Italian State Police
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State Police Polizia di Stato |
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|---|---|
| Common name | Polizia |
| Abbreviation | P.S. |
Logo of the State Police
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| Motto | Sub lege libertas Freedom under the law |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | July 11, 1852 |
| Employees | 95,000 (2014) |
| Annual budget | €7.8 billion (2014) |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| National agency | Italy |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Rome |
| Sworn members | 104,000+ |
| Civilians | 6,000- |
| Child agencies | |
| Website | |
| Poliziadistato.it | |
The Polizia di Stato (State Police or P.S.) is one of the national police forces of Italy.
It is the main police force for providing police duties and it is also responsible for highway patrol (autostrade), railways (ferrovie), airports (aeroporti), customs (together with the Guardia di Finanza) as well as certain waterways, and assisting the local police forces.
It was a military force until 1981 when, with the Italian State Law 121, it became a civil force, in contrast to the other main police forces of Italy, the Arma dei Carabinieri, which is a military police (gendarmerie) force and the Guardia di Finanza, the Italian customs and border protection police that also falls in the military corps category.
The Polizia di Stato is the principal Italian police force for the maintenance of public security as since it is run directly from the Dipartimento della Pubblica Sicurezza (Department of Public Security), and the keeping of public order (ordine pubblico).
The State Police has an authorised strength by law of 115,000 people. However, there are approximately 110,000 people of which 16,000 are women. Just under 6,000 employees are civilian support personnel with technical skills who provide logistic and technical support. In 2005 the State Police contained 105,324 members as follows: 893 dirigenti (leaders/officers), 1,839 vice questori (Vice-Questors), 723 commissari capo (Chief Superintendents), 19,230 ispettori (Inspectors), 666 vice ispettori (Vice-Inspectors), 13,677 sovrintendenti (Sergeants), 38,976 assistenti (Assistants), and 29,320 agenti (agents).
Approximately 1,500 officers are assigned to the "neighbourhood police" service, the Polizia di Quartiere, which has a police presence on the streets and deters crime. Pairs of poliziotti (policemen) patrol areas of major cities on foot.
The headquarters of the Polizia di Stato are in Rome and its chief is referred to as the Capo della Polizia (Chief of the Police) with official Rank of Capo della Polizia - Direttore Generale della Pubblica Sicurezza (Chief of the Police - Director General of the Public Security). The Chief of the State Police is also the Honorary President of the National Association of State Police (Associazione Nazionale della Polizia di Stato). Three vice chiefs/director generals report to the chief and their main functions are:
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Wikipedia