The man who attacked two police officers in Rome has been released. “A rift between security and justice,” says Domenico Pianese (Coisp)

“In our country, there is a disconnect between the work of the police and the judicial system. This is not a security issue but a matter of justice: police officers continually arrest individuals who commit crimes posing a particular threat to society, yet these individuals are released immediately afterwards. Magistrates, partly for ideological reasons, underestimate the social gravity of these offences; they refer to them as ‘petty crimes’ when in reality they are the very offences most keenly felt by the public. In this way, they instil a deep sense of insecurity in the public and also undermine police officers’ trust in the system.” This is what Domenico Pianese, general secretary of the Coisp police union, told Il Foglio. In recent days, the union released a video showing the assault suffered by two police officers whilst arresting a man in Via Cavour, Rome. The two injured officers were each given a seven-day prognosis, whilst the man was arrested on charges of assault, resisting arrest, contempt of court and causing bodily harm. He was brought before the Court of Rome for a summary trial: the arrest was upheld, but the man was immediately released. No precautionary measures were imposed on him.

The video was shared on social media by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who commented: “The government will continue to strengthen safeguards and tools for the police. But when, following behaviour of this gravity and an assault on a representative of the state, the perpetrator is released within a matter of hours, it is not merely difficult to comprehend. It is frankly unacceptable, because it undermines the credibility of the state as a whole.” This is the second time in the space of a few days that the Prime Minister has criticised decisions taken by the judiciary, following the case of the 13-year-old girl molested in Turin by a man of Bangladeshi origin, who was released by the investigating magistrate two days after his arrest. That decision, too, was criticised by Meloni (as well as by other members of the ruling coalition), prompting a reaction from the National Magistrates’ Association, which spoke of “disjointed attacks by influential government figures”.

“Every year, we police officers arrest the perpetrators of pickpocketing, theft and even harassment seven or eight times. We apprehend them, but then they are released because the offences are deemed to pose little danger to society,” adds Coisp secretary Domenico Pianese, who has served in the police force for 36 years. “This creates a rift in the country between the public’s need for security and the justice system. How, indeed, can the offence of theft be described as trivial? If someone breaks into our home, even if they steal very little, they destroy the very place where we should feel safest. And this has a profound impact on the public’s sense of security.”

“In some sections of the judiciary, the offences that affect citizens the most are rashly defined as ‘petty’, of little significance. Yet these are precisely the offences that hit the most vulnerable and defenceless sections of the population hardest,” continues Pianese. “Furthermore, some members of the judiciary seem unaware of the risks faced daily by police officers as they bring those responsible for crimes to justice. The man arrested in Rome kicked and punched, but if he’d had a knife, he might have tried to stab an officer, as has happened on other occasions.”

The ANM does not seem to appreciate the right to criticise judicial decisions. Who knows, perhaps the judges’ union will issue a ‘reprimand’ even against those who have expressed concerns about the Rome case. “I am a police officer, so as far as I’m concerned, court rulings must always be respected, come what may; but thank goodness that in this country citizens still have the right to criticise a ruling by the judicial authorities. Otherwise, we would truly be moving from a democracy to a judicial dictatorship,” concludes Pianese.

Ermes Antonucci