Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Presentation of the social emergency unit of the local police of Milan

Milan, June 25 2021 – The social emergency unit of the local police was presented today in the council commission by the deputy mayor and councilor for security Anna Scavuzzo and by commander Marco Ciacci, which is experimenting with a new approach to intervention by officers in particularly delicate social situations. Already in the first months of activity the unit carried out various interventions with significant results, finding targeted solutions to cases of people in obvious difficulty, who constituted a problem for themselves and for the community.

Active since January 2021, the Decentralized Command Unit 1 has already followed 20 people in difficulty in the various municipalities of Milan: the interventions were started following reports from citizens and traders, over 80% of the cases were resolved in an overall, also thanks to the active involvement of 27 associations, bodies and institutions.

"Intervene to resolve critical situations, address complex problems by going beyond mere removal, make areas of the city safer: the local police show how it is possible to act with professionalism and intelligence, as well as with humanity – comment the deputy mayor Anna Scavuzzo and the Commander of the local police Marco Ciacci - calling for collaboration on all those who can help resolve a problematic situation. There are certainly, especially in emergency cases, situations in which we must act to restore order, cleanliness and legality. At the same time we know that to resolve a problem we must address its complexity, the causes that generated it, the critical issues that prevent a quick solution, identify who can help find a way out. In this way, however, what we build together is often long-lasting".
From the collaboration between the Cathedral Unit, the Social Emergency Unit and the State Police, the "Squares" project was also launched for a strengthened control of the most critical places due to gatherings of young people who cause disorder and commit acts of petty crime (such as in Piazza dei Mercanti) or due to the constant presence of annoying homeless people who camp out, creating particular degradation (as in Piazza Diaz and Piazza Santa Maria Beltrade).

In these places, the strengthened control activities and the intervention of the agents on individuals (distancing orders) and on the activities (control of the sale of alcohol), carried out in collaboration between the Cathedral Unit and the State Police, are accompanied by activities so-called recovery activities by the Social Emergency Unit: outings with street educational units, liaison with social workers and psychologists, involvement of schools and sports associations on the one hand; interventions to resolve situations of mental distress or serious marginalization, joint outings with street units and volunteer doctors, connection with reception facilities and hospital managements on the other.