Police, Anti-Crime Directorate celebrates 20 years. Piantedosi: great results in the capture of dangerous fugitives

The Central Anti-Crime Directorate of the State Police is 20 years old. A birthday celebrated in the Palatucci hall of the Polo Tuscolano in the presence of Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, Police Chief Vittorio Pisani, Anti-Mafia Commission President Chiara Colosimo and National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor Giovanni Melillo.

 "The Central Anti-Crime Directorate is unique in the panorama of the police forces: its establishment, 20 years ago, was the result of the fortunate intuition to 'systematise' prevention activities and counter-action in the fight against organised crime, operating in synergy with the judicial authorities and, in particular, with the National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Directorate," emphasises the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi. "This 'dual soul' has enabled us to achieve great investigative and operational results, with the capture of extremely dangerous fugitives and the seizure of assets, the fruit of illicit activities, worth billions of euro," the minister explained, emphasising that the directorate has always kept abreast of the times by making important contributions in many other strategic areas as well: from human trafficking to drug trafficking, from economic and financial corruption to gender violence.

"The Central Anti-Crime Directorate", recalls the Chief of Police, Vittorio Pisani, "is able to guarantee a unitary direction both on the measures of prevention and on the control of the territory and on the investigative activities. On a national level, there is a diversity of mafias, there is a variegated common criminality, the Dac acts as coordination and support on these variegated phenomena and this allows the gathering of a wealth of experience from which to derive the best operative practices. This is the added value of the Dac. The Dac pools all the information from these three sectors to adapt law enforcement activities to the needs of the territory, also for prognostic and investigative purposes. Having centralised the coordination of the three law enforcement activities puts the State Police at the forefront'.

the Directorate, which was created to unify operational activities for preventing and combating organised crime, has evolved to meet the most complex challenges. Initially formed with the Central Operations Service (Sco), the Territorial Control Service (Sct), the Scientific Police Service and the General Affairs Office, in 2017 the Directorate saw the creation of the Central Anti-Crime Service (Sca), dedicated to prevention measures. Since May 2024, the Scientific Police Service has merged into the new Central Directorate for Scientific Police and Cyber Security. At present, the Directorate consists of three operational Services supported by the General Affairs Office. The General Affairs Office manages administrative activities, personnel, resources and logistics in support of the Central Director. The Central Operations Service is the investigative arm of the DAC, combating mafia crime, human and drug trafficking, crimes against the person, corruption and economic and financial crime. The Central Anti-Crime Service coordinates and supports the Anti-Crime Divisions of the Police Headquarters, with a key role in the management and enforcement of prevention measures. The Territorial Control Service coordinates the Crime Prevention Units, the General Prevention and Public Rescue Offices and the First Intervention Operational Units for prevention and control activities in the territory.

Over the past 20 years, the DAC has been strongly committed to prevention, in particular against gender-based violence, through permanent campaigns such as 'This is not love' and numerous protocols with agencies and associations. The Directorate works closely with the Judicial Authorities, in particular with the National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Directorate, and has a significant international outreach through exchanges of information and joint investigations with foreign police agencies.