Esimio, spettabile, gentile, caro, egregio {eminent, esteemed, gentle, dear, distinguished} Dr Manganelli? I don’t know how to start off this letter, the second one I’ve sent you. Thus I’m going to call you “signor Manganelli” and I hope that doesn’t displease you. I’m writing to you because I feel uncomfortable. I feel there’s a growing separation between the Police and the citizens that I find to be crazy and that doesn’t belong to the culture of this country and even less to the State organisation that you lead and represent. In Great Britain, there’s been the resignation of Paul Stephenson the head of Scotland Yard and his deputy, John Yates, because they are suspected of having received favours from the publishing organisation led by Rupert Murdoch. They resigned because of suspicions, not because of a judgement in the courts of the Kingdom. In that country, ethics for the public functionaries is more important than the verdicts. In recent days there has been the tenth anniversary of the G8 in Genoa and the "macelleria messicana" {Mexican butchery} at the Diaz school. You are aware that for that happening, Spartaco Mortola was found guilty and on Appeal was given three years and eight months for “falsi dei verbali di arresto” {falsification of the arrest records} at the Diaz school and was sentenced to a year and two months for “l'induzione alla falsa testimonianza del questore di Genova” {persuading the chief of police in Genoa to give false testimony}. Italian citizens would expect at least that he would be suspended from service; however, Mortola has been promoted to the position of chief of police in Genoa. He’s not the only one among those found guilty by the tribunals of the Republic for the G8 happenings that has made progress in his career. Alessandro Perugini who delivered a kick in the face to an unarmed young man on the ground in a scene that went round the world, is today the chief of police in Alessandria. The list is long and I’ll save you from reading it.
I don’t feel that it’s right, and I think that very many Italians feel the same, that anyone who has been found guilty (even though still not by the Court of Cassation) continues in service and is even promoted. Thousands of police officers are risking their lives every day, and often they lose their lives, to protect citizens. They don’t deserve to be associated with those who have cast a blemish on the uniform and the whole organisation to which they belong, during the G8. Quite frankly, I would find it intolerable. The citizen should not have the tiniest doubt about those who are delegated to protect him, in fact he must have maximum trust and willingness to cooperate. I am making two proposals to you and I hope you would like to support them. The first is the introduction of a system of identification for each police officer, as happens in many other countries like the United States. The second is a series of open meetings with the citizens and the Police in various cities during which every type of problem relating to safety and security is discussed and tackled. The police force belongs to the citizens, not to the source of Power, and it is with the citizens that it has to come face to face. I trust, as ever, in a response from you. Yours sincerely.” Beppe Grillo