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Crime in Italy is present in several forms, such as murder, sexual violence, corruption, and several more. However, Italy is most notorious for its organised crime groups, present all over the world, known as the Mafia. These crimes are combated by the spectrum of Italian law enforcement agencies, composed of Carabinieri, Polizia, and Guardie di Finanza. Italy holds the 8th position in Europe in regards to the number of law enforcement per 100 thousand people with 453 units, compared to the European average which is 335. Although crime covers the peninsula, Italy holds some of the lowest toll of rapes and murders in the EU. Out of 128 countries, Italy is the 40th safest country in the world.

Crime by type
Murder

In 2012, national murder rate was about 0.9 per 100,000 people, one of the lower rates in Western Europe. There were a total of 530 murders in Italy in 2012.

Homicides in Italy have decreased by 20% in the last ten years, with 0.6 murders per 100.000 people. In fact in 2017, 357 individuals were murdered in Italy, a number that decreased even further between august 2018 and July 2019, where 307 murders were registered.

Drug Related Crimes

Italy is considered as one of the drug portals to Europe thanks to its geolocation and omnipresence of organised crime groups. Substantial amounts of illegal drugs are smuggled through the country with the goal of reaching other European nations. These narcotics are exported from drug producing regions principally via maritime route but also via air and land. Areas such as South America, specifically Columbia produce and supply cocaine, Southeast Asia and Afghanistan principally supply heroin, whereas north-western and south-eastern Europe, Morocco and Albania cultivate and deliver cannabis. The drugs are bought and distributed both in Italy and in the rest of Europe by organised crime groups.

Italians are not solely transporters and smugglers of narcotics, they are also consumers.

The general population survey on drugs conducted in 2017 deduced that Italians within the ages of 15 and 64, in the course of their life, had, at least once, made use of psychoactive substances, with 1 in 10 using in the past year. Cannabis is the most used drug within the population, with an estimated 1.1 % using it daily, whereas, 20.9% of young adults have used in the last year.

Use of cocaine and other psychoactive drugs is reported to be lower within the peninsula, where it has been recorded that 1.7% of young adults have used cocaine in the past year. Moreover, Italy is considered as one of the EU countries with the highest number of high risk opioid use, with high use of off label drugs.

The number of drug law offenders in 2019 was 73 804. In 2017, 35 190 people were convicted by the police for drug related crimes, this number decreased in October 2018 to 23.603 people. Furthermore, in 2015, a third of the aggregate of convicts was in prison due to drug related crimes. In fact, Italy held the record amongst the 47 member states of the European Council for drug related convictions.

Italian Prisons
Italy’s prison system is built on a law that was created in 1975, that aims at the reintegration of the prisoner in society. There are 206 prisons across the Italian territory. In 2019 prisons in Italy held 60, 512 prisoners, one of the highest numbers per prison in Europe. Italy is notorious for having an overpopulated prison system, in fact, the prison system in 2019 was 129% over capacity, meaning there would need to be 13 608 people less for the prison system to be at a legal and regular capacity.

The total prison population in 2020 is 57 846, however, the official capacity of the prison system is 50 754, meaning that there is an occupancy level of 114%. Out of the twenty Italian regions, the two that suffer the most from this overcrowding are Puglia with a rate of 161%, followed by Lombardy with 137% occupancy levels. For example, cities like Como, Brescia, Larino and Taranto have a rate of 200%, meaning two prisoners live where there is only place for one. The toll of prisoners per population is 100 prisoners every 100.000 people.

The prisoner population is formed mostly by Italians originating principally from Campania, Puglia, Sicily and Calabria, the rest, being 33,42% of the prisoners, are foreign, composed of Moroccans, Albanians, Romanians, Tunisians and Nigerians.

Italian prisons are affected by a high number of suicides. On average every month four to five suicides occur in prison. Since 2000 over a thousand suicides have occurred, whereas, the total number of deaths in jails have been over 3000.