The structure of the police apparatus of tsarist Russia was complex and branched. It was headed by the Police Department of the Ministry of the Interior. The highest official of this department was the Deputy Minister of the Interior, the head of the police; the director of the department reported to him. The department was subject to all types of police: external, detective (criminal), river, horse, zemstvo (rural). The exception was the political and palace police.

Political police (okhrana) was under the jurisdiction of the III branch of "His Majesty's Own Chancellery". The functions of the political police were carried out by the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, which was subordinate to the Chief of the Gendarmes, who at the same time was a friend of the Minister of the Interior. This position was often occupied by a general of the guards, who was also the tsar's adjutant general, which provided him with direct access to the tsar. It should be emphasized that the head of the gendarmerie was not a professional gendarme, but a person close to the king. This has been going on since the time of Nicholas I, the organizer of the gendarmerie, who put his favorite, Count Benckendorff, at the head of it.

D palace police, whose function was the external protection of the palaces, the king and the grand dukes, was under the jurisdiction of the minister of the imperial court.

The personnel of the police department were mainly civilian officials who wore uniforms assigned to the Ministry of the Interior. A few ranks of the outer police usually worked in the apparatus of the department. The middle and highest ranks of the police could have military and civil ranks, depending on how they got into the police service - from the army or from the civil service. Both of them wore the uniform assigned to the external police, with the only difference being that those with a military rank wore military-style shoulder straps, an oval officer's cockade and a silver woven officer's sash, and those with civilian ranks wore narrow bureaucratic shoulder straps with bureaucratic stars, a civilian round cockade and a cloth sash.

If the police department united all police services across the empire, then on a city scale this was carried out by the police department of a given city. It was headed by the mayor. In St. Petersburg and Moscow, this post was occupied by guards generals.

Sotsky Saratov province

Uniform of police officers

The mayor wore the uniform of the regiment in which he was listed, or the uniform of a general of the royal retinue.

The immediate head of the provincial police was the chief of police. The chiefs of police were listed in the police, and not in the regiments, and wore police uniforms, usually had the rank from colonel to major general, and if they were officials, then state and actual state councilor.

The chief of police, if he was a major general or a real state adviser, wore a round astrakhan cap of the Kubanka type, white with a red bottom, and if he was a colonel or state adviser, then black with a green bottom, a silver double-headed eagle was fixed on the cap, an officer’s hat was above it. or official cockade. Caps - dark green, with red piping (two on the band, one on the crown), black lacquered visor. There was no strap on the police caps.

The outer clothing was a light gray overcoat of the same cut as the army one.
Police officers in the rank of major general and above wore a general's overcoat with red edging along the side, collar, cuffs, and with the same red lapels made of instrument cloth. In winter, the overcoat could be on a quilted warm lining; for officers - gray, for generals - red. A black astrakhan collar relied on a warm overcoat, but there could be warm overcoats without fur collars.
Police officers in the ranks of generals sometimes wore overcoats with capes and beaver collars (similar to military "Nikolaev" overcoats).

The everyday uniform of officers and generals of the police was a dark green frock coat of an all-army pattern with a collar of the same color and with red piping along the side, collar, cuffs and back flaps - "leaves". A stand-up starched collar and round cuffs relied on the frock coat. An even more common form was the tunic of an all-army model with straight cuffs, like those of the infantry. Along the side of the tunic, cuffs and pocket flaps were red piping.

Police officers wore trousers of three styles: harem pants and narrowed trousers - in boots or loose-fitting trousers - with boots. A tunic and a frock coat could be worn to choose from - with boots or with boots, and a full dress uniform only with trousers and boots. Boots were certainly worn with spurs, but boots were not always worn.

The ceremonial uniform of police officers and generals remained unchanged from the time of Alexander III, until 1917. And the cut of the army dress uniform introduced at the same time and similar to it changed after the Japanese war of 1904-1905. The police uniform began to look like an anachronism.

The police officer's dress uniform was the same color as the frock coat, with a single-color collar, but without buttons, and fastened on the right side with hooks. There were red piping on the collar, sides and cuffs. It was almost as long as a frock coat; behind, from the waist down, there were smoothed folds.

The collar and cuffs of the general's uniforms were decorated with complex silver embroidery of a special pattern. On officer uniforms, sewing was only in front of the collar, on the cuffs there were columns, but not of a military pattern, but repeating the sewing pattern on the collar - something like commas.

Parade uniform worn both with shoulder straps and with epaulettes - silver, on a red lining with red piping and gaps. For police officers with a military rank, all-army epaulettes are all silver, with gold stars, for civilian ranks only stars were silver, and the epaulette field was made of cloth, in the color of the uniform, with white nickel-plated piping along the wide end of the epaulette.

