Cities’ Reinvestment in Management of Security in France and Italy

This paper analyzes the process by which French and Italian municipalities re-invested their power in the field of safety. Based on a comparison of four case studies, this paper suggests that mayors’ decisions are influenced by pressure from local inhabitants, who are critical of disorder in their neighborhoods. Due to the blindness of the national police to the issue of disorder and to the strengthened police powers mayors hold following decentralization reforms, mayors are increasingly tackling the problem of disorder themselves. Therefore, disorder has been placed under the political umbrella of public safety.