Chiara Nava In Ferrara, the announcement by Northern League mayor Alan Fabbri , who presented the project of an " Anti-Maranza Nucleus " (NAM), a task force designed to combat youth crime and violence, is causing controversy . The specific operating procedures of the new body have not yet been clarified, but the initiative has already sparked political conflict in the city.
The opposition is mainly contesting the chosen name, which it deems stigmatizing and racist, while the leader of the League, Matteo Salvini , has expressed full support for the proposal, calling for it to be replicated in other Italian cities.
How the Anti-Maranza Unit will work
According to Fabbri, the new unit will be established by the Municipality within the local police force and will represent, in the administration's intentions, a first experiment at the national level.
The project should involve various professionals , including lawyers, psychologists, social workers, police officers and security experts.
The task force will have prevention, but also control and repression responsibilities . The mayor linked the initiative to recent news events affecting several Italian cities, citing Bologna and Milan in particular.
The stated objective is to intervene before serious incidents occur in Ferrara as well.
" The safety of the people of Ferrara comes first ," Fabbri reiterated, recalling that he was among the first mayors to publicly raise the issue of the so-called maranza , even at the risk of being accused of racism. The mayor used harsh tones against those responsible for the violence and looting , maintaining that he does not intend to backtrack on security.
However, the specific activities the unit will be able to carry out remain to be defined. The Municipality has not yet provided precise information on its functioning and has not confirmed rumors that its leader may be former Northern League councilor Nicola Lodi , already suspended under the Severino law and subsequently convicted for clearing a Roma camp with a bulldozer.
The opposition attacks: "Racist terminology"
Criticism has come from representatives of the city's opposition, starting with lawyer Fabio Anselmo , who challenged Fabbri in the municipal elections and now sits on the opposition benches. Anselmo called the initiative a " low-level propaganda " operation, also raising questions about the use of public funds for a project that still lacks a clear outline.
The administration's chosen name , considered ghettoizing and stigmatizing, is particularly under scrutiny. For Anselmo, addressing youth issues with such a label fuels divisions rather than focusing on effective prevention. The lawyer also announced his intention to clarify the initiative's costs.
The Democratic Party is on the same page . Ilaria Baraldi, a member of the regional secretariat, challenged the mayor's approach , arguing that Ferrara is not a city on the brink of crisis and that the administration risks fueling tensions rather than reducing them.
Matteo Salvini took a different stance , publicly promoting the project on social media, calling it a positive initiative by the Northern League mayor and expressing his hope that it would be adopted in other Italian municipalities.
The debate therefore remains open: on the one hand, the administration claims the need to strengthen security, on the other, the opposition calls for concrete interventions and greater attention to the causes of youth distress, contesting the language used and the still-unclear objectives of the new task force.