Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Buongiorno. 
I would like to point out that I report to the City Council with the intention of taking on my responsibilities and in the awareness that with respect to the work of my council, once again, I am the first person responsible. But I need to illustrate the situation, the causes, the actions to be implemented. Because the "safety" issue cannot be resolved with a summary judgment. That's why I'm here to talk to you and ask for your attention. 
  
Months ago I underlined that in 2022 it would be necessary to proceed, first of all, with the hiring of 500 new police officers. 
In truth, this announcement, like much of what we intend to do to restore a new normality to the city, arose from a consideration which, since the great discussion on Covid and its consequences, has always been made available to everyone. 
This assessment indicates that the consequences of the pandemic are essentially three: health, economic and social. And these consequences are intimately linked to each other. 
We must recognize that the third is largely the most underestimated. 
Of course, there are plenty of sociologists, psychologists, experts in various subjects that have to do with the human, who warn of the gravity of the situation. And this is actually the case, these are not abstract analyzes destined to remain a matter for experts, it is now clear that the issues are coming home to roost. 
The suspension of social life and prolonged isolation are causing enormous damage, especially among young people. And we will have to manage very deep social wounds that are very difficult to absorb. 
This can only translate, as is actually happening, into a tension that affects everyone, but which, I repeat, has more evident consequences for the youngest and weakest (including economically). 
  
Cities, from all over the world, are the greatest place of expression for all phenomena of this type. 
Cities are magnets that attract good (in Milan certainly) and sometimes even evil. 
With this pandemic we have learned to use some words. One is “gatherings”. We have associated only a negative meaning with this concept. Of course, physical proximity is dangerous in times of pandemic. But the consequences of not being able to be close to each other are being felt. The New Year's concert in Piazza Duomo in the years before Covid had the aim of providing fun but also had the usefulness of being able to control the square more easily. Were we wrong to cancel it? No, but the management of public order has become complicated. And is it correct to close nightclubs and venues where live music is played, or severely limit attendance? Probably yes, but the young people who populated them are not at home now. 
  
It is for all these reasons that, even before starting programs and initiatives, it was clear to me that security would be one of the founding elements of the new Milan. 
We must reflect on the fact that the fragile good of security is the result of great and loyal collaboration between the institutions. 
It is from the clarity of roles, from the effectiveness in carrying out tasks, from the strategic and operational synergy that Milan, like all the great cities in the world, can obtain its best results. 
And this collaboration exists in Milan. 
However, there is a fundamental starting point. 
Perhaps someone remembers it intermittently (or finds it convenient not to remember it) but public order in Italy is entrusted by its system to the Ministry of the Interior. 
And this exercise finds its application at a local level in the Provincial Order and Security Committee which every week, always but with particular insistence and effectiveness from Expo onwards, brings together around the Prefect, who is the public order authority in the area, the territorial institutions. 
It is then the Police Commissioner, on the basis of the guidelines established by the Prefect, who defines the line of operational action of the various law enforcement agencies (and, therefore, also of our police forces) with regards to integrated and urban security. 
  
The police, in Milan as in other municipalities, are exclusively responsible for compliance with the Highway Code, road safety and traffic management, road accidents (on average 30 per day detected by the local police), and sanctions. 
They then have urban security tasks differentiated into two areas:  
• the first (DL 14/2017) to contribute to the prevention of widespread and predatory crime phenomena, the promotion of legality, respect for urban decorum and commercial regulations, in particular with the specificities of community policing; 
• the second concerns compliance with municipal regulations on green areas, trade and so on. 
  
There are different views on the role of the police. Some would like to do something different, but we cannot continue to live in a misunderstanding that attributes to the Local Police a responsibility that it does not have. Without ignoring that the areas of improvement to be activated cannot and must never ignore loyal collaboration between institutions. And in Milan this collaboration, I repeat for the avoidance of doubt, exists. 
  
We are living in a historical moment that requires an extraordinary effort from everyone in the control of the territory and in the prevention of more or less criminal events. I think this is absolutely clear. 
“Everyone” means “everyone”, starting from the State and its Government which, obviously together with us, cannot, as the months pass, take note of how the social climate is becoming increasingly important among the treatments of the pandemic . 
  
