Time to take stock also for the Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Rimini which summarized the activity carried out during 2022.
The crimes that mark the most significant numbers are those of predatory nature (thefts alone represent, in fact, 55% of those reported). They show a marked incidence in the summer period, negatively influencing the perception of safety of residents and holidaymakers. The effort made in the prevention of crimes and in the capillary control of the territory put in place by the 18 Stations and by the Carabinieri Tenenza di Cattolica, with competence on all 27 municipalities of the Province of Rimini, made it possible in 2022 to denounce 2,601 people in a state of freedom and arrest 407 of them. The general analysis of the crimes shows an increase of 12% compared to 2021. The trend can be considered physiological as it is affected, as mentioned, by the end of the limits imposed on mobility during the acute phase of the Covid-19. And in fact, comparing 2019 (pre-pandemic period) by 2022, the increase in crimes stands at 1%.
Moving on to the analysis of crimes related to drugs, the action to combat trafficking and drug dealing activities involved additional and targeted services in the area, in addition to the daily general prevention services. Thanks to the active commitment put in place by the Arma, there is a decrease in the crimes in question (from 115 to 99). Overall the employee departments proceeded to 105 arrests for drug trafficking and drug dealing and 58 charges in a state of freedom. The activity also led to the seizure total of over 130kg. of drugs. 180 people were reported to the Prefecture for personal use of drugs.
Reported sexual violence decreased by more than 13% in 2022. The figure is in contrast with the national one (+15%), thanks also to the active commitment of all the institutional actors involved and of the civil society of the Province against the phenomenon of gender-based violence.
Robberies are down by 23% and those on the public street by 32%. This is a very positive figure, which also recalls the reflections made previously on the subject of baby gangs.
Chapter apart from the baby gangs. The phenomenon, substantially unknown on the Riviera since there is no stable presence of organized youth gangs as in other metropolitan realities, made its way evidently for the first time in the summer of 2021, when numerous young minors, mainly foreign or second generation Italians with significant “criminal curricula” behind them, they had arrived in the months of July and August, becoming the protagonists of robberies, thefts and acts of vandalism which had aroused an inevitable social alarm. To counter the phenomenon, the Provincial Command has set up dedicated territorial control services since the first months of 2022, with particular attention to the meeting centers of the capital, to the areas with the greatest tourist concentration and to the railway stations of Rimini and Riccione. The monitoring of data was added to the ordinary institutional response to the phenomenon social networks to anticipate any unrest. The preventive actions thus implemented, accompanied by an effective repression, in synergy with the Prefecture and the Police Headquarters, have strongly discouraged the repetition of deviant behaviours, allowing them to be significantly reduced and thus reassuring tourists, residents and operators in the sector.
Territorial control services
Particular impetus to the prevention and control of the territory has been given for increase the perception of safety in citizenship and put in place a concrete contrast action: the Carabinieri have in fact maximized the external projection on the territory, which took the form of 50,508 checks. They have been 60,765 people identified, of which 16,935 burdened by police reports (27%). In the end, 44,641 vehicles were checked. A fundamental contribution was offered by the system of summer reinforcements arranged by the General Command of the Carabinieri and by the PS Department as a whole, which has allowed the Arma (but not only) to have several hundred more men – often highly qualified, such as those belonging to the SIO (Operational Intervention Teams ) – to counter the increase in crimes. In this regard, it should in fact be remembered that the province of Rimini is the one that has received one of the greatest increases in strength at a national level during the summer.
Prevention activities in schools
In the framework of the diffusion of the culture of legality through educational paths special attention was paid to middle school students in the Province, through:
– conferences and meetings on gender-based violence, the dangers of the internet, aspects of “cyber-crime”, bullying and other current topics;
– the participation of Officers or Non-Commissioned Officers in symposiums, demonstrations and public events also as speakers.
Initiatives in favor of the “weak bands”
Once again, the collaboration and participation of the Institution is underlined in all those projects and courses aimed at protecting the weakest groups, especially women. “A room of one’s own” deserves a special mention as it is part of the multi-year collaboration between Soroptimist International of Italy and the General Command of the Carabinieri. Specifically, in the three protected rooms built in the barracks of Rimini, Cattolica and Novafeltria in 2022 several dozen cases have been addressed, often in the presence of minor children, decontextualized by the negative family environment. Among the initiatives in favor of women, in 2022 two self-defense courses aimed at a female audience that saw the participation of a Army instructor qualified as a martial arts teacher and qualified for self-defense.
Lastly, meetings continued in the elderly centers of local municipalities for prevention of scams and crimes in general against the elderly. The most recurring cases of fraud encountered by the Carabinieri were illustrated and ways to avoid them were suggested.
The numbers of the Carabinieri: 407 arrests and 2,601 complaints in 2022