The ceremonial uniform was always worn with a belt (sash); for military ranks it was silver, for civilians - cloth, in the color of the uniform, with red piping along the edges and along the interception (buckle).

Police officers and generals wore an infantry saber on a silver sling. With a frock coat and a white tunic, sometimes a sword. On the checker of the police military officials were infantry-type lanyards with a brush barrel. The lanyard ribbon was black, with silver double stitching around the edges. Those who have the Order of St. Annas of the 4th degree wore a lanyard on the "Annensky ribbon" - crimson, with a yellow border around the edges. Civilian police officers wore a silver lanyard with an "open" tassel on a silver round cord instead of a ribbon.

Police officers usually wore a revolver in a black lacquered holster only with a tunic or over an overcoat; a silver sash served as a belt in ceremonial occasions, and a black leather belt in others. The revolver cord was of an all-army officer's model.
In the summer, police officers pulled a white cover over the top of their caps and put on a white cotton double-breasted tunic without piping, a style that the army had not worn since the Russo-Japanese War. Police officers also relied on gray capes-capes with a hood of a general officer's cut and color. The cape had buttonholes and shoulder straps. Dark green buttonholes with red edging; the same buttonholes and overcoats. Silver buttons with double-headed eagle. Officers and generals wore white suede gloves.

In 1915 - 1916, individual police officers, imitating the army, began to wear jackets and khaki caps.

Starting from 1866, all cities were divided into police stations. The district police officer was at the head of the section. The police stations, in turn, were divided into districts, which were in charge of the district guards. The lower ranks of the police, who served on guard duty, were called police officers.

In addition to the police, the station staff consisted of officials who were in charge of passports, the office and maintained the police telegraph. Officials wore the uniform of the Ministry of the Interior. Bailiffs and police officers (assistant bailiffs) wore the uniform described above. If the district warden had an officer's rank, then he wore an officer's uniform. But most often they had the rank of senior non-commissioned officer or sergeant major. In this case, their uniform was different from the uniform of police officers.
The main difference was in the color and cut of the uniform - black, double-breasted with hooks; on the collar, side, cuffs - red piping; along the collar and cuffs there was also a silver convex "forged" galloon. The parade uniform of the police officer was of the same color and cut, but on the cuffs there were columns of silver galloon. Over the uniform, the police officers wore a black cloth belt with red piping along the length and along the intercept (buckle). Black lacquered leather belts with a nickel-plated one-prong buckle were worn to the overcoat.

About knock-outs they wore black trousers with red edging, boots on hard footer, with lacquer tops; on the street, police officers, unlike the military, had the right to wear galoshes. The backs of the galoshes had special slots for spurs, bound with copper plates.

In winter, they wore a black astrakhan hat of the same type as that of police officers, but on the bottom, instead of galloon, there were red piping (crosswise and around the bottom). On it is the silver coat of arms of the city. Above the coat of arms is a cockade. The police officer wore the same cap as the police officers: on the band - a coat of arms, on the crown - a cockade; an overcoat of an officer's cut and color, in winter it could be insulated, with a black astrakhan collar.

Desyatsky. Petersburg

The police officers were armed with infantry-style officers' checkers on a silver sling with an officer's lanyard on a black ribbon, as well as a Smith and Wesson revolver or a revolver in a black lacquered holster. The holster was attached to the belt. The revolver had a neck silver cord, like an officer's. An indispensable attribute of the police officer was a whistle on a metal chain hanging on the right side of the uniform. Shoulder straps - black, narrow, with red piping and silver galloon on the sides and in the middle. For length of service in the police, stripes were placed on shoulder straps (as for non-commissioned officers - across the shoulder strap, closer to the button). In winter, police officers wore light brown camel hoods with a silver lace, army-style hoods and black cloth earmuffs. In summer, a white cover was pulled over the cap. The summer uniform was a white cotton uniform made of elastic, the same cut as the cloth one, but without galloons and piping. Instead of an overcoat, they wore a coat of gray rubberized fabric, the same cut as the overcoat. In Chekhov's story "Chameleon", the police officer constantly either puts on or takes off just such a coat.

District guards were usually appointed middle-aged or elderly people. They walked with beards or sideburns, and certainly with mustaches. The chest was almost always hung with medals; on the neck is a huge silver, similar to the ruble, medal "For Zeal" with the profile of the king.

In St. Petersburg and Moscow, police officers often wore orders and medals granted by foreign monarchs. The Emir of Bukhara and the Shah of Persia were especially generous in this regard.

