Local Police, delegation to the Government to rewrite the 1…

The Government has twelve months to rewrite the regulations for the local police: Law no. 187 of October 16, 2026 grants the legislative delegation to reorganize the functions and discipline of the forces, reviewing the 1986 framework law. The measure is published in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic, General Series no. 243 of October 19, 2026, with official reference 26G00204.

A twelve-month delegation to replace the 1986 framework law

Article 1 delegates the Government to adopt, within twelve months from the date the law enters into force, one or more legislative decrees for the reorganization of the functions and regulations of the local police, “through the revision of the discipline provided by Law no. 65 of March 7, 1986,” the framework law on the organization of the municipal police. The stated objective is to update, reorganize, and coordinate the current state discipline, introducing “the necessary innovative provisions.”

The text was promulgated by the President of the Republic Mattarella and countersigned by the President of the Council Meloni, the Minister of the Interior Piantedosi and, as Minister of Justice, Nordio. The process began in the Chamber (act no. 1716), presented by the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi on February 16, 2024, and approved on May 14, 2026; the Senate (act no. 1903) gave final approval on October 13, 2026.

The process: agreement in the Unified Conference and opinion of the Council of State

Article 1, paragraph 2, establishes the procedure for the adoption of the legislative decrees:

proposal by the Minister of the Interior, in concert with the ministers for public administration, for regional affairs and autonomies, justice, and economy and finance;
agreement in the Unified Conference, pursuant to article 3 of legislative decree no. 281 of August 28, 1997;
opinion of the Council of State within 45 days from the transmission of each draft, after which the Government may proceed regardless;
opinions of the competent Parliamentary Committees for the subject matter and financial profiles within 60 days, with final opinions within 10 days of the new transmission;
supplementary and corrective decrees within twelve months from the entry into force of the last legislative decree issued.

Judicial police and public security: competence remains with the prefect

Article 3 identifies and regulates the functions for which the status of judicial police agent or officer and public security agent is attributed, maintaining the competence of the prefect for the latter. The same article lists the cases in which the status of public security agent cannot be conferred and in which, if already conferred, the prefect declares its loss:

loss of civil and political rights;
conviction, even by a non-final sentence, to a custodial sentence for a non-negligent crime, including in cases of plea bargaining or exclusion of punishability;
being subject to a prevention measure;
expulsion from the Armed Forces or from militarily organized bodies;
removal or dismissal for just cause or subjective justified reason from a public administration;
concrete and relevant disqualifying elements regarding conduct, even in the absence of a conviction, if detrimental to the honor and prestige of the body or socially dangerous, including with reference to the carrying of weapons.

Judicial police functions, auxiliary public security functions, and road police duties remain exercised by personnel serving within the territorial scope of the body of belonging and within the limits of their own attributions.

Regulations, staffing and protection devices

Article 5 mandates the revision of the minimum content of local police service regulations, including for information sharing between different levels of government and coordination among them, in compliance with regional legislative competencies. The regulations must identify:

devices for protecting the safety of personnel: restraint systems for blocking wrists, cut-resistant and bulletproof vests, cushions for compulsory medical treatment, helmets and protective shields, wearable video surveillance;
cases of operations outside the territorial scope of competence: judicial police in flagrante delicto, liaison or representation missions, disaster relief, assistance to other bodies, with notification to the prefect;
minimum requirements for admission to public recruitment competitions;
the overall staffing levels and those for individual qualifications, commensurate with inhabitants, seasonal flows, extension and morphology of the territory, and socio-economic characteristics of the communities.

Weapons, training and financial coverage

Article 3 also regulates individual and unit armament, identified among common firearms and electrical impulse weapons, self-defense tools, training, and the carrying of weapons without a license for service reasons. A connection is provided between the single emergency number 112 and the operational rooms of the bodies, with access to the Data Processing Center referred to in Article 8 of the law of April 1, 1981, n. 121. Article 4 sets out the general principles on professional training and updating, without prejudice to regional legislative power; Article 6 covers welfare and accident costs with the resources of Article 1, paragraph 995, of the law of December 30, 2020, n. 178, imposing financial neutrality for the remainder. Article 7 contains the safeguard clause for special statute regions and the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano.

For municipalities, provinces, and metropolitan cities, a twelve-month window is opening during which the regulations governing the forces—from judicial police qualifications to protective equipment—will be rewritten by legislative decree: it is there that the operational structure of the local police for the coming years will be decided.

Official source: Official Gazette of the Italian Republic, General Series no. 243 of October 19, 2026, Law of October 16, 2026, no. 187, “Delegation to the Government for the reorganization of the functions and the system of the local police” (26G00204).