  • Section V - Supply organization and compliance check;
  • Section VI - Contractual activities for Police barracking;
  • Section VII - Legal and administrative support.

V Unit - External Relations and Propaganda

V Unit - External Relations and Propaganda (V Reparto - Relazioni Esterne e Propaganda) deals with media relations, takes care of the propaganda of the Royal Carabinieri, the affairs of the ceremonial in relation to the events of the Directorate General of Public Security and, finally, the support the uniformology. The Section is directed by an Inspector General, and the five individual offices are all headed by Police Inspectors or a civilian official of equivalent rank and adequate technical specialisation:

  • Office I - Propaganda and press relations;
  • Office II - "Polizia Moderna" Magazine;
  • Office III - Crisis communication;
  • Office IV - Ceremonies and events of the Directorate General of Public Security;
  • Office V - Uniform and symbolic consultancy to military corps tasked with police duties.

VI Unit - Planning, Budget and Administrative control

The VI Unit - Planning, Budget and Administrative control (VI Reparto - Programmazione, Bilancio e Controllo amministrativo) is the branch devoted to analysis and planning of the police and security activity. Furthermore, the Unit is tasked to carry out acquisitions and administrative controls.

  • Office I - Strategic Analysis;
  • Office II - Accounting Services;
  • Office III - Administrative Control;
  • Office IV - Budget planning;
  • Office V - Procurement.

Strategic analysis office

Strategic analysis office is the think tank of the Royal Carabinieri. It has jurisdiction in supporting the Commandant-General for the planning and the definition of the objectives and programs and the coordination of the activities of the offices of the Directorate General, as well as internal coordination. The Office main task is the analysis, advice and fitting information. In addition to this task, the Office prepares the records and documents to the National Committee of Order and Public Security, carries out the activities of the security secretariat and technical advice on issues relating to classified documents.
The Office also oversees the functioning of the archives of the Provincial Commands and manages the acquisition, monitoring and management of internal and external information related to order and public security.
The Office is directed by a Brigade General, and the eight individual offices are all headed by Colonels:

  • Section I - General Affairs: collection, analysis and study of the data provided by the Provincial Commands on the prevention and contrast action against organized and common crime, including the delinquent phenomena concerning minors, also for the purposes of drafting periodic contributions and reports, as well as for the elaboration of the strategic lines of anti-crime intervention;
  • Section II - Opinions: Expresses opinions on criminal phenomenon protocols and participates in international forums and work tables of non-operational relevance;
  • Section III - Strategic Crime Analysis;
  • Section IV - Methodology Office;
  • Section V - Criminal Behaviour Analysis Office;
  • Section VI - Archives Office;
  • Section VII - Major Public Contracts Analysis Office;
  • Section VIII - Suppression of Human Trafficking Office;
  • Section IX - Objectives and programs;
  • Section X - Local Administrators Security;
  • Section XI - Analysis of National Economic Security;
  • Section XII - Affairs and Security Secretariat for National Committee of Order and Public Security;
  • Section XIII - Public security legislation studies;
  • Section XIV - Criminal legislation studies;

Section X - Local Administrators Security

Section X - Local Administrators Security operates in the Genral Command as an articulation of the Central Study Commission on Intimidation against Local Administrators. The Section constantly monitors the phenomenon, also by analyzing the data provided by the prefectural documentation services. To this end, also in relation to the different territorial contexts, directs the activity of the same documentation services. On the basis of the studies, the Section head proposes to the Commission initiatives and strategies for preventing and combating the phenomenon and periodically reports to the Observatory.
The Local Administrators Security Section consists of representatives of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri, the Directorate General for the Civil Administration of the Interior, the Directorate General for Civil Services, the Directorate General for General Affairs and Civilian Personnel, the M.V.S.N. and all police forces. The Office is supported by officials from the Criminal Analysis Section.

Section XI - Analysis of National Economic Security

Section XI - Analysis of National Economic Security contributes to the protection of the economic security against foreign or undue acquisitions in strategic sectors of the Italian economy or the economy of the Empire. The task of Section XI is to formulate non-binding proposals of issuing vetoes over such acquisitions.
The Section operates in liaision with several entities: the Ministries of Corporations, of Foreign Affairs and of National Defence, with the intelligence community and with the Royal Guard of Finance. Section XI also has direct relationships with the individual security bodies (the O.V.R.A. branches) of the Realms of the Italian Empire for this purposes and, through the appropriate bodies, with police organisations of the Italian Empire.

Office II - Accounting Services

Office II - Accounting Services (It.: Ufficio II - Servizi di Ragioneria) provides economic-financial planning and budget policies for the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri. It also performs the function of the central purchasing department of the entire Directorate-General for Public Security.
The Office is divided into eight Sections:

  • Section I - Economic and financial planning and budgetary policies;
  • Section II - Economic and financial accounting;
  • Section III - administrative-accounting activities;
  • Section IV - Services for Armament, equipment, special materials, motorization and canteen and cleaning;
  • Section V - Economic and financial management and services for IT, telecommunications and technical systems;
  • Section VI - Services for the registration and housing;
  • Section VII - Economic treatment of personnel;
  • Section VIII - Economic and accounting management of staff working in the central offices.

Office IV - Budget planning

Office IV - Budget planning (Ufficio IV - Programmazzione finanziaria) deals with with secretariat duties and with the financial planning tasks.
The Planning Office ensures support to the Unit head in relations with the other subdivisions of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri, the Directorates General of the Ministry of Interior and with the Italian Armed Forces. The Office also monitors and standardizes contractual activities, ensures the detection of public security needs and, finally, supports the Head of the Office in the financial planning of the logistics sector.

  • Section I - General Affairs;
  • Section II - Programs;
  • Section III - Annual and multi-year planning;
  • Section IV - Management control and monitoring;
  • Section V - Security Secretariat;
  • Section VI - Management of logistics and material resources;
  • Section VII - Personnel;
  • Section VIII - Regulations;
  • Section IX - Coordination of contractual activity;
  • Section X - Tenders;
  • Section XI - Organizational analysis;
  • Section XII - Anti-corruption;
  • Section XIII - Survey of existing needs and equipment;
  • Section XIV - Reporting.

Office V - Procurement

Office V - Procurement (It.: Ufficio V - Approvigionamenti) performs monitoring and analysis of the logistical and financial requirements of the Royal Carabinieri bodies and ensures the overall planning, in liaison with other offices in the matters of their respective competence. The Office takes also care of the financial programming and carries out the administrative and accounting procedures for the management of expenditures. It is to note that this Office is manned almost exclusively by civilian personnel, seconded from the wider Interior administration.
The Office is divided into three Sections:

  • Section I - General Affairs and Planning: the section deals with with secretariat duties and with the financial planning tasks.
  • Section II - IT, telecommunications and technical systems: the section is responsible for providing supplies services related to non technologically-advanced/IT equipment. Furthermore, it is responsible for carrying out market analysis in order to find out most suitable equipment.
  • Section III - Armament, clothing, equipment and special materials.

