Security Tips

The following security tips were provided to U.S. Embassy employees by the Regional Security Office and may be useful for your own personal security.

For the latest Warden Messages, please see the "Warden Messages" webpage.

Security Notice: Presence of Italian Troops in the City - August 1, 2008

The Government of Italy has recently issued a decree to start using military troops to protect sensitive targets such as Italian Government buildings, foreign Embassies, Consulates, diplomatic residences, and other sites. The troops may also be used on street patrols with the police in major Italian cities.

The purpose of this notice is to inform the American citizen community that, starting Monday, August 4th, there may be Italian soldiers at posts where you are accustomed to seeing police or Carabinieri posts. In Rome, there will probably be no change inside the Aurelian Walls, but the U.S. Embassy facilities that are located outside the Aurelian Walls may see fixed posts replaced by military troops effective Monday. The military troops which are deployed under this decree will have the same powers of arrest as the police.

The decree has a limit of six months, during which the Government of Italy will review the use of the troops to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.