The problem of organized banditry is a crucial element in the debate over the relationship of Napoleonic rule to the process of modernization in Italy. As this study shows, there is little doubt that the French made a fundamental, lasting impact on this problem in the Piedmontese departments. In the period 1802-1814, they transformed the southern departments of the subalpine kingdom from one of the most bandit-infested parts of the peninsula into a relative crime-free region. The same was largely true in those other areas of Hesperia that were under their rule long enough to feel the full effects of Napoleonic policing policies. French policing enjoyed its greatest successes where the gendarmerie was able to operate as its creators intended, i.e., as a sedentary force, scattered in small, permanent brigades across the countryside, usually quartered in its own barracks apart from the population it served. Once established in this form, the force was better able to win the confidence of the local elites and then, with this support, to eradicate organized banditry. 39 notes