Divisions directly under the General Command

For the execution of general police and public security tasks, both repressive and preventive, the Royal Carabinieri have various specialist divisions. These divisions, which do not require the use of means and men such as to justify their elevation to Carabinieri Command, depend directly on the Commandant-General. These Divisions have operational autonomy and can act both with their own territorial structure (such as Political Police Division) and in support of the territorial organization of the Carabinieri.
The divisions are equipped with the necessary office structure, the Divisional Command and a Divisional Staff, complete with information structures. The specialized divisions are led by a Division General.

Integrated approach and specialist divisions

The operational approach of the Carabinieri Reali is that of a military organization: the execution of the services is directed and coordinated by the centre, and it is the centre which, with an overall vision, activates the most suitable resource from time to time and addresses the emerging threat. This approach is shared by all military-based police forces and contrasts with the segmentation of activities typical of civilian police forces.
Nonetheless, the fight against ever new and more serious forms of crime and the need to face a wide spectrum of threats have led to the creation of specialized bodies.
To safeguard the integrated approach, the specialized bodies are framed as bodies of direct support of the General Command and, with the exception of two Divisions, they have no peripheral articulations of their own but, on the contrary, are the contact points for the territorial organization that tends to perform the generality of the institutional tasks.

Administrative and Social Police Division

Coat of arms of the Administrative and Social Police Division

The Administrative and Social Police Division (Italian: Divisione Polizia Amministrativa e Sociale), directly under the Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri, deals with the study and use of the most effective means to avert disruption of social and legal order: the Division also deals with the superintendence and general guidance on administrative departments of public security provincial and sub-provincial offices, as well as on local police corps. The Division is responsible for planning, guidance and coordination of activities and administrative police measures, for the preparation of acts of competence of the Minister in the local administrative police matters and for records keeping, as well as for providing bureaucratic support to peripheral authorities of all types. The Division also deals with the coordination of administrative departments of public security provincial and sub-provincial offices.
In particular, the Administrative and Social Police Division deals with the sale, storage and introduction in Italy of weapons, the control of establishments, compliance with urban and rural police regulations and supervision and coordination of their enforcement, emigration, issuing of passports and forced domiciles. While general tasks of administrative police are carried out by several other organisations, the Administrative and Social Police Division is one of the most important subdivisions of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri and, in order to deal with its tasks, the Division consists of ten Offices and four independent Sections:

  • Office I - Licenses; this Office deals with administrative permits and authorizations related to weapons, health and mineral oils and it is subdivided into six offices: Weapons sell, Detention, depot and importation regulation, Public establishments control, Explosives, Health regulations, Mineral oils;
  • Office II - Regulations: this Office deals with all regulations related to administration (both central and peripheric) and it is subdivided into eight offices: Urban and rural regulations, Provincial regulations, Regional and other local regulations, Mortuary police, Trade regulations, Construction police and regulations, Public security licenses for commercial purposes, Prostitution;
  • Office III - Residing Foreigners and Residing Imperial Citizens; this Office deals with immigrations and therefore is in close relationship with other bureaucratic bodies with responsibilities in foreigners' stay. It has three offices: stay permits, deportation, citizenship applications;
  • Office IV - Citizens mobility; this Office deals with Italian nationals' mobility and emigration and it is subdivided into five offices: Travelling Jobs, Emigration, Passports issuance, Forced stays (non political cases) and Special surveillance;
  • Office V - Cults and Sects; this Office deals with foreign and original cults surveillance, tracking down of magicians and frauds. Section V - Cults is subdivided into five operational Offices, which deal with the fight against cults according a thematic pattern: Satanic Cults Office, European Cults Office, Asiatic Cults Office, Islamic Cults Office and Christian-derived Cults Office. Classical Olympic (Greek-Roman) worshipping is not officially kept under surveillance.
  • Office VI - Local Police: this Office is in charge for dealing with Local Police general affairs, coordination, surveillance, general regulation and with the operation of Local Police training facilities;
  • Office VII - Private security: this Office is in charge for dealing with private security service and firms other than the private military/combat companies (which are not dealt with by the Administrative Police Division). It deals with general affairs, licensing, inspecting, regulations drafting and with the support of local Prefectures in this matter. A separate Seection, framed within Office VII, deals with credit recovery authorizations;
  • Office VIII - Common firearms: this section keeps control and under surveillance acquisition, possession and transfer of non-military grade firearms.
  • Office IX - Control of weapons and explosives: this section is in charge for dealing with military-grade weapons and all explosives for matters separated from the licenses (dealt with by Section I);
  • Office X - Games and Races;
  • Central Section for Information Exchange: in charge for Italian Empire-level information exchange related to weapons matters.
  • Central Censorship Section: in charge for coordinating all censorship efforts.
  • Central Identification Section.
  • Central Studies and Legislative Section.

Current Head of Division is Division General Pasquale Ametrano.

Office X - Games and Races

Office X - Games and Races (Ufficio X - Giochi e Corse) is tasked to ensure the respect of the regularity and the sincerity of the games, whatever they are, as well as the protection of the players and the defence of the interests of the State, and proceeds to the investigations administrative matters within the regulatory domain of games.
The Racing and Games Office is made up of six Sections: Section of Documentation and Coordination, Section of General Supervision of Casinos, Races Section, Section of Judicial Affairs and Observatory of Games Related to New Technologies.

Criminal Police Division

Coat of arms of the Criminal Police Division

The Criminal Police Division of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri (Italian: Divisione Polizia Criminale del Comando Generale dei Reali Carabinieri) is the cornerstone office of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri, being in charge of liability ascertainment and consequent punishment of the criminal, when, despite the adoption of the means of prevention, the injury of legal-social order has taken place (judicial police). In practical terms, the Division is responsible for the coordination of all police investigations at the national level of all police entities, with particular reference to the search and capture most dangerous fugitives and mafia-type criminal organisations, the crime-related information collection and analysis.
The Division, directly under the Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri, is responsible for international cooperation in the fight against organised crime (drug trafficking, money laundering, trafficking in motor vehicles, counterfeiting, computer crime and environmental crime). The Division also manages and coordinates the collaborators of justice at the national level interventions related to the action of general prevention and control of the territory.
In order to fulfil its tasks, the Criminal Police Division has a number of Offices, Services and Sections and other internal articulations, including the International Criminal Police Central Office (Ufficio centrale di polizia criminale internazionale, also known as "INTERPOL Italia").
The Criminal Police Division is subdivided into seven independent Sections and three Services; Sections directly dependent on the Chief of the Division are directed by Colonels, while Services are led by Brigade Generals.

  • Division Command Office (in charge for execution and support in coordination and guidance duties);
  • Central Section of General Affairs: manages Criminal databases, external specialist support, personnel affairs;
  • Central Section of Legal Affairs;
  • Central Section for the repression of Women and Children trafficking: in coordination with the Post Police Division;
  • Central Section of Guidance for Criminal Investigation Basic Work
  • Central Section of International Criminal Police (INTERPOL);
  • Central Section for Criminal Data Protection: in charge for ensuring the avalaibility of personal data only for criminal security or political security purposes;
  • Criminal Analysis Service;
  • Special Operational Group;
  • Vehicle Theft Service.

