Gsg9 1/87 Unité spéciale: The Italian riot control forces

lundi 14 novembre 2022

The Italian riot control forces - English Version

The Italian riot control forces

- English Version -

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

(Sorry if there are errors in the meaning, word or verb of the expressions).

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In Italy, the riot control forces are divided between two entities :
The Polizia di stato and the Carabinieri

The Polizia di stato (Italian State Police) includes many forces divided into different departments.

The one in charge of maintaining order during demonstrations is the « Reparto Mobile » of the Polizia di Stato (Mobile Rapid Unit)

This service depends on the Ministry of Public Security. It is made up of 15 units spread throughout the Italian territory.

(Rome, Padova, Milan, Naples, Turin, Gênes, Bologne, Florence, Bari, Catane, Palerme, Région de Calabre, Cagliari, Senigallia, Taranto.)

It has more than 4,600 members. The « Reparti Mobili » are recognizable by their light blue helmets and the inscription on their shields "Polizia".

They supervise the demonstrations and act in case of overflow.

They intervene mainly in urban areas.

They have different means at their disposal during demonstrations:

Iveco vans

Iveco trucks

As well as 4X4 Discovery

and riot trucks with water jets

- English Version -

- Riot Control Trucks in the World -

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The Carabinieri have units that are in the 1st Brigata Mobile (1st Mobile Brigade) and resemble the doctrines of the French mobile gendarmes.

- English Version -

- French Mobile Gendarmerie Squadrons -

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There are 12 regiments spread throughout Italy:

1st Reggimento "Piemonte" in Moncalieri,

2nd Reggimento "Liguria" in Genoa ;

3rd Reggimento "Lombardia" in Milan;

4th Reggimento "Veneto" in Venice Mestre;

5th Reggimento "Emilia Romagna" in Bologna;

6th Reggimento "Toscana" in Florence;

8th Reggimento "Lazio" in Rome,

9th Reggimento "Sardegna" in Cagliari,

10th Reggimento "Campania" in Naples,

11th Reggimento "Puglia" in Bari,

12th Reggimento "Sicilia" in Palermo,

and the 4th Reggimento "Carabinieri a cavallo" in Rome

They participate in the management of public order, support the territorial organization of the Carabinieri, contribute to the defense of the Italian national territory, and help the needs of civil protection in the rescue of natural disasters. They also intervene in demonstrations in the Italian rural areas or during evacuations.

The Carabinieri can be recognized by their dark blue helmets with a white grenade design on them and the inscription on their shields "Carabinieri".

During large demonstrations in Italian cities,
they regularly support the Polizia di stato.

They have different means at their disposal during demonstrations:

Iveco Vans

Armored Iveco trucks

As well as 4X4 Discovery

More exceptionally, one can also find law enforcement units in the Guardia di Finanzia (Finance Guard).

They are recognizable by their green helmets, their grey suits and on their shields written "Guardia di Finanzia". You can see them here,
in the photo above, behind the Polizia di Statio.

The Guardia di Finanziais an Italian state body that depends on the Ministry of Economy and Finance and fights against financial crime, smuggling, trafficking, immigration, etc. However, it has a police force that can intervene in violent demonstrations...

The Italian riot police were also confronted with the management of migrants in 2014 and 2015

and that gave many difficulties along the Italian borders.

It can be seen that unlike the German riot police (the Bereitschaftspolizei) or French (French riot forces) who avoid contact (except offensive jumps), the Italian forces intervene in contact with the demonstrators, to disperse them by pushing them back with their batons.

German Riot Control Forces:

- English Version -

- Bereitschaftspolizei - The German Riot Police -

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French Riot Control Forces:

- English Version -

- French Mobile Gendarmerie Squadrons -

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- English Version -

- French Republican Security Companies -

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- English Version -

- Security and Intervention Company (CSI) -
>>> Click Here <<<

As you can see on this italian video below:

The risk is to cause injuries on the demonstrators, some of whom are extremely violent.

Dispersion is first physical before the use of tear gas canisters

Evacuation of an injured policeman
The violence of the retaliation of violent demonstrators on the police is just as brutal.

To mitigate these moments of tension, plainclothes commissioners wearing helmets or not, are in front of the Polizia di Stato and the Carabinieri
to start a mediation.

Canadians did some investigative work at the 2001 Summit of the Americas on the categories of protesters: Whatever the country, the demonstrators are not homogeneous. They are divided into several categories:
- The demonstrator who asks for permission to march and does not break anything.
- The pacifist who is less convenient,
- The adept of civil disobedience and sitting deliberately obstructing official ceremonies.

But it is on the fringe of these majority groups that
the "dangerous categories":
- First of all, the rioters, for whom the demonstration serves as an alibi;
- and finally the groups constituted by autonomists and anarchists, better and better equipped and using the method known as "Black Blocs", that is to say individuals hidden behind black masks, black gloves and black clothes and operating in group to not be spotted during violent actions or damages.

- English Version -

- The action of masked gangs in demonstrations -
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The Polizia di Stato and the Carabinieri were tainted in the early 2000s by judicial investigations such as that of the G8 summit in July 2001 in Genoa: On the occasion of the 27th G8 summit, a counter-summit was organized. 300,000 people of all nationalities met in order to make their anti-globalization demands heard.

Two videos of the G8 in Genoa in 2001 :

If the first demonstrations took place peacefully, the following ones were synonymous with urban guerrilla warfare: the clashes between the demonstrators and the police were extremely violent.

A student, Carlo Giuliani, was shot and killed by a police officer, and more than 800 people were injured and hundreds arrested.

On the night of July 21, 300 police officers burst into the Diaz School, home to protesters and journalists. 93 people were arrested, held, tortured and humiliated in a barracks before being released.

These events led to a trial in 2008. Among those involved were police officers, carabinieri, medical personnel and prison guards. More than 40 of these people were convicted of abuse of power, private violence, insults and beatings.

However, the increasingly violent acts of aggression pose a real reflection as you can discover on the link below: