ROME – The head of Rome’s Municipal police (Vigili Urbani) has resigned in the face of an investigative report by RAI's 'Report' programme into corruption, links to organised crime in the force, and a revenge porn scandal involving two police officers in a patrol car, police sources said on Tuesday.

 In a three-page letter to Virginia Raggi, the Mayor of Rome, Stefano Napoli, who had been appointed as interim commander general of Rome’s local police in July, asked to be removed from the role.

 The resignation letter references the 'Report' television programme’s investigation that aired on the RAI 3 television channel on Nov. 23, which, according to Napoli, represented a “vile personal and institutional attack on my dignity,” marking “the darkest moment of my thirty-year career in the corps.”

 Investigative reporter Daniele Autieri documented inappropriate conduct, cases of corruption and the Capitoline Police’s links with organised crime, in a period dating from 2009 to 2015.

 The story dealt with the “malfeasance hiding in the Municipal Police Corps” in Rome, and implicated Marco Marsilio, Angelo Giuliani, Stefano Napoli and former mayor of Rome Ignazio Marino.

 Also in the report was the recent leaking of an illegal recording of two traffic cops who allegedly had sexual intercourse in a car while patrolling a Roma camp. According to Il Fatto Quotidiano, the recording could be intended as “a type of blackmail” or “revenge porn” against the mother of the female agent, who is high-ranking officer. The possibility that the audio has been artfully edited cannot be excluded, Il Fatto said.

 Ms Raggi is yet to comment on the ‘Report’ investigation or Napoli’s resignation.

 cc