Current Head of Division is Royal Carabinieri Division General Marino Spada.

Crime Analysis Service

Crime Analysis Service (Servizio Analisi Criminale, S.A.C.) is the centre for the coordination of anti-crime information and strategic analysis on criminal phenomena. The section is divided into eleven Sections and operates in constant relationship with other bodies of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri and other police forces.
Its eleven Sections, led by Colonels, are:

  • Strategic Crime Analysis Section;
  • Strategic Studies Section;
  • Methodology Section;
  • Criminal Behaviour Analysis Section;
  • Archives Section;
  • Statistical Analysis Section;
  • Major Public Contracts Analysis Section;
  • Suppression of Human Trafficking Section;
  • Sports Betting Investigations Section: in coordination with Office X - Games and Races of the Administrative Police Division;
  • External Relations Section;
  • Support Section.

Special Operational Group

The Special Operational Group (Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale, R.O.S.) is the top body for the criminal police investigations at the national level. The R.O.S. is engaged in the fight against organised crime, including the infiltration into sectors of the national economy. The R.O.S. is the primary point of reference for both INTERPOL and EUROPOL; the area of intervention concerns investigations in a coordinated manner, with direct participation, in the most serious criminal phenomena and the development of operational analysis and consequent strategies to combat it. The Special Operational Group is divided into eight Sections:

  • Section I - Fugitives;
  • Section II - Investigations Support;
  • Section III - Organised crime and narcotics;
  • Section IV - Human exploitation and trafficking;
  • Section V - Common crimes;
  • Section VI - Unsolved Crimes;
  • Section VII - Vehicles Trafficking;
  • Section VIII - Analysis.

The Special Operational Group also relies on the 21 Criminal Police Centres within the Regional Offices of Public Security; these Centres depend functionally, technically and hierarchically on the R.O.S., which is the main body which the prosecutions delegate for investigations against organised crime.
The counterpart of the Royal Guard of Finance is the Central Service for Investigations against Organised Crime. One other support is Section I - Itinerant Delinquency of the CC.RR. Organized Crime Office, which is led by a Lieutenant Colonel.

Section II - Investigations Support

Section II - Investigations Support is tasked to provide front-line policing with specialist skills and expertise to support major crime investigations such as abduction, serial sexual crimes and no-body murder. Made up of a number of specialised squads, the Investigations Support Office provides a readily deployable support to peripheral (interregional/regional/provincial) echelons. Whole Squads are functionally organized, individual specialists may be detached from every squad. Section II - Investigations Support is led by a Colonel and includes:

  • Archive Research Squad (Squadra di Ricerca Archivistica, S.R.A.): it provides documentation support to police investigations and liasies with I Unit - Forces organization, Organization Office, Section XI - Documentation and with the Divisional Command Office;
  • Special Interrogations Squad (Squadra Interrogatori Speciali, S.I.S.): it provides specialists for interview of vulnerable or intimidated witnesses. It has a significant quota of female operators;
  • Criminal Investigations Support Squad (Squadra di Supporto Investigazioni Criminali, CRIMINALSUP): it provides investigative advice and suggestions regarding the investigation of murder, no body murder, rape, abduction, suspicious missing persons, and series and serious sexual offences.
  • Searches Support Squad (Squadra Supporto Perquisizioni, PERQUISUP): it assists to peripheral organizations in all search matters.

Political Security Division

Coat of arms of the Political Security Division

The Political Security Division of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri (Divisione Sicurezza Politica del Comando Generale dei Reali Carabinieri) is the political police branch of the internal intelligence of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri. The tasks assigned to the Political Security Division consist in the investigation and suppression of anti-fascist movement, with particular attention to the communist organisation and to liberal activities. Due to the sensitivity of the task assigned, the Political Security Division is led, as a general rule, by a senior and highly trusted Royal Carabinieri general officer who comes from the M.V.S.N. This makes the appointment to lead the Political Security an highly coveted award and acknowledgement to the career: no political bargain is made for the Political Security, and its directors are among Duce's most trusted men. The Divisional head reports also to the Director General of the National Security.
The interrogation methods used by the special, small interrogation teams framed in central offices of Political Security are known to be though and sometimes brutal: serious injury and death have to be avoided, and interrogators have to hurt arrested people without leaving a mark.
Political Security is the first-line internal intelligence of the fascist police system, mainly dealing with the collection and analysis of information through the use of informers, spies infiltrated in many different areas of society, not only in the rooms directly anti-fascists but also in Regime-controlled contexts, such as public administration, printing, entertainment, etc. Differently from Confidential Affair Division, the seventh Division has a more decentralised focus, while still stepping in when the phenomena grow up beyond the local context. Informants of the Political Police are paid through the fund of political investigation. In contrast with Confidential Affairs Division, the Political Security Division has a heavily judicial-oriented approach and functions as a hub for the intelligence community, allowing the Confidential Affairs Division to pursue an autonomous and intelligence-centred work.
By the establishing decree, the Political Security Division consists of eleven subdivisions: a Command Office, charged with overall direction and management, a Security Secretariat, a Divisional Political Files Cabinet (Casellario Politico di Divisione) and eight operational Offices. The Central Section for Political Investigation and Special Operations (Sezione Centrale per le Investigazioni Politiche e le Operazioni Speciali, S.C.I.P.O.S.) is directly subordinated to the Divisional Chief, provides coordination services.
These seven operational Offices are grouped into two intermediate Services, which group together similar Offices, in order to ease joint working and analysis. The Services are the Political Opposition Service, which groups Offices I, II and III, and the State Security Service, which groups Offices IV, V, VI and VII. Office VIII (General Intelligence) and the Divisional File Cabinet are outside the two Services. While such "Services" are directed by senior officials who have the same rank of the Section heads, they are kept distinct and they retain functional authority over them.

