Polizia

One evening we were wandering back to the hotel a tad worse for wear when I decided, against Jan's better advice, that I would ask a couple of Carabinieri a question.
"I'm English and I know nothing," I said, "in England I never ever see police on the street. I'm here two days in Naples and I've seen at least five different police. What do they all do?"

I'd seen Polizia Municipali, Polizia di Stato, Polizia Stradale, Carabinieri, and the best of all Guardia di Finanza. All with guns and cars. I'd even seen a couple of soldiers with automatic weapons.

The taller Carabinieri was not happy and no doubt thought that I was taking the piss (he guessed right). The shorter sergeant who I suspected was his boss smiled and indulged me with some platitudes. If he hadn't been there I suspect that I'd have spent the night in the cells. Tall cop was not happy.

There's a bit of explanation here.