The Interior Ministry has decided to make this crime-ridden city a test case in its drive to increase urban security, ministry sources said. The crime situation in Naples was at the center of a summit here on Tuesday between Interior Minister Giuliano Amato, Junior Minister Marco Minniti, Campania Region President Antonio Bassolino, Naples Mayor Rosa Russo Jervolino and the president of the province of Naples, Riccardo Di Palma.
During the discussion "it was agreed that a new security plan was needed for Naples and the surrounding province which first of all included a greater police presence and visibility," a statement from Amato's office said. In order to do this, it was decided to recall those police officers who had been assigned to duties other than strictly police work.
It was also decided to find additional funds to cover overtime costs.
These measures, the Interior Ministry said, "will be part of a general plan aimed at tackling security problems in a structural manner".
Details of the Naples plan will be hammered out by a task force which will include the mayor, the region president, province president, prefect and the heads of the local police force, Carabinieri and Finance Guard. The first draft of the plan must be ready by the end of the month and Amato plans go to Naples next month to overview its application.
Between October and November there will also be a special cabinet meeting in Naples which will focus on problems related to the south, the so-called Mezzogiorno, Bassolino said after the meeting. The meeting at the Interior Ministry was called in view of mounting violence in Naples and the murder earlier this month of a newspaper kiosk operator in a robbery attempt.