  • Political Opposition Service: the Service is in charge of ordinary montoring antifascists.
    • Office I - Liberal activities at home and abroad: the Section is responsible to counter the liberal anti-fascist activities, as well as to detect subversive plots originating in Western Europe, the U.S., British and French (former) colonies and North Africa, if they are directed both to the homeland or to the relevant Realm of the Italian Empire;
    • Office II - Islamic subversion and General Investigations: the Section deals with subversive plots if they originate in an Islamic environment, as well as with, on a purely domestic front, issues of Islamic immigrant dissenters and non-Islamic dissent which is not directed from abroad, as well as non-terror political offences such as smuggling of currency, anti-fascist trade unions and political personalities (and other ones); it also keeps an eye on cults deemed dangerous, although this is primary focus of the Administrative Police.
    • Office III - Leftist and Communist subversives;
  • State Security Service: the Service is in charge for dealing with any threat to the Italian State, focusing on terrorism.
    • Office IV - Anti-Terrorism: the Anti-Terrorism Section deals with all the phenomena of contrast to the domestic and international terrorism. It is not a judicial police service, so does not take, on an ongoing basis, tasks from the judicial authority. The Section coordinates and boost counter-terrorism sections of the provincial Political Sections. The Section is also a terminal of the whole information flow of national and international intelligence, as well as of the police investigations. The hub function assigned to Section IV in anti-terrorism matters makes it the police "spearhead" and the main interface of other non-intelligence police bodies. Section IV is further organised in thematic Sections: Communists, Western-sponsored and Islamic Terrorism. It is to note that the Central Office for Special Affairs of the Confidential Affairs Division carries out similar activities; the difference lies in the fact that the Central Office for Special Affairs carries out covert operations and not official police-related operations.
    • Office V - International Terrorism and Foreigners associations: the Section carries out surveillance tasks over foreigners associations (both Imperial and non-Imperial people) in order to counter international terrorism in its cradle. Originally being a mere subsection of Office IV, the Section still maintains a close work relationship with the Office IV - Anti-Terrorism, and they often form joint working groups. The Section consists of three Sections: Foreigners Associations in Italy; Intelligence liasion; Investigations.
    • Office VI - State Security: it carries out investigations directly, or assists, directing them, those investigations carried out by other police departments for crimes against the State, of anarchist nature or against loyalty to Fascism, assisting and complementing the activities of the peripheral bodies. The Office can also claim for itself the investigations when it considers it necessary or when it is requested by the State Security Prosecution. The State Security Court relies on this Office for judicial police duties.
  • Office VII - Technical Support
  • Office VIII - General Intelligence
  • Office IX - General Affairs and Personnel: tasked with dissemination also towards the Public Order Office.
  • Central Section for Political Investigation and Special Operations
  • Divisional File Cabinet

Current Head of Division is M.V.S.N. Consul General in rank of CC.RR. Division General Sergio Benvenuti.

Section VIII - General Intelligence

Section VIII - General Intelligence (Sezione VIII - Informazioni Generali, often shortened in Sezione Informazioni Generali, S.I.G.) provides for the activity of direction, direction and coordination of information and operations and analysis in the field of social or economic phenomena relevant for public order and safety, as well as for special high-risk interventions. The Office is divided into three Offices:

  • General Information Office: The Section deals with coordination and direction of investigative activities of the Political Sections concerning attacks, damaging threats and other criminal events relevant to public order and security of a matrix other than terrorist or subversive, corporate electoral offenses and against the public administration. The Office also deals with coordination and direction of investigations and prevention activities related to stadium violence.
  • General Analysis Office: The Section is responsible for the analysis of the situation of public order and public safety (in support of territorial political sections), and in relation to social phenomenologies and secret and forbidden associations.
  • Investigative Support Office: The Section has expertise in technical and operational support for investigations conducted by the Political Sections in the Provincial Commands

Divisional File Cabinet

The Division also has, placed directly under its own chief, a Divisional File Cabinet, in order to achieve and maintain operational autonomy from O.V.R.A. The Cabinet is operated by an autonomous computer system, and it is functionally subdivided into three parts:

  • an archive where all documents are inventoried according object, for example in antifascist groups and movements;
  • a personal archive format consisting of files relating to personalities;
  • an informants archive made up of files, each dedicated to an individual trustee and its activities.

Each informant recruited by the Political Police is assigned a number and a code name, such as spy "John Smith" has the number "543" and the code name of "Caesar", the number also distinguishes the informant's personal file. The informants activities consist mainly of the preparation of information reports about the subject or the subject watched. These reports are then to be sent to conventional address prepared for reception by the Division.
Upon receipt of the reports, the Copy Office produces three copies of each document. Of these three copies one is communicated to the Chief of Police, who decides which transmit daily to the Duce, another copy is sent to both the Central Security Office and the Confidential Affairs Division, and the third is assigned by the chief of Political police, according to the specific content of the report, to the official in charge for that field. Once acquired the single report, the practice follows the criterion for sorting groups of competence.

S.C.I.P.O.S.

The Central Service for Political Investigation and Special Operations (Servizio Centrale per le Investigazioni Politiche e le Operazioni Speciali, S.C.I.P.O.S.) directly subordinated to the Divisional Chief, provides coordination to the provincial Political Sections and to the other anti-terrorism bodies of the Carabinieri, in order to ensure a vast and constant coordination and mutual information activity; it also contains the "Special Interrogations Team", which allegedly uses torture against dangerous and tough dissidents, and a divisional support structure (including a small infirmary with a Medical Officer and two Paramedics).
The S.C.I.P.O.S. also has the task of collaborating with the intelligence services, as well as with the military police organs, exercising, exclusively or in any case with the functions of superintendency and management, the security and judicial police assignments connected to the activity of the intelligence bodies. Finally, the S.C.I.P.O.S. is in charge for executing operations abroad, both in the Italian Empire and in foreign countries.
The information management activity of the S.C.I.P.O.S. is of utmost importance, mainly because it is the body tasked to collect information from all peripheral police bodies not tasked with intelligence functions; while individual information bullettins directly and specifically concerned with specific terrorism alerts flow from the territorial body to Section IV, the general flow is directed towards the S.C.I.P.O.S., which in turn sorts information chunks to the relevant Service and/or proposes them to be forwarded to Division II - Confidential Affairs and/or to other intelligence and security bodies.

Political Section

At the peripheral level, within each Provincial Command, there is a Political Section. The provincial Political Section (which has further subdivisions in Detached Companies) is entrusted of a variety of functions, which include the collection of information about the overall situation, including for the prevention of public order breaking, the investigation for the prevention and punishment of crimes against the State and against the public order, politically driven or terrorism offences and crimes.
The Political Sections are usually organised into three Squads:

  • Information squad - general information, collection activities and analysis of information processing. The information sections monitors para-political, religious and sporting organisations, with particular attention paid to the supporters' organisations, radical movements and any other organisation or movement present and rooted in the territory which may have implications for public order and public security. It usually has a team for each topic, but some Political Sections may have more than one team devoted to a single area.
  • Investigation squad: it carries out the judicial police activities in the areas of responsibility of the office, such as crimes committed at sports events, crimes against the State and any other crime with implications on the public order and security which is not attributable nor to common or organised crime nor to terrorism.
  • Counter-terrorism squad: it carries out investigations in relation to terrorist groups; large cities have at least the international terrorism team.

Each Political Section maintains an its own political archive, which is kept distinct from the general archive; the Political Archive is directly managed by the Office personnel; only authorised external personnel may access the Political Archive. Only those deemed most dangerous subversives are reported to the central archives (both those of the Political Police Division and of the Confidential Affairs Division), while in the province the surveillance also extends to less important people. Personal files are opened after a central order or, more frequently, after a suggestion coming from the territorial general police organisations (such as Police Stations), from the local Party and Militia.
In Provincial Commands, Political Sections often have a phisically separate wing dedicated to their own use. Each Political Section head-quarters has a large hall which is used for internal meetings and news conferences. An ordinary Political Section is directed by a Captain or a Major, while important ones are led by a Lieutenant Colonel.
Within each Carabinieri Provincial Command there is also the Information Squad, whose task is to protect public security and public order, and to cooperate with the other agencies. The main difference is that the Political Section deals with overt missions and operatiosn, while the Information Unit has only information collection duties.