Let's go back to focusing on safety. We believe that security care has three fundamental levels of application.  
The first obviously concerns the personnel deployed. 

Next Thursday we will launch the call for the formation of the rankings for the strengthening of the Urban Police Corps which will allow us to hire: 

• 240 new policemen by November 2022 
• another 260 by November 2023. 

It cannot be done faster, in fact it would be wrong to do so. New hires need to be trained. And then we need to implement operational support with expert police officers who can pass on the accumulated experience to them. But thanks to these new hires (and those necessary to replenish the annual expenditure) the police force will increase to 3.350 units, an all-time high never previously reached. 

Today the Local Police Force has an average age of over 50 and: 

• more than 500 police are on "conditional duty" for health reasons 
• a significant part of the remaining ones can no longer be included in evening and night shifts due to having reached age limits and years of service. 

We need policemen who aspire and are in the psycho-physical conditions to be on the streets of the city more than in the office. 
The hiring of 500 new policemen will not only lead to an increase in forces in absolute terms, but also to an increased availability of women and men for street shifts at different hours of the day and night.   
And yet, I say this very clearly, precisely because the times needed are those I have described, we expect this huge effort by the Municipality of Milan to be accompanied by an adequate and immediate reinforcement by the State.  
  
The second intervention concerns technology, in particular cameras. 
In this regard, it should be remembered that the Milanese system boasts a rare merit in our country. 
All our cameras are active and visible in real time by all law enforcement agencies, from the police station and prefecture to the fire brigade. 
This means integrating collaboration between institutions with a technological network that tends to increase prevention, speed up intervention and make investigations more accurate. And this is essential to give a greater perception of security and to carry out a strong deterrent action against illegal practices. 
This is why we will continue to invest in this direction. 
There are 1.945 security cameras today. We will invest significant resources also for system maintenance, but also to increase the quantity of cameras. 
  
The third level of intervention concerns coordination mechanisms. 
We must insist, under the orders of the Prefect and Police Commissioner, to make collaboration and interventions increasingly flexible, rapid and effective.  
We are available and I must say that some operations (such as the clearing of Zama-Bonfadini, of Viale Molise in the area of ​​the former slaughterhouse, the management of demonstrations against the green pass, the joint patrolling of the critical areas of the city, the control of anti-Covid regulations) testify to a growth in the effectiveness of collaboration and the level of intervention. And I reiterate that we precede these actions with appropriate listening, analysis of the relevant social fabric and recognition of the reasons of the various parties involved. 
  
But let's get back to the point. In improving the action of the various institutions, it is essential that the management of the pandemic includes great attention to social issues. 
Every additional day of school closures, every hour of canceled social life generates very serious damage, even more so after two years of different types of lockdown, especially among young people. 
We must work intensely at all levels, ensuring that coexistence with the virus does not remain a wish but a line of principle applied to also safeguard the state of mental and psychological health of an entire generation. 
We are available, hoping that there will be a level of collaboration between all political forces on this issue. 

When we talk about security, particularly in the city, we should perhaps remember that this is not a right or left issue. 
It is profoundly wrong to hoist the flag of security as if it were a political exclusive, a search for magic formulas or, worse, the revelation of truths without any ifs or buts. 
You can try, as was done in the last municipal campaign, but the vote has shown that this is not a particularly effective practice. 
Security is not a political option, but the condition in which citizens feel in the development of their lives, of their daily lives. 
One cannot be for or against security nor pretend that this is an issue that can be resolved once and for all, as other eras of Milan's life have amply demonstrated. 
It is not possible to shout at the Wild West every time there is a problem, nor to always and in every case look for a culprit (I would like to point out that the latest events in the unfortunate headlines have involved immigrants, first or second generation, as well as guys coming from Bolzano, so to speak).  
However, ensuring safety in Milan remains a commitment that must be exercised every hour, every day, every evening, every night, always. Like councilor Granelli he actually plays his role. Protecting our fellow citizens and above all our fellow citizens, the visitors of our city, is simply our duty. 
 
We will continue to do so, aware of our values ​​and the desire to do good for Milan. 
I would like to point out, for the avoidance of doubt, that my words reflect a vision shared with the Prefect.