I love Italy, and there are many reasons why. The history, the architecture, the food and the wine are just a few reasons why I venture out there whenever work commitments and finances allow.
Last week, my wife and I were filled with excitement when, together with a couple of great friends, we all jumped on a flight to Rome, a city that none of us had visited before.
I always do some research, and at Gatwick Airport, whilst I reminded everyone to take great care so that we don’t fall prey to pickpockets or other unscrupulous criminals, I found myself conflicted as I told our group that we were a lot less likely to be victims of crime whilst in Rome, than we would be if we stayed in our home city of London.
In fact, you’re twice as likely to be robbed, assaulted or murdered in the capital of the UK, than you are in the City of Seven Hills.
How could there be such a huge disparity in the amount of crime committed in Rome, compared to London, I thought? I was desperate to find out. I’m great fun to travel with, honestly! I didn’t have to wait long to find out.
After arriving at our hotel, we quickly unpacked, met up in reception, and excitedly set off on foot to explore the city. We soon arrived at the astonishing Trevi Fountain, and as we negotiated the impeccably behaved crowds, I noticed pairings or small groups of police officers. What struck me immediately was the smartness of their uniforms, with not a hint of high-viz in sight.
Throughout our stay, I did not see one overweight officer, neither male nor female, and the only one who I could describe as being on the large side was obviously no stranger to the gym, and looked like he would make a very effective prop-forward.
I cannot even holiday in Rome without being reminded of hellhole Britain - Peter Bleksley
X/PeterBleksley
Every day we saw considerable numbers of officers and police vehicles, be they Carabinieri, Financial Police, State or Local Police. Their uniforms varied, but all were spotless, well-pressed, and very impressive.
The majority of the officers carried guns, but not all. A readied hand was always very close to, or on, the weapon. You could have eaten your dinner off the bonnets of the police cars that we saw.
Older-looking officers could be seen inside the major attractions or acting in crowd monitoring roles around the Vatican and the Pantheon. I wondered whether these jobs were reserved for officers approaching the end of their service. I doffed my baseball cap towards such an officer and offered up ‘Grazie’ with the best Italian accent I could muster.
A beaming smile was flashed back at me. I fully appreciate that many of the tourist attractions we visited are probable terrorist targets, and would therefore need to be heavily policed, but there was a noticeable police presence in many other parts of the city that we ventured into.
Everywhere we went, I felt reassured. We all felt safe, although we didn’t drop our guard.
The varied police forces of Italy employ some 300,000 officers, double the amount we have in the UK, and the population of Italy is about 10 million fewer than ours.
It is therefore no coincidence that crime is so much lower, and that they can deploy many officers to patrol the streets. Policing is a numbers game. Have more officers, have a happier nation. The question is, are we willing to pay for them? I am.
Most Read
