Commander Luongo: 'AI helps to handle 2.3 million complaints'

Commander General Salvatore Luongo: 'The challenge will be to combine innovation with a vocation for proximity to citizens'

by Ivan Cimmarusti

21 May 2026

L’investimento dell’arma nelle nuove generazioni: tra tecnologia e tradizione Nella foto: Salvatore Luongo, Ivan Cimmarusti.

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Claim with appIo
No backtracking on territory
The Seizures of 2025
"Present in 7,407 municipalities"
New Generations
Investigations via digital and crypto platforms

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

"I imagine the Carabinieri of tomorrow as an institution fully projected into modernity, but without ever losing its identity". At the Trento Festival of Economics 2026, the Commander General of the Carabinieri, Salvatore Luongo, indicated the trajectory for the coming years: technology, training, Stem skills, recruitment of young professionals and garrisoning the territory. Not a simple updating of tools. It is a project of operational and cultural transformation, built to face a crime that is changing skin: less visible, more economical, more digital. But also to speed up the daily relationship with citizens: 2.3 million complaints a year will soon be able to pass through the appIo.

Complaint with appIo

The first test case is precisely this. "We receive an average of 2.3 million complaints," explains the commanding general. "We asked ourselves what we can do to harness technology and speed up the system. Through the appIo it will be possible to file a complaint. Of course, it will still be possible to do this in the stations or barracks, but we are counting on this new channel to make the process faster. We have made a calculation: 61 million hours of low value-added work, 110 thousand tonnes of Co2 and 110 million sheets of paper would be saved. This is the technology. It is an ongoing project, but we will launch it soon.

No backtracking on the territory

Digitising, however, does not mean retreating from the territory. In Luongo's vision, modernity does not break the Carabinieri model. It pushes it forward without breaking the bond of proximity that remains the distinctive feature of the Carabinieri. Technology, he assures, 'will not replace the human factor: it will amplify its effectiveness. It will remain the heart of the mission'. The challenge will be to maintain 'a balanced synthesis between technological innovation and the traditional vocation of being close to the citizen'.

The Seizures of 2025

Speaking in the Depero Room of the historic Palazzo della Provincia in Trento, Luongo linked the future of the Carabinieri to the transformation of organised crime. "In the past year, the Carabinieri have seized over 168 million euro and confiscated around 44 million in investigations against organised crime. These numbers tell a clear evolution: mafias are no longer just about controlling the territory and violence, but real 'criminal holdings' that move according to economic logic to infiltrate the legal economy and alter competition".

"Present in 7,407 municipalities"

If crime changes, the training of those who fight it must also change. From the Station to the specialist departments. "We are present with Tenenze and Stations in 7,407 Italian municipalities, we are the only reference point of legality for 57% of the population: a responsibility that requires us to radically rethink professional training. An ecosystem that is nourished by collaborations with the academic world, especially in the Stem disciplines - science, technology, engineering and mathematics - because we are aware that the exercise of our functions today inevitably also passes through data analysis and the understanding of digital domains".

The model is increasingly moving into the field. "Since the current academic year, the model of on-the-job training has been further strengthened: officers and marshals alternate training at the Schools with operational periods at territorial departments". And in "investigative and forensic departments such as the Ris and the Ros departments", the courses include "advanced skills in forensic genetics and DNA analysis, digital forensics and telematic investigations".

The New Generation

This is where the next generation comes in. Digital skills are disputed, often absorbed by the private sector. The Arma focuses on a different proposition: technology, but also a sense of service. "The Arma does not intend to compete only on the economic level, but values distinctive elements linked to the meaning of work and the concrete impact on the community. The first axis in which we invest is technology. We offer young professionals an advanced environment, where information technology, data analysis, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence are everyday tools for dealing with real and complex threats. Precisely in order to intercept these excellences, the recent 'security decree' introduced an unprecedented method of access: the enrolment, until 31 December 2027, of directly appointed marshals. This opportunity, aimed at university graduates under the age of 28, provides for a training course of at least six months and a four-year term of service, with full economic and social security recognition of the university course undertaken. The second pillar is that of values: the Arma is based on the ethics of service, sense of duty, responsibility and transparency. In this way, work also becomes a choice of values, combining what one does with what one believes in'.

Investigations through digital platforms and crypto

In the meantime, investigations cross digital platforms, cryptocurrencies and transnational networks. "Today, the decisive element is the domination of the cyber dimension and virtual financial flows. Thanks to a 'binary' investigation model, which combines local nuclei with a central structure in Rome, the Carabinieri are also able to trace transactions in cryptocurrencies, which are often crucial for tracing the top levels of transnational crime. This approach is reinforced by the use of integrated databases and artificial intelligence for data analysis'.

The perspective, for Luongo, is one of complete restructuring. "In ten years' time, the Carabinieri will be immersed in a process of cultural renewal that sees technology as a factor in operational evolution, necessary to anticipate increasingly fluid, hybrid and insidious threats".

Ivan Cimmarustigiornalista
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Luogo: Roma
Lingue parlate: Italiano, inglese
Argomenti: Sicurezza, giudiziaria, inchieste, giustizia tributaria
Premi: Nel 2011 tra i vincitori del Premio Internazionale Antimafia Livatino-Saetta
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