Italian police was actually a military force since 1982 when Italian State Law 121 came into being and thus the military force was replaced by Italian civil force and thus arranged in a structured manner known as Italian police hierarchy now. The police organization was arranged in a pyramidal structure with the bottom level with greatest width kept on shrinking in the upward direction, being narrow most at the top.
New ranks were incorporated and some old ones were chosen as it is. The Italian police hierarchy is described from the highest rank to the lower one as below with a brief description of all the ranks:
- Chief Commissioner – The highest rank in the Italian police hierarchy is of chief commissioner, a high level commissioned police rank. This rank is also referred as chief of police, a covetous official municipal employee. The entire Italian police department is directed to report to the police chief commissioner.
- Commissioner– Second in command and subordinate to chief of commissioner is the rank commissioner, an ardent professional whose services and duties are owed to the town and people of the town.
- Deputy Commissioner – The third highest rank in the police career hierarchy, the deputy commissioner also known as deputy chief of police. The deputy commissioner acts according to the orders of the police commissioner
- Inspector Top Deputy Commissioner– Subordinate to deputy commissioner, this rank works for the safety of common man and maintain peace and justice in the town.
- Inspector Top–Next in the Italian police hierarchy is inspector top. This rank is present in Italian police hierarchy not similar to US police hierarchy where this rank is not available.
- Chief Inspector–Chief Inspector reports directly to the inspector top. Chief inspectors are the high ranking senior police officers.
- Inspector – A mid-level rank in the Italian police hierarchy is of an inspector. In Italian police hierarchy, the rank of Maresciallo was replaced by the rank Inspector after the reorganization in 1981.
- Deputy Inspector – Deputy Inspector is in command in absence of an inspector and assists the inspectors to serve the country.
- Chief Superintendent–Amid-level police officer rank senior to the superintendent rank and working under the supervision of a deputy inspector to maintain law and order in the town.
- Superintendent–A rank subordinate to chief superintendent is of superintendent in Italian police hierarchy, a higher level non – commissioned officer rank.
- Deputy Superintendent – Works as an assistant to superintendent and follows superintendent’s orders, a non – commissioned officer rank.
- Assistant Chief –. This is second lowest rank in the Italian police hierarchy. An assistant chief is assigned with the task of solving the crime cases, even historical crimes.
Agent –The lowest rank in Italian police hierarchy is of an agent. These are specially trained officers fulfilling the duty of prevention and detection of the crime in the city. In some countries, an agent position is not officially appointed and serves the police department as a private investigator.