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The Polizia di Stato (State Police), until 1981 the Public Security Guard Corps (Corpo delle Guardie di pubblica sicurezza), is a civilian police force with a special statute, which is part of the Italian police forces directly dependent on the Department of Public Security (Dipartimento della pubblica sicurezza), of the Ministry of the Interior (Ministero dell'interno).
The Polizia di Stato (State Police or P.S.) is one of the national police forces of Italy.
Alongside the Carabinieri (national gendarmerie), it is the main police force for providing police duties, primarily to cities and large towns, and with its child agencies it is also responsible for highway patrol (autostrade), railways (ferrovie), airports (aeroporti), customs (together with the Guardia di Finanza), as well as certain waterways, and assisting the local police forces.
The two main police forces in Italy are the Carabinieri (national gendarmerie) and the Polizia di Stato (civil national police).
The third one is the Guardia di Finanza, a militarized police force responsible for dealing with financial crime, smuggling, illegal drug trade, and others. Border and Maritime patrolling are undertaken by the Guardia di Finanza and Guardia Costiera (coast guard).
The Polizia Penitenziaria (Prison Police) is the national prison police agency, controlling penitentiaries and inmate transfers.
The Corpo Forestale dello Stato (State Forestry Corps) formerly existed as a separate national park ranger agency but was merged into the Carabinieri in 2016.
Although policing in Italy is primarily provided on a national basis, there also exists Polizia Provinciale (provincial police) and Polizia Municipale (municipal police).
