Valtenesi Sicura Crime Prevention Project Gains Support and Momentum
Great interest and immediate success for the «Valtenesi Sicura» project, which is now ready to be launched in the seven municipalities of Valtenesi and in neighboring areas that will decide, in the very near future, to join. The project called «Valtenesi Sicura», which has been described several times in these columns, is the response chosen by the public-private partnership in this area of the province, heavily affected by petty crime and residential burglaries. Essentially, an agreement has been signed with a specialized institute willing to install, upon request from citizens, an alarm system that not only sounds both inside and outside the residence in case of break-in, but is also connected via GSM mobile phones to patrols of the municipal police who will patrol the territory 24 hours a day.
Project Details
The citizen will bear the cost of the system (estimated at around 3 million lire for a medium-sized apartment) and the annual subscription to the security service (about half a million lire per year), while the Municipality will organize the surveillance using ordinances from the Polizia Municipale. «Valtenesi Sicura» has generated interest not only among the local population but also from national media from the outset. It almost became a case and even an example for others to emulate in other towns and cities.
This situation, especially in Valtenesi, must be closely monitored as an experiment to see how it unfolds. To respond to skeptics, the first results have already been achieved, says Isidoro Bertini, mayor of Manerba and the main architect and supporter of this idea, as the project will become operational from March with full functionality. Bertini, on behalf of the mayors involved in the initiative, has also requested the prefect to officially present this Protection Plan, initially also called «satellite shield» (due to the use of mobile phones), to the Provincial Security Committee.
A major banking institution and the Lombardy Region are supporting the initiative, with their own contributions. Currently, over 300 citizens have signed up for the project, with an initial target of around 1,000 users. Reaching this goal should not be difficult, as only a couple of municipalities have been fully informed by the company, Gpd Distribution, whose commercial offices are in Torino and manage the technical part of the project. For further information, a direct toll-free number has been established with the company: 800 904699.
The project is unique of its kind and has even attracted the interest of the Vice President of the European Parliament, Hon. Guido Podestà, who on November 12 visited the initiative in person and expressed his willingness to support it. During that visit, the MEP stated, among other things, that «a project is being trialed here that I believe could be repeated in other provinces. In Europe, and not just in Italy, crime is becoming increasingly aggressive and organized. The phenomenon of burglaries targeting citizens’ homes is continuously expanding» and recently, our province has seen numerous robberies and house burglaries.
The service, which will operate via GSM mobile phone communications and maintain 24-hour territorial oversight through special patrols of the Polizia Urbana, aims to intervene on-site in case of alarms. Although their primary role is rapid response, these patrols will also operate within the territory, contributing further to road safety. Indirectly, they will also serve as a preventive measure against petty crime and, especially during the summer, against rowdy crowds that disturb the peace at night and those who have adopted the uncivil habit of using the Valtenesi roads as race tracks or for high-speed driving.
It is worth recalling that on January 19, at 8:00 pm, the administrators of the Valtenesi municipalities have scheduled a meeting (which will later turn into a convivial gathering) with all local populations, to be held at the Monastero di Soiano. This gathering will serve not only to exchange New Year’s greetings but also to explain this and other initiatives that the municipalities, poised to form a new Association, intend to carry forward in the near future.