Methods

Methods employed by the Political Police are notoriously harsh. When arrested, suspects or notorious dissidents and/or terrorists are given lenghty trips in the woods before being transferred at the Provincial Command. Once they arrive to the police station, they are formally arrested (in order to avoid to have to report possible sensitive information obtained during the transfer to the prosecutor) and then are repeatedly beaten. When individuals who are notoriously responsible of shootings against the police are apprehended, the "Hall Ritual" is performed: two rows of policemen are formed and the individual is is forced to go through the double row and then is savagely beaten. Sometimes people remain permanently injured during this practice.

Scientific Investigations and Forensics Division

The Scientific Investigations and Forensics Division of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri (It.: Divisione Indagini Scientifiche e Medicina Legale del Comando Generale dei Reali Carabinieri) is the centralised structure which intervenes when particular expertise in the field of the natural sciences is required. The Division manages the Cabinets of Scientific Police (inter-provincial and provincial levels) and Signalling and Documentation Posts. From its establishment, which dates back to 1902, the Scientific Police has continually improved its ability to intervene and has acquired a great experience that has always placed at the service of citizens and institutions. All central and territorial echelons are staffed and led by police technicians of adequate rank; the Head of Division is customarily an official coming from the technicians' career.
The Division is centrally organised into four Sections, in turn subdivided into five or six Offices each, and an Institute:

  • General Staff;
  • Office I - General Affairs and Support: Resources Section; Training Section; Technical Support and Violent Crime Analysis Section; Forensics and Criminology-Applied Psychology Section; Information Systems Section;
  • Office II - Identification services;
  • Office III - Chemical and Electronic Investigations;
  • Office IV - Ballistic and Biological Investigations;
  • Criminal Technical Institute;
  • Central Injuries Archive.

Current Head of Division is Division General Pericle Coccia.

Central Injuries Archive

The Central Injuries Archive (Archivio Centrale Ferite) is a support service for forensic medical issues. The Central Injuries Archive assists territorial and peripheral organizations with the identification of unknown injuries, provides case examples of known injuries and weapons for comparisons.

Territorial organisation

The Scientific Police Division directs 5 Interregional Cabinets of Scientific Police in Milan, Padua, Rome, Palermo. The Interregional Cabinets, framed within the relevant Royal Carabinieri Interregional Command, have jurisdiction over photographic signalling, the Inspection of the Scientific Police, the electronic documentation in investigative services and the services of public policy, the design of the face in order to support identification, the exaltation of latent papillary imprints, fingerprint comparisons, graphic and ballistic investigations. They also have responsibility about the regeneration of the abraded serial numbers, documents and drugs examination. Interregional Cabinets of Scientific Police are staffed by CC.RR. personnel.
In each Carabinieri Legion a Legion Cabinet of Scientific Police exists with coordination and administrative support functions.
The Provincial cabinets of Scientific Police are established in every Provincial Command (with the exception of those where there is already the Interregional Cabinet) and are framed into the Operational Department. The Signalling and documentation Posts are located at the sub-provincial detachments (Companies, Territorial Departments, Group Commands) particularly involved in combating crime and protecting public order and security. They have specific responsibility to carry out the technical inspection and photographic identification.

Advanced Surveillance Units

An Advanced Surveillance Unit (Italian: Unità di Sorveglianza Avanzata) is two or more policemen drawn from the local Cabinet of Scientific Police, in order to gather intelligence on the ground and to disrupt activists and deter anti-social behaviour during rallies and demonstrations. They use cameras, camcorders and audio recorders to conduct overt surveillance of the public and to gather intelligence against protesters: anybody who is active outside the sanctioned channels is filmed, identified, monitored, logged, and cross-checked.
The aim of Advanced Surveillance Units deployment during protests is to inhibit all protests, to conduct surveillance of independent and/or foreign journalists and to stop them. Advanced Surveillance Units are deployed both in uniform and in plainclothes.

Post Police Division

The Post Police Division of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri (It.: Divisione Polizia Postale del Comando Generale dei Reali Carabinieri) is one of the Divisions directly subordinated to the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri, whose functions include the investigation of offences carried out in the communications sphere, with particular regard to cybercrime. While it is not a Special Inspectorate, the Division closely cooperates with the Ministry of Posts, Transportations and Communications.
The Division is the specialised department for all the control and suppression of unlawful falling within the field of communications, as well as postal illicit criminal activities by means of the Internet, and in general cybercrime. In addition, the Division is working closely with the Ministry of Communications, with the regional inspectorates of the Ministry of communications of economic development and other institutional and corporatist entities. It also performs criminal police investigations in general for all those crimes related to the computer-crime/cybercrime/social engineering, and for all the offences committed in place with the latest technology and tools, which aim to create or give damage to these technologies and tools.
The judicial police activities are mainly offences related to hacking, phone, privacy breaches, postal offences, intellectual property in telecommunications (in close cooperation with the G.R.d.F.), on-line child pornography, monitoring of radio and television frequencies, on-line frauds, money laundering, frauds with credit cards or debit cards, frauds related to home banking, political subversion, terrorism, drugs, arms and explosives, prostitution, as well as all traditional offences that have as their aim or tool telematics and computer network.
Current Division Commander is Division General Oscar Pettinari.

Central organisation

The central organisation of the Post Police Division consists of a General Staff and of three Services, which in turn group ten sections e other bodies.

  • Division Commander;
  • General Staff;
  • General Affairs Service;
  • Post Police Service;
  • Child Pornography Service;
  • Infrastructure Protection Service.

General Affairs Service

The General Affairs Service (Servizio per gli Affari Generali) is in charge for management and technical services of the Division. The General Affairs Service is directed by a Colonel. The General Affairs Office deals mainly with support and coordination measures. The General Affairs Service consists of three Offices:

  • Office I - Coordination of the territorial organisation;
  • Office II - Materiel evaluation;
  • Office III - Telecommunications networks: tasked with cooperation with the Ministry of Posts, Transportations and Communications (including ESCOPOST and ESCORADIO Sections).

Post Police Service

The Post Police Service (Servizio di Polizia Postale), based in Rome, coordinates the activities of the 21 postal police compartments, located in all the regional capitals (with exception of Veneto). The G.R.d.F. Informatic Offences Special Unit (Unità Speciale Reati Informatici, U.S.R.I.) is framed within the Post Police Service, in order to ensure the closest cooperation with the Division. The Post Police Service is directed by a Brigade General. The Service is divided into three Offices:

  • Office I - Planning: Section care coordination and strategic planning of services and activities, manages the technical and legal issues of the nature of the sector and agreements with external entities. In addition, it is responsible for the archive management and for the management and security of the internal network. It consists of 5 Sections.
  • Office II - Forensic Computing: the Office is responsible for the coordination and the technical and investigative support in the field of computer forensics. It consists of three technical Sections.
  • Office III - Computer Related Crime: the Section (composed of 9 Sections) ensures coordination of the prevention and fight against cybercrime and violations on postal offenses, offenses relating to telephony, online fraud and e-commerce, protection of copyright, illegal on radio frequencies and electromagnetic pollution and on the subject of games, lotteries and betting. The Office provides for international cooperation and manages the Office of Cybercrime Analysis.