The lower ranks of the city police, police officers, were recruited from soldiers and officers who had served urgent and extra-long service.

The policemen wore a black lambskin round hat with a black cloth bottom, red piping crosswise and around the circumference, or a black cap with three red piping (two on the band, one on the crown), with a black lacquered visor, without a chin strap. In summer, a light Kolomyankovy cover was put on the crown. On the crown of the cap and on the fur hat of the policemen there was a nickel-plated metal round ribbon with sharp ends. The number of this policeman is punched on the ribbon. Above the ribbon is the coat of arms of the city.
The overcoat of the policeman was sewn from black overcoat cloth with a hook-and-eye closure, black buttonholes and red edging, on the buttonholes there is a light metal button with a double-headed eagle.

Uniform of a policeman almost did not differ from the police uniform, but was black. The trousers were also black. On the uniform, the policemen wore a sash made of the same material as the uniform, with red piping along the edges and along the interception, or a black drawstring belt with a metal buckle for one prong. In the summer, the policemen wore a uniform of the same cut, but from a kolomyanka. They also wore soldier-style tunics, without pockets and cuffs, with a clasp on the left side with four buttons. They sewed tunics from Kolomyanka or from cotton fabric of light mustard color. Leather belts relied on tunics and overcoats. Footwear - yuft boots of an infantry sample. The policemen did not wear cords.
On the badge, which was fastened to the left on the chest, the street number of the policeman, the number and name of the district, as well as the city were indicated.

The policemen carried their personal weapons (a revolver of the "Smith and Wesson" system or revolver) in a black holster fastened to the belt. In the period from 1900 to 1917, the revolver was worn either on the right or on the left side: before the war of 1914 - on the left, and before the revolution - on the right. Attached to the revolver was a red wool cord with a copper interception at the neck. Along the side of the overcoat or uniform, a whistle made of horn hung on a metal chain.
The police officers also wore an infantry soldier's checker with a brown wooden handle and black scabbard, copper metal parts. On this checker, popularly nicknamed "herring", hung a leather lanyard of a soldier's infantry model. They wore a checker on the left side on a black belt sash. In addition to the saber and revolver, the policeman had a leather bag fastened with a buckle on his belt.

Petersburg and Moscow policemen, who stood at crossroads with heavy traffic, held wands in their hands - short wooden sticks of white color with brown handles; they used them to stop traffic (the regulation of traffic - from a modern point of view - the police did not deal with). The wands hung on the left side of the belt in front of the saber in a black leather case. In big cities, policemen wore white cotton gloves. In the rain, black oilcloth capes with a hood were worn over an overcoat or uniform.

The shoulder straps of the policemen were of a special style. Almost square "cards" of black cloth were sewn on the shoulder near the sleeve, trimmed on all sides with red piping. They were attached to the insignia in the form of transverse strips of yellow wool braid with two red stitching along the edges. These stripes could be from one to three or not at all. A red braided woolen cord ran from the shoulder to the collar, crossing the "card" and fastened at the collar with a shoulder button. Brass rings were attached to the cord. Their number corresponded to the stripes on the "card".

In cases of "riots" the policemen were additionally armed with rifles with attached bayonets. During the days of the February Revolution of 1917, the policemen were even armed with machine guns, from which they fired at revolutionary soldiers and workers from attics and roofs.

In addition to the policemen, assigned to a certain area and serving on guard duty, there was also the so-called police reserve, which was directly subordinate to the mayor or police chief. The reserve was taken out into the street in extraordinary cases - strikes, demonstrations, revolutionary speeches, passages of the king, members of the royal family or foreign monarchs. The policemen who belonged to the police reserve wore the same uniform as ordinary policemen, but without breastplates.
There were also formations of equestrian policemen, called equestrian police guards.

K onno-police guard was available only in the capitals and large provincial cities. She obeyed the mayor (where he was) or the provincial police chiefs. This guard was used as a striking force in the dispersal of demonstrations, strikers, was exhibited at royal passages along the streets, and also carried out patrol service (usually mounted policemen traveled four or two each while patrolling).
The uniform of the equestrian police guard combined elements of the police and dragoon uniforms: like the police, black uniforms, shoulder straps, buttonholes, badges on caps and hats; the cut of the uniforms, with six buttons at the back, weapons, the style of winter hats and boots with spurs, like dragoons.

