by Nina Vaclavikova
Interview: Caterina de Gavardo, Councilor for Urban Security, City of Trieste; Paolo Jerman, Deputy Commander, Trieste Local Police
Trieste’s Local Police resumed its #RioniSicuri (“Safe Neighborhoods”) initiative on Tuesday, relaunching the community policing program with a new autumn schedule focused on direct engagement with residents.
Introduced in spring 2025, the project places officers from the city’s Neighborhood Police Unit in public squares and parks, particularly in outlying districts, to gather residents’ concerns and strengthen the sense of safety through a visible local presence.
City officials said the program has recorded 93 neighborhood visits, totaling about 150 hours of outreach across 27 locations. Officers have spoken with roughly 520 residents and collected more than 174 formal reports, ranging from abandoned vehicles to other local issues.
Under the revised format, officers will visit two neighborhoods every Tuesday afternoon and a municipal park every Friday afternoon on a biweekly schedule, with locations announced in advance.
Speaking at the launch in Piazzale De Gasperi, Caterina de Gavardo, Trieste’s councilor for urban security, said the initiative was created in response to residents’ requests for a more accessible police presence and has continued to evolve based on community feedback.
Deputy Police Commander Paolo Jerman said concentrating patrols in the afternoon would improve efficiency while maintaining the program’s dual role as both a listening service and a visible deterrent in public spaces.