Service for the Repression of Child Pornography

The Service for the Repression of Child Pornography (Servizio per la Repressione della Pedopornografia) is responsible for the management of the National Centre for the Fight against Child Pornography. The Service therefore it elaborates the methodology and of the intervention strategy, as well as the coordination of activities to prevent and contrast.
The Service also has the task of collecting all reports, coming also from foreign police bodies and from public and private subjects engaged in the fight against child pornography, concerning sites that disseminate material concerning the sexual use of minors using the internet network and other networks of communication, as well as the managers and any beneficiaries of the related payments.
The Service for the Repression of Child Pornography is directed by a Brigade General. The Service consists of four Offices:

  • Office VII - Information: Information gathering Section; Verification Section; Database Section.
  • Office VIII - Operations: Blocking Section; Hacking Section; Internet Service Providers relations Section.
  • Office IX - Research and Investigations: Web research Section; Investigations Section.
  • Office X - Liaision: Child Pornography Observatory; Banks Section; INTERPOL liaision Section.

The Service constantly communicates with the Observatory for the fight against pedophilia and child pornography, an institutional liaison body, to which it provides its own data for the analysis and prevention of child abuse.

Service for Infrastructure Protection

The Service for Infrastructure Protection (Servizio per la Protezione delle Infrastrutture) is responsible for liaising with O.V.R.A. for cyber critical infrastructure protection. The Service carries out the activities of the Judicial Police for the prevention and suppression of crimes against the national interest infrastructure. The Service is responsible for the protection of the Italian banking system and the electronic payment system and to connect with the intelligence agencies for the prevention and fight against domestic and international terrorism and threats to national security conducted by computer. The Service consists of:

  • Computer Emergency Response Team of the Ministry of Interior;
  • National Computer Centre for the Protection of Critical Infrastructures;
  • Central Office of Judicial Police.

Peripheral organisation

The 21 Compartments have regional jurisdiction and are generally headed by a CC.RR. Colonel. The Compartments in turn coordinate their respective Provincial Sections within their areas of jurisdiction. The sectional heads are generally Marshals.

Anti-Drug Services Division

The Anti-Drug Services Division of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri (It.: Divisione Servizi Antidroga del Comando Generale dei Reali Carabinieri, D.S.A.) is the national office through which the Chief of Police, based on the directives received from the Minister of the Interior, ensures the coordination of the Police services for the prevention and repression of drug and psychotropic substance trafficking. The Division carries out the tasks of the Minister of the Interior regarding the prevention and repression of illicit trafficking in narcotic or psychotropic substances, maintains and develops relations with the corresponding services of the foreign police, also making use of the INTERPOL.
Furthermore, the Division promotes, participates and contributes to multilateral and bilateral international agreements on cooperation in anti-drug operations, carries out technical-legal consultancy activities, contributes to specific anti-drug training for Italian and foreign police forces, maintains and develops relations with the equivalent foreign offices and international organizations dedicated to combating drug trafficking, takes care of the collection and monitoring of data relating to the drug phenomenon in Italy, precursors and on new psychotropic substances, develops and takes care of the strategic and operational analysis of data, manages the network of anti-drug experts abroad, promotes and coordinates investigative activities on the national territory and abroad, arranges, directs and coordinates technically the special anti-drug operations provided for by law; provides assistance to international judicial cooperation in the area of competence.
The Anti-Drugs Division is the joint body par excellence, consisting up equally of personnel of the Royal Carabinieri and of the Royal Guard of Finance. The Division is divided into four Sections and a Central Planning and Coordination Office:

  • Central Office for Planning and Coordination;
  • Office I - General Affairs;
  • Office II - Operational support;
  • Office III - Analysis;
  • Office IV - Investigative activities.

Divisional Sections are headed by Brigade Generals of the Royal Carabinieri or Brigadier Generals of the Royal Guard of Finance. Although the Division is operationally framed under the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri, it has close links with the Chief of Police.

Divisional Commander

The Division is led, according to a three-year rotation criterion, by a:

  • Division General of the Royal Carabinieri;
  • Division General of the Royal Guard of Finance

who has gained specific experience in the sector.

Central Office for Planning and Coordination

The Central Planning and Coordination Office works in collaboration with the competent offices of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri and the other Directorates General and other public administrations for the unitary conduct of drugs and drug addiction prevention. In addition, the Office provides for the connection of the activities of competence with those of the Prefectures and with those of the National Fascist Party.

Office I - General Affairs

Office I - General Affairs (Ufficio I - Affari Generali) deals with providing technical-legal advice, organizes anti-drug qualification and refresher courses for police officers. The Section also deals with general problems and maintains cooperation relations with foreign organizations. The Office consists of four Sections:

  • Section I - Technical-legal advice;
  • Section II - Qualification and refresher courses;
  • Section III - Illicit trafficking;
  • Section IV - Substance Abuse;

Sections are headed by Colonels.

Office II - Operational Support

Office II - Operational Support (Ufficio II - Sostegno alle operazioni) is the instrumental Office. It provides for the use of vehicles and the management of special vehicles for anti-drug operations, as well as for special operations. The Section also deals with the equipment for the anti-drug offices abroad, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, and the assignment of assets seized in anti-drug operations. Finally, it performs the functions of security secretariat and administrative support.

  • Section I - Vehicles and special vehicles;
  • Section II - Communications;
  • Section III - Offices abroad;
  • Section IV - Accounting and seized assets;
  • Section V - Security Secretariat;
  • Section VI - Translation and Interpreting.

Sections are headed by Colonels.

Office III - Analysis and statistics

Office III - Analysis (Ufficio III - Analisi) performs studies, research, and analyzes for the prevention and repression of illicit drug trafficking on the persons and organizations involved and maintains the Joint Police Database. The Section also controls the trade in precursors and basic chemicals and on the links between drug trafficking and other forms of crime: for this purpose it maintains relations with the Criminal Police Division and with the competent Offices and Commands of the Police Forces. The Office includes four Sections:

  • Section I - Studies and research;
  • Section II - Analysis;
  • Section III - Precursors and basic chemicals;
  • Section IV - Criminal ramifications: it maintains relations with Division VI - Criminal Police and with the competent Offices and Commands of the Police Forces;
  • Section V - Joint Police Database: for drugs-related matters;
  • Section VI - Foreign databases: for drugs-related matters;
  • Section VII - Computer chemical archive: for drugs-related matters;
  • Section VIII - General Archives and Library
  • Section IX - Statistics.

Sections are headed by Colonels.

Office IV - Investigative activities

Office IV - Investigative Activities (Ufficio IV - Attività Investigative) is the beating heart of the Anti-Drugs Division. The Office promotes and coordinates investigative activities on the national territory and abroad, orders, directs and coordinates special operations and maintains operational relations with the offices or commands of the Police forces, with the Interpol Offices and with the competent structures of the foreign police. Finally, it provides assistance in letters rogatory and other international judicial cooperation activities. In order to achieve its purposes, the Office consists of seven Sections:

  • Section I - National investigations;
  • Section II - Foreign investigations;
  • Section III - Special Operations;
  • Section IV - Operational relations;
  • Section V - Investigative relations with INTERPOL;
  • Section VI - Investigative relations with foreign drug offices;
  • Section VII - Judicial assistance.

