Are you REALLY not feeling well? 83% of Rome's police officers call in sick on New Year's Eve
- More than three-quarters of the police officers due to work called in sick
- Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has rebuked the force for absenteeism
- Half a million people descended on the city to celebrate the start of 2015
- Desertion branded 'unacceptable' because of the potential danger to public
- Some claimed they were giving blood or cited physical 'disabilities'
More than three-quarters of the police officers due to work on New Year's Eve in Rome called in sick as half a million people descended on the city to celebrate the start of 2015.
The mass desertion of 83 per cent of the 1,000 officers who were supposed to be patrolling the streets has been branded 'unacceptable' because of the potential danger to the public.
As well as claiming they were too ill to work, some officers insisted they were giving blood or cited unspecified physical 'disabilities'.
Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has rebuked the force and called for a shake-up of public sector employment in 2015.
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More than three-quarters of the police officers due to work on New Year's Eve in Rome called in sick
'I read that 83 per cent of police did not work 'because of illness' on December 31. This is why we will change the rules of public sector employment in 2015,' he wrote in a tweet.
Italian authorities are threatening disciplinary action against those officers who failed to show up to help deal with thousands of revellers who surged through Rome's historic piazzas and let off powerful illegal fireworks, according to the Daily Telegraph.
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Ignazio Marino, the mayor of Rome, wrote on Facebook: 'They didn't manage to ruin the party, but those responsible will have to be held to account.'
His deputy, Luigi Nieri, said an investigation is on the way and they would use the results to decide whether there is a legal case to answer.
He said the rate of absenteeism was 'unacceptable' and could have endangered the public's safety on what is one of the busiest nights of the year.
Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has rebuked the force and called for a shake-up of public sector employment in 2015
The latest move by the officers, follows a police rift with the government where for months both were unable to work out changes to their salaries and working conditions.
Rome's police commander Raffaele Clemente desribed the absences as 'absolutely unjustified'.
'I can only condemn the attitude of those who have tried to sabotage the New Year festivities,' he said, adding that the action had 'put at risk people's safety but also the good name of the entire local police force and the city of Rome.'
The municipal police, known in Italian as 'vigili', denied that they were being lazy, saying their absence was part of a broader dispute over pay, conditions and not enough personnel.
There are 5,900 of us and there should be 9,400. With these numbers we can no longer provide a 24-hour service, seven days a week,' said Stefano Giannini, the head of the police union.
Marianna Madia, the public service minister, warned that the skiving officers could face disciplinary action.
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