Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale
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The Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale (ROS), or Special Operations Group, is part of the Italian
Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...
.


History

Founded on 3 December 1990 to coordinate investigative activities against organized crime, it is now the main investigative arm of the Carabinieri, dealing with organized crime and mafia. The ROS reports directly to the Carabinieri General Command. It was created from the remains of the Special Anti-terrorism Unit, built up in the 1970s by General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa to combat terrorism in Italy. It had centers in
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,
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
,
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
,
Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
,
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
and
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
. Having defeated the
Red Brigades The Red Brigades ( it, Brigate Rosse , often abbreviated BR) was a far-left Marxist–Leninist armed organization operating as a terrorist and guerrilla group based in Italy responsible for numerous violent incidents, including the abduction ...
in the 1980s, the Special Anti-terrorism Unit was also employed to investigate organized crime.


Organization

The ROS command center coordinates the activities of 26 regional anti-crime sections. The headquarters is organized as follows: * Commanding Officer ** Command Office ** Anti-terrorism Department ** Violent Crimes Department ** Technical Investigations Department ** Telematic Investigations Department ** Deputy Commanding Officer *** Central Judicial Police Service **** Central Service - I Investigative Department (Organized Crime) **** Central Service - II Investigative Department (Arms and drug trafficking, kidnappings, money laundering, human trafficking) **** Central Service - III Department (Analysis) ** six anti-crime units in Turin, Milan, Rome, Naples, Reggio Calabria, and Palermo ** 20 anti-crime sections in Genua, Brescia, Perugia, Florence, Ancona, Bologna, Padua, Trento, Udine, L'Aquila, Campobasso, Salerno, Bari, Potenza, Lecce, Catanzaro, Messina, Catania, Caltanissetta, and Cagliari ** three anti-crime teams in Livorno, Nuoro, and Foggia The staff of the ROS is extremely specialized and 75 percent of its personnel are officers and non-commissioned officers of the Carabinieri. The other quarter of its members are lower-ranking police officers. In order to encourage synergy with the territorial units, the staff of the ROS often attends professional refresher courses and conferences with the
Polizia di Stato The ''Polizia di Stato'' (State Police or P.S.) is one of the national police forces of Italy. Alongside the Carabinieri, it is the main police force for providing police duties, primarily to cities and large towns, and with its child agencies ...
and the
Guardia di Finanza The ''Guardia di Finanza'' (G. di F. or GdF) () (English: literal: ''Guard of Finance'', paraphrased: ''Financial Police'' or ''Financial Guard'') is an Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. ...
.


Operations

Among the investigative methods used by the ROS, one of the most effective and dangerous for the investigator is the undercover infiltration of gangs used in investigations into narcotics, kidnapping, money laundering, and the smuggling of arms, ammunition and explosives. Buried in a recent 158-page U.N. report on how terrorists use the Internet is the so-called "protocol of a systematic approach". The protocol, authored by Raggruppamento, is significant because it has been implemented by authorities across the world, according to the United Nations. The document outlines the stages law enforcement agencies should go through when conducting electronic surveillance of suspects: first, by obtaining data and “cookies” stored by websites like Facebook, Google, eBay and PayPal; second, by obtaining location data from servers used by VoIP Internet phone services (like Skype); then, by conducting a “smart analysis” of these data before moving on to the most serious and controversial step: intercepting communications, exploiting security vulnerabilities in communications technologies for “intelligence-gathering purposes,” and even infecting a target computer with Trojan-horse spyware to mine data.


References


External links


Official site


''Il ROS è nudo'', (The ROS is naked) Information about the service {{Law enforcement in Italy Units and formations of the Carabinieri Military units and formations established in 1990 Non-military counterterrorist organizations