Page 215 - Supplemento 2-2016 (ENG)

Tackling Environmental Crime throUgh standardized Methodologies

TECUM project. Carabinieri and the fight against organized crime
groups active in environmental crime: a European and national prio-
rity for an emerging threat

Maj. Gen. Enzo Bernardini
Head of 2nd Department of Carabinieri General Headquarters

Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning.
I am Major General Enzo Bernardini, Head of the Second Department
at the Carabinieri General Headquarters. I am very pleased to address you in
this room. Your important presence in this place is testimony of the close frien-
dship and cooperation that binds us all together as a family.
I am likewise honored to represent the Carabinieri General Headquarters
in this conference and brief you on the outcome of the activities conducted by
our Institution against organized crime groups active in environmental crime.
To start with, I would like to remind you that the Carabinieri are a police
force with a military status. As an Armed Force they report, through the Chief
of Defense (CHOD), to the Ministry of Defense for military tasks. As a Police
force they report to the Ministry of Interior for policing duties exercising a
general competence on public security all across the national territory in close
coordination with the Public Security Department. The Carabinieri also inve-
stigate - under the authority of the Judiciary - all offenses, including terrorism
and organized crime. As I will explain later, the distinctive combination of mili-
tary status and police capabilities, together with its organizational structure,
makes the Carabinieri a modern and effective force capable of protecting local
communities and territory with special regard to the environment.
My Department is in charge of all national and international operations
and activities carried out by Carabinieri territorial units and specialized bran-
ches, such as the Protection of Cultural Heritage, Health, Labour, and
Environment.
Later I will tell you more about the Carabinieri organization structure and
functions.

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