Sections are headed by Colonels.

Forest environmental and food protection Units Division

The Carabinieri Forest, environmental and agri-food protection Units Division of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri (Divisione Unità per la Tutela Forestale, Ambientale e Agroalimentare del Comando Generale dei Reali Carabinieri, officially shortened in D.U.Tu.F.A.AG.), also informally known as Forestry Command (Comando Forestale), is the Carabinieri Division-level command tasked with environmental police functions. Although it operationally depends on the Ministry of Environment, it is not framed within an Inspectorate because of its sheer dimensions and of the importance in the territorial control which the Division fullfils. The D.U.Tu.F.A.AG. is supported by the Forestry Militia
The Division, alongside central administrative offices, has six important elements which operate at the national level:

  • Central Investigative Unit of environmental and forest police;
  • Central Forest Fire Investigative Unit;
  • Central Ecological Operations Unit;
  • Central Unit for Forest Protection;
  • Central Unit for the Protection of Biodiversity and Parks;
  • Central Unit for Environmental Protection;
  • Central Unit for Agri-food Protection.

The Central Units coordinate their relevant units within the Legion Environmental Commands.

Royal Carabinieri Inspectorates of Public Security

Royal Carabinieri Inspectorates of Public Security (Ispettorati di Pubblica Sicurezza dei Carabinieri Reali) and Royal Carabinieri Special Offices of Public Security (Uffici Speciali di Pubblica Sicurezza dei Carabinieri Reali) are subdivisions of the Royal Carabinieri established in order to accomplish specialist police duties with no defined territorial jurisdiction. Each Inspectorate has at its disposal a Royal Carabinieri Group, with the exception of the Inspectorate of P.S. "Viminale", which operates the Autonomous Group.
From an organizational point of view, Inspectorates and Special offices enjoy a greater autonomy from the General Command than Divisions directly subordinated to the General Commander. Such subdivisions administratively depend on the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri, while functionally are subordinated to the relevant authority.

Inspectorates of Public Security are headed by Brigade Generals, while Special Offices are led by Colonels.

Inspectorates for surveillance and protection

The Royal Carabinieri operate four Royal Carabinieri Inspectorates of Public Security for tasks of surveillance and protection:

  • Royal Carabinieri Inspectorate of Public Security "Vaticano" - for the protection of the Holy Father and vigilance of the Holy See
  • Royal Carabinieri Inspectorate of Public Security "Palazzo Venezia" - for the protection of the Chief of the Government and for the surveillance of the seat of government.
  • Royal Carabinieri Inspectorate of Public Security "Viminale" - for the protection of the Minister of the Interior, under-secretaries and the monitoring of the complex of the Interior Ministry.

Inspectorates at Ministries other than Defence and Interior

Royal Carabinieri Special Offices/Inspectorates of Public Security established at ministries other than the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of National Defence are in charge both to provide relevant police services under the functional direction of the Minister and to guarantee the Ministry security.

Royal Carabinieri Inspectorate of Public Security at the Ministry of Health

The Royal Carabinieri Inspectorate of Public Security at the Ministry of Health (Ispettorato Carabinieri Reali di Pubblica Sicurezza presso il Ministero della Salute) is placed directly under the Minister of Health; members of the Inspectorate have therefore the powers of the Health Inspectors; therefore they may act, by day and by night, in all those places where there is production, administration, storage or sale of products intended for human or animal use. These powers are exercised independently from the powers of agents and officers of judicial police, as well as from the powers of agents and officers of public security.
The Inspectorate also has responsibility in the field of international prophylaxis of infectious and contagious diseases, air, border and maritime health, as well as manufacture and sale of medicines. In addition, it oversees the cosmetics and herbal medicine, on the production of medical devices, medical devices and diagnostics, hygiene and public health, and animal health. Finally, the Inspectorate oversees the production and trade of legal drugs for the preparation of pharmaceuticals. The most serious and dangerous adulteration come very often by the operator located at a considerable distance from each other, so the activities are beyond the control of local authorities, subject to territorial limitations, but can be well contrasted by the Inspectorate, characterised by a top-down organisation, and thus be able to have a global vision.
Officers and Marshals of the Inspectorate are carefully selected according to a specific attitude and investigative experience, according to an adequate degree (preferably in technical matters) and the successful completion of a course lasting two months. Troops is also subject to ongoing training, but does not have constraints with respect to the qualification. The Health Inspectorate (as it is often colloquially nicknamed) and the Scientific Police Division often collaborate for the purpose of investigation, and the exchange of personnel and knowledge is common.
Lectures and exercises are carried out by officials of the Ministry of Health, researchers from the Institute of Health and Officers and Officials of the Inspectorate; students are taught the concepts of chemistry, parasitology, microbiology, food science and product category. The professional training is regularly updated and enriched with courses and seminars, during which contingent problems are addressed and developed operating systems for more effective action against the adulteration and supervision in the health sector in general.
The Special Inspectorate is divided into:

  • 1 Central Office, commanded by a Brigade General, based in Rome;
  • 1 Deputy Commander, with the rank of Colonel, who has direct responsibility for operating activities;
  • 1 Command Office, headed by a Lieutenant Colonel, for the coordination of operational aircraft purposes, logistics and personnel management;
  • 3 Detached Groups, supported by officials (Colonels or Lieutenant Colonels), based in Milan, Rome and Naples. Detached Groups are placed directly under the Deputy Commander;
  • 37 Adulteration and Health Teams (Squadre Antisofisticazione e Salute, SAS), the executive bodies commanded by junior Officers or Marshals, located in the 21 regional capitals and in several provincial capitals. Teams are placed in the employ of the respective Detached Groups.

The operational work carried out by the Inspectorate develops through three main operating modes. First of all, the Inspectorate conducts investigation proceedings, which consists of investigations to stamp out illegal activities in the specific field of adulteration, food and health care fraud. Such investigations are very long and laborious, requiring investigative acumen, outstanding professionalism and knowledge of the socio-economic context in which they operate; judicial police investigations in the field of food adulteration are conducted with operational criteria that substantially differ from the normal law enforcement techniques.
In addition to investigations, the Inspectorate uses also monthly planned checks, in one or more areas of intervention throughout the national territory and, finally, control services in the national targets previously identified, planned in consultation with the Ministry of Health. These are monitoring operations on particular sectors of the productive, commercial and socio-ethical spheres, aimed at ascertaining the exact application of laws and regulations and to obtain useful statistics also memories to verify the effectiveness of the control and to identify areas most at risk on which to bring together the most appropriate interventions.

