Italians face ban from kissing police officers

Kissing Italian police officers could soon be banned as part of a slew of potential new rules designed to keep citizens and the police force safe.

The kissing ban has been mooted as a “provocative act” after student protester, Nina De Chiffre, was charged with sexual assault for kissing a riot policeman on his helmet during protests against plans for a new high-speed TAV train in Turin last November.



She said she “wanted to make fun [of the police]", while Franco Maccari, the Secretary General of Coisp, the Italian police officers' union, said if a police officer kissed a protester then “”World War Three would have broken out”.

Under the proposals, which were put to labour unions on Thursday, police officers must also try to resist “mild physical contact and verbal challenges.”