In Ticino an observatory against organized crime

The Institute of Law of USI and the Swiss Radio and Television have launched a competence center on mafias, based on a hundred facts and 400 names

The new Observatory on Organized Crime (O-TiCO), recently founded within the Institute of Law of the University of Lugano (IDUSI), was presented on May 12.
During the press conference the activities of the Observatory were presented – from the richness of the archive, to the potential for research, to the organization of popular events – giving ample space to the perspectives of the authorities active in the fight against organized crime.
After the greeting of the Rector of USI Boas Erez and the introduction of the academic director of O-TiCO, Annamaria Astrologo, Nicoletta Della Valle (head of the Federal Police Office), Thomas Ferrari (head of the Polizia Giudiziaria of Canton Ticino), Sergio Mastroianni (Federal Prosecutor) and Norman Gobbi (State Councillor and head of the Department of Institutions of Canton Ticino) took the floor.
The meeting was moderated by the journalist Francesco Lepori, operations manager of the Ticino Observatory on Organized Crime.

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In 2019 alarm of the Federal Department of Justice and Police.

“Italian mafias currently pose a considerable threat to Switzerland.” In December 2019, the Federal Department of Justice and Police sounded the alarm: in Switzerland, as in many other countries, criminal organizations from across the border have been operating for a long time and in a wide variety of areas.
A phenomenon that is as deep-rooted as it is discreet. The ‘ndrangheta has ensured its rise in the criminal scene thanks to characteristics such as the hermetic structure and the ability to blend perfectly into the social fabric.
For the investigators the task is more difficult than ever, and among the public opinion that of the mafias is still perceived, wrongly, as a problem far from the Swiss reality.
Hence the idea of creating the first Ticino Observatory on Organized Crime. The center of competence, developed in collaboration with the Swiss Radio and Television (RSI), has been active since January 1st within the Institute of Law of USI (IDUSI, directed by Federica De Rossa).
Annamaria Astrologo is the academic head of the Observatory, the journalist Francesco Lepori is the operational head.

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A rich archive at the University’s West Campus in Lugano

The center is located on USI’s West Campus in Lugano and offers students and researchers the possibility of consulting its archives, which include a collection of judicial records from the 1970s onwards of investigations related to Ticino, and since 2010 of judicial records of investigations concerning the rest of Switzerland.
Up to now, almost one hundred cases have been listed, for a total of over 400 names. Each dossier is composed of court documents, press articles, television and radio reports, photographs and other material. It is available in both digital and printed form.

🗃️🔎 Settimana scorsa è stato presentato l’#Osservatorio ticinese sulla #criminalità organizzata, un nuovo centro di competenze in sinergia con #RSI che promuoverà #ricerca sul fenomeno delle mafie in #Svizzera ed #educazione alla #legalità. https://t.co/RgwlrEvuxC

— USI University (@USI_university) May 17, 2021

Such a database allows for in-depth scientific analysis of the dimensions and characteristics of the phenomenon and the construction of research projects in the national and international context.
The Observatory also aims at organizing various training and dissemination activities designed, on the one hand, to identify problematic issues of a substantial and procedural nature, while offering possible solutions in a perspective of regulatory reform and, on the other hand, to promote in the population, and especially in young people, knowledge of the subject and education to legality.

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On September 16, a new event on mafias between past and present

The first of these appointments is set for September 16, as part of the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of USI, with a conference entitled “Traces of Organized Crime in Ticino between Past and Present” in which Alessandra Cerreti of the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Milan and Roy Garré, President of the Court of Criminal Complaints of the Federal Criminal Court will speak.

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