Royal Carabinieri Inspectorate of Public Security at the Ministry of Popular Culture

The Special Inspectorate of Public Security at the Ministry of Popular Culture (Ispettorato Reali Carabinieri di Pubblica Sicurezza presso il Ministero della Cultura Popolare) has the task to deal with, using effective tools and targeted interventions, the alarming phenomenon of cultural and monumental impoverishment of Italy. The Inspectorate is functionally subordinate to the Minister of Popular Culture. The Inspectorate carries out judicial police investigations, combating all offences about the Italian cultural heritage. In particular, it focuses on clandestine excavations at archaeological sites, theft and illegal trafficking of artwork, on damage to monuments and archaeological sites, on the illegal export of cultural property and on forgery of works of art. In addition, the Inspectorate also fights recycling operations related to illegal trafficking in cultural objects. For these purposes, the Inspectorate also performs routine surveillance on exhibitions, fairs, auctions both in Italy and abroad as well as against antique dealers, restorers and art dealers.
As specialised body, the Inspectorate also operates the database about cultural offences, both against the material heritage and against the national spirit and cultural dote, and supports (for technical surveys) the regular surveillance and monitoring of cultural sites, including those protected by the UNESCO. The surveillance is carried out in close relationship and liaison with Universities, the Arts Superintendence, and Catholic Church authorities.
The Inspectorate is led by the Inspector, who ranks Brigade General (assisted by a Lieutenant Colonel for the CC.RR. Group), and is composed of a central Office, in Rome, which in turn is articulated on a Support Section and on an Operations Sections.
The Support Section deals with logistics and administrative support, and includes the Secretariat, the Civilian Personnel Office, the Operations Planning Office and the Data Processing Office. The Operations Sections organises and carries out the most important operations, and provides operational supports to the peripheral structure. The Operations Sections includes four themed offices: the Antiques Office, the Archaeology Office, the Office for Falsification and the Office of Contemporary Art.
Finally, the peripheral structure, which is directed and coordinated by the Deputy Inspector (ranking Colonel), is articulated on 15 Teams, which have regional or interregional responsibility.

Inspectorate-General of the Royal Carabinieri

The Inspectorate-General of the Royal Carabinieri (Ispettorato Generale dei Reali Carabinieri, I.G.R.C. for short) is an internal control body, directly dependent on the Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri and separate from the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri, intervening in two main areas: judicial and administrative investigations and inspections of major commands. At the disposal of the General Commander of the Royal Carabinieri, the Inspectorate General of the Royal Carabinieri bases its action on the principle of impartiality both in carrying out its investigations, audits and studies and in expressing its recommendations.

Mission

The I.G.R.C. has two main objectives:

  • Enlighten the Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri in his decisions by giving him the most objective view possible of the state of the institution;
  • Maintain the confidence of the State in the Royal Carabinieri and guarantee the ability of the latter to contribute to the national state of fascist law.

The Inspectorate-General has the task of monitoring the execution of orders and directives of the Minister of Interior, the Chief of Police and of the Commandant-General, to report on the activities carried out by the offices and peripheral organs and verify the effectiveness of the services. The Inspectorate also has supervisory functions in the field of safety and health in the workplace and leans to the Interregional Commands for territorial decentralization. Finally, the Inspectorate-General has also functions of inspection and control on the activities undertaken by the central offices.
The I.G.R.C. has national jurisdiction over all personnel of the Royal Carabinieri, both civilian and military. The IGRC is entrusted with missions that can be summarized in four major areas:

  • Ethics: Having general competence in the matter, the I.G.R.C. carries out, on its own initiative or on the directive of the Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri, studies and verifications relating to ethics, it expresses any recommendation deemed useful and ensures its follow-up. It monitors compliance with the rules of ethics in general. It is required to be informed without delay of any breach observed or brought to the attention of the command. It responds on a case-by-case basis to external referrals (individuals or external administrative authorities) and helps to implement more general measures relating to ethics. This preventive or corrective action results in feedback integrated into the training programs or in recommendations to the General Commander of the Royal Carabinieri who may translate them into directives. The Head of the I.G.R.C. represents the Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri to organizations of the National Fascist Party interested in issues of security ethics.
  • Cross-functional studies and audits: At the request of the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of National Defence, the Chief of Police, the Chief of the General Staff, and the Commandant-General, the I.G.R.C. conducts, alone or jointly with the general inspections and inspections of the ministry and other State administrations, studies or expert opinions relating to internal security. At the request of the Commandant-General, it carries out studies or expertise of interest to the Royal Carabinieri. This work aims to modernize and reform state systems relating to security.
  • Internal control and internal audit: The I.G.R.C. has offices specialized in the control and internal audit of certain very specific areas.
  • Royal Carabinieri command inspections: At the request of the Commandant-General, the head of the I.G.R.C. conducts a permanent campaign of inspections of the Carabinieri commands.

The IGRC is in charge of internal investigations concerning the soldiers of the Carabinieri and is competent for internal investigations concerning the municipal police.

Organization

The Inspectorate-General is headed by an Director, ranking General of Army Corps, who directs a corps of 28 Inspectors General, who depend directly on the Director, a General Staff, and three Sections. The Inspectors General are each assisted by a 3-4 men team.

  • General Staff
  • Section I - Internal Affairs
  • Section II - Inspection and Control
  • Section III - Safety on the Workplace

General Staff

The General Staff deals with general affairs, organisational, technical and logistical support, personnel management and training, the Archives, correspondence and the Security Secretariat. The General Staff Section also provides assistance to the Director for planning programs and objectives in the context of strategic and management control.

Section I - Internal Affairs

Section II - Internal Affairs (Sezione I - Affari Interni) works directly under the Director and performs, at the request of the Minister of the Interior, of the Chief of Police, or of the Commandant-General, investigative and informative acquisition concerning facts or situations concerning the execution of orders, as well as on the efficiency of the services and the correct administrative management. The Section also carries out information activities regarding the control of employees.

Section II - Inspection and Control

Section II - Inspection and Control (Sezione II - Ispezione e Controllo) takes care of all the inspections and acts as a link between the central offices of the Inspectorate and the Provincials. The Office is responsible for assessing the general performance of offices, mainly in terms of efficiency and correct asset and financial management. It also has the task of formulating evaluations and proposals to improve efficiency. The Inspection and Control Section also analyses the results of the verification activities and provides the summary of the results of inspection, indicating the issues raised. The section is divided into two offices: Office for Coordination and Inspection Activity and the Management and Studies Office.

Section III - Safety in the Workplace

Section IV - Safety in the Workplace (Sezione III - Sicurezza sul luogo di lavoro) carries out the surveillance activities on health, health and safety in the workplace of the offices of the Public Security apparatus, in collaboration with the National Corps of Fire Militia. The Safety in the Workplace Section is responsible for verifying compliance with the requirements in the restricted areas of the Ministry of Interior and the peripheral offices. The Section has three offices; two offices are governed by a Medical Colonel, and an office is led a R.T.L.A. Colonel. The Vigilance Office deals with programmed and emerging surveillance at all restricted facilities of the Ministry of Interior; the Studies Office manages the study and analysis of the current legislation for the purpose of training and retraining of doctors in charge of the specific field of supervision; finally, the Technical Office carries out studies and consultancy, technical surveys carried out in the workplace and on construction sites in areas dependent on the Ministry of Interior.
The Section Head is a physician with the rank of Rank V - Inspector General, while the deputy head is a military physician with the rank of Colonel.

See also