Italy
The Arma dei Carabinieri is a gendarmerie force which acts as both the military police and one of the three national police forces in Italy. Formed on 13 July 1814, it has been for almost two centuries the senior branch of the Italian Army, until on 5 October 2000 it had become a fully independent Service of the Italian military.
With a strength of about 120 000, the Arma dei Carabinieri is a very large organization, including its own Air and Naval Services, but most of its personnel is used for civilian police duties.
The properly Military Police components of the Arma dei Carabinieri are grouped into the "Divisione Unità Mobili Carabinieri" (Carabinieri Mobile Units Division), organized as follows:
2nd Brigade: 1st Carabinieri Parachutist Regiment "Tuscania". 7th Carabinieri Battalion "Trentino - Alto Adige". 13th Carabinieri Battalion "Friuli - Venezia Giulia". Gruppo Intervento Speciale.
From this units are drawn most of the elements that form the Carabinieri MP coys, platoons and detachments assigned to all the major Italian Army, Navy and Air Force units, as well as many of the personnel forming the MSU Regiments (Multinational Specialist Units) and the IPUs (Integrated Police Units) serving abroad in support of European Union, NATO and United Nation missions. The Arma dei Carabinieri have gained a very good reputation for the professionalism and organization of their MP units in support of international missions, so much that during the 2004 G8 Sea Island Conference the Carabinieri have been tasked to organize and run the CoESPU (Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units), to centralize the training of multinational MP units for international missions.
The 1st Brigade of the same "Divisione Unità Mobili Carabinieri", organized on 11 Mobile battalions and 1 Cavalry Regiment, does contribute to form the same Military Police components as the 1st Brigade, but is mostly tasked to riot control civilian police duties. It is worth to note that inside each of its battalions there is usually a small Mechanized company, so in case of war they are likely to be mobilized for combat duties (as it happened during both World Wars).
The Guardia di Finanza acts as a specialized Military Police force when called upon. Its normal duties include being a force acting in border control, customs duties, and police investigations about financial crimes and illegal drug trafficking.
Read more about this topic: Military Police
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