The origins of Citizens of Order.

The history of private security in Italy began in 1870 a Padua, when Garibaldi’s officer Giuseppe Lombardi founded Italy’s and Europe’s first private security company, the Private Night Watchmen later became the Citizens of Order.

Soon, the growing needs for protection of private property due to increasing industrial development meant that our company’s services were in demand over a wider and wider territory.

Institutes are opened in Venice, Turin, Milan, Genoa; in 1901 we receive the Silver Medal during theRegional Industrial Exposition..

Citizens of the Order, now firmly established in the customs of civilian life, obtain the right to arm themselves and are the subject of specific legislation.

During the World War II., the City Hall of Turin and the Administration of the Province entrusted us with the surveillance of private and public air-raid shelters, including the largest one in Castello Square; despite the company’s headquarters being razed to the ground, all services are carried out with the usual professionalism.

Unstoppable growth

In the after World War II., under the leadership of Giuseppe Cremonte Pastorello and later his son Alessandro, our company experienced a period of unstoppable growth and innovation: services became more and more specialized to ensure security in different market areas; in addition to the surveillance service of industrial plants, the Investigation Section equipped, two years later, with a subsection specializing in services for the hotel security.

In that same year we were chosen as the only Italian representatives to join the Ligue Internationale des Sociétés des Surveillance (today International Security Ligue), an advisory body as an NGO to the UN and EU, obtaining its vice-presidency in 1959, with Giuseppe Cremonte Pastorello.

We open new locations in Novara, Alexandria, Milan, Cream and Asti.

We champion the first national trade association, and in 1948 theA.N.I.V.P. (National Association of Private Vigilance Institutes).

In the 1960s of the twentieth century we carried out increasingly complex services, such asorganizing and managing all security services for the celebrations of the Centenary of the Unification of Italy and we carry out important technological innovations: the first Mobile Radio Departments.

In the 1970s to meet the new surveillance needs due to the season of terrorism, we inaugurated in Milan the Italy’s first remote alarm system connected by confidential telephone cable: the old “Command Offices” are transformed into the modern Operations Centers.

We also create in those years the first armored nuclei for Transportation and Stockpiling of Valuables.

From 1978, the year in which the Curia of Turin and the organizing committee entrusted us with the design, organization and execution of all security services inside the Cathedral, we have been honored to participate in theOstension of the Shroud.

The 1980s and 1990s see us focused on expanding the type of services offered and consolidating the Citizens of the Order brand. Technological input increasingly complements the human factor.

Today the CDO Group – Citizens of the Order is a modern reality with a wide international scope thanks to our subsidiaries in Europe.

With the early 2000s we begin a reorganization effort aimed at prioritizing the realities and services with higher quality content and we expand our involvement in the management of corporate holdings, successfully taking our experience abroad.

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