Angelo Pansini  

ANGELO PANSINI,

Advisor to Michele Emiliano,
the Hon. Mayor of Bari, Italy

"Criminal organsiations` influence on drug situation"
ABSTRACT

ECAD XVI Mayors’ Conference

February 5-6, 2009
Göteborg, Sweden




Criminal organisations are not geographical issues, as well as drugs and criminal organisations are not the problems of a certain municipality.

In Bari municipality we have built a task force and our approach to the issue of drugs is based on that. We are employing regional officers of the Ministry of Justice, social services and health services inter alia to set up a common area of work to contribute to solving this issue.

There are two focal points to it:

  1. - Tackling organized crime has enhancement in a form of law. A law allows us to confiscate property from drug dealers. That property can be reused by exerting it to drug treatment purposes.

    In Italy we have a brilliant example of San Patrignano Community that has this practice. It implies a strong symbolic message, after that comes economic value and last, but not least, practical purposes.
  2. - Municipalities should add one small element to the overall picture, that is civil society, people. We have to be able to speak to the people in the streets, intercept before they get into trouble.

What can we do to become more efficient working with people in the streets?
Probably we would have to invent a strategy, involving the whole community, starting with the 3d sector subject.

In Italy we have a huge association, consistent of other associations, led by priest, which works on finding methods to deal with drug traffickers. This organisation is called Libera. It focuses on cultivating associations that help socially excluded people, backed up by confiscating properties of criminal offenders and arranging living there for those socially non-adapted.
That is also a strongly symbolic cooperation, not economic one.
We have to beware statistics in this subject, since it is not a just measurement here; the symbolic deed is much more effective.
How strong a symbol should be in order to appeal to us?
Our reality is what we foster; we have to put our professional dimension into this game.

 
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