Bomb alerts, the Ministry of the Interior circular: 'Mail bombing threats are unreliable'

A threat that is manifestly serial in nature and constituted by identical or substantially similar messages having the same origin and addressed indiscriminately to a plurality of recipients is to be considered unreliable. This is the indication contained in the circular from the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi, sent to prefects and police commissioners, after the wave of fake alarms arrived by email.

All this "unless specific additional risk elements emerge such as, by way of example, the discovery of suspicious objects, the detection - also through video surveillance systems - of anomalies that can reasonably be linked to the threat, the existence of previous episodes, reports or information elements that bring to light a risk situation relating to the specific objective, as well as the presence of further concrete circumstances that make it necessary to increase the protection measures".

In the event that elements emerge that make the threat plausible - it is explained in the circular - the commissioner may order, according to the circumstances, the carrying out of the checks deemed appropriate and the adoption of any other suitable measure to guarantee adequate safety conditions, without compromising, where not essential, the continuity of services.

"Only where deemed necessary - it is specified - will he propose to the prefect the evacuation of the structure or site concerned". The Department of Public Security will take care, through the Situation Center, operational throughout the twenty-four hours, "the information link with the local offices, encouraging the rapid sharing of reports and elements useful for assessing the reliability of the threat".

In Rome checks on senders and servers

The investigation by Rome's anti-terrorism prosecutors into the bomb scares that have affected dozens of schools in recent days is essentially traveling on two tracks. On the one hand we are working to try to trace the senders of the email that triggered the alarm, on the other we are starting a collaboration with other police forces - at a European level - to exchange information and lay the foundations for a possible common strategy. A technical activity that the magistrates of Piazzale Clodio have also entrusted to the specialists of the Postal Police who are already working to try to identify the "server chain" through which the email passed and ended up in the email inboxes of the capital's schools.

At the moment the Rome prosecutors are prosecuting the crimes of threats and causing alarm against unknown persons. Parallel to the proceedings opened for schools, the one concerning the alarms triggered in recent days at Fiumicino airport is underway. Even in this case, the proceeding is based on alarm and it is not excluded that the two files could be combined into a single maxi-proceeding.