From 2008 Italian Army and Carabinieri personnel have been visibly supporting the Police on Operazione STRADE SICURE or Operation SAFE STREETS, writes Bob Morrison.
A recent long weekend break in Rome, coinciding with the first anniversary of the creation of JOINT-FORCES.com, gave me the opportunity to both take some snaps of troops and vehicles deployed on Operazione STRADE SICURE at tourist sites we visited and also chat to some of the English speakers about their mission. As I was under strict instructions from my companion NOT to spoil our rare few days off work by organising any formal facilities with the Italian Ministry of Defence this is just a brief overview and, as requested by officers and NCOs, I have pixellated faces and obscured vehicle registration plates.
STRADE SICURE is perceived by many to be a counter-terrorist deterrence operation but, although it does fulfil this role to some extent in the capital and Italy’s major cities, it was originally established primarily to provide additional personnel to the Prefects of Italy’s Provinces and Metropolitan Cities in order to maintain public order, to try to dissuade petty crime and to supervise sensitive sites and visitor attractions; in Rome the latter include both the numerous tourist magnet historical sites and the Metro stations. Originally 3,000 personnel from all four armed services – Army, Navy, Air Force and Carabinieri – were allocated to the operation but subsequently this number has more than doubled, with troops working both in parallel and in conjunction with the Police when on patrol and static duties.

The traditional maroon soft fez identifies this soldier as being a Bersagliere – the vehicle is a LINCE, known as PANTHER in UK service [©BM]

The IVECO VM90T troop carrier is one of three widely used Army vehicles on the streets of Rome [©BM]

Another VM90T at a different location – standard Army personal weapon is the 5.56mm Beretta ARX 160 [©BM]

A Bersaglieri Land Rover Defender AR90 guarding the iconic Trevi Fountain – these smaller vehicles are used mostly in Rome’s backstreets [©BM]
[ images © Bob Morrison ]