The officers of the horse-police guards wore greatcoats, tunics, similar in cut to the uniform of army officers, gray-blue trousers with red piping, reminiscent of the uniform of cavalrymen, caps with a chin strap, winter hats - "dragoons" made of black astrakhan fur. On the front of the hats there was a wedge-shaped cutout into which a cockade was inserted, and in ceremonial cases - a black horsehair sultan. The bottom of the cap is black, with a narrow silver lace crosswise and along the outline. The galloon at the back ended in a loop. The dress uniform of an officer was double-breasted, of an all-army type, with a button closure. The color, piping, sewing of the shape are the same as those of the ordinary police.

Mounted police officers wore cavalry checkers more curved than infantry ones, with a cavalry lanyard ending in a tassel. Revolvers, revolver cords and belts were the same as those of ordinary police officers.

Mounted policemen (private and non-commissioned officers) wore the same caps as ordinary policemen, but with chin straps. Winter hats - "dragoons" - the same as those of officers, but with a red piping instead of galloon and not from astrakhan fur, but from lambskin.
The rank and file of the Mounted Police were armed with dragoon sabers with bayonet sockets on the scabbard and a revolver hanging on the right side of the belt in a black holster with the handle forward. A red wool cord was attached to the revolver. Shortened dragoon rifles were rarely worn by mounted police. They were worn behind the back, throwing the belt over the left shoulder.
Most often, the mounted police used a rubber whip with a wire inserted inside. The blow of the whip was so strong that it cut through the thickest coat like a knife. The "weapon" was also the wide croup of huge bay horses, specially trained to "siege" the crowd. "Siege on the sidewalk!" - the professional shout of the mounted police.

With ceremonial uniforms and headdresses with sultans, the mounted police wore white suede gloves.

City police. Petersburg. 1904

Provincial (County) Police

The structure of the organization of the police in small (district) towns, villages and villages was different than in the capitals and provincial cities. At the head of the county police department was police officer 15. This position was usually held by a police officer in the rank from captain to colonel. The police of this county town and the peripheral - the county mounted police guard were subordinate to him. Geographically, each county was divided into two or four camps, at the head of each was a bailiff - a police officer, with the rank of captain or captain, less often a lieutenant colonel. The closest assistant to the bailiff was a police officer.

Rows were called Cossack non-commissioned officers. According to Dahl, "order" is order, everyday life, legal or ordinary move, device. Hence the constable - a person who looks after the order. The rank and file of the county police were also called the old word "guards".
The guards were representatives of the mounted police and were recruited from local residents who had served active military service in artillery or cavalry. In their appearance, they looked more like soldiers than policemen. This impression was facilitated by their soldier's gray overcoats.

The caps of the guards were dark green with orange piping. On the band there is a badge depicting the coat of arms of the province, on the crown there is a small soldier's cockade.
In the summer, the guards put on a light Kolomyanka tunic without pockets, belted with a drawstring belt (or long double-breasted white tunics), grayish-blue narrow trousers, the same as those of cavalry soldiers, and high yuft boots with spurs.
In winter, they wore cloth tunics or double-breasted dark green uniforms of the same cut as the mounted police guards, but with orange piping. The epaulettes of the guards were of a twisted orange cord, like the policemen, but without cards at the sleeve. The buttons are smooth, without embossing.

The weapons were checkers of the same type as those of the policemen, and a revolver in a black holster. The revolver cord was the same color as the shoulder straps. In special cases, the guards were also armed with dragoon rifles or carbines.

The saddle of the horses was of the general cavalry type, but the headband was usually without a mouthpiece, but with only one snaffle (rein). The guard's outfit was supplemented by a whip or whip.
In winter, in severe frosts, as well as in the northern part of the country and in Siberia, the guards wore black long-haired hats, hoods, and sometimes short fur coats.

The horses of the guards were variegated, undersized, reminiscent of their type of peasant horses. And the guards themselves, who lived in the villages and were engaged in agricultural work in their free time, had a resemblance to the peasants - they wore long hair, "out of shape", often beards and did not differ in a brave appearance.
District police officers - police officers, police officers and their assistants - wore the same uniform as city police officers, with the only difference being that their epaulettes and buttons were "gold" (copper), and the edges were orange. In the 1990s, red edging was assigned to the metropolitan police, and only the provincial ones had orange ones.

Police chiefs and police officers traveled around their "domains" in winter in sledges, and in summer in cabs or chariots harnessed by a troika or a pair of horses with bells and bells. Police officers relied on a coachman, and at the bailiffs, a guard often sat behind the coachman. Police officers and bailiffs traveled, accompanied by an escort of several mounted guards.

Police officers in provincial and district cities differed little in appearance from those in the capital. Only buttons, badges on headdresses and badges were copper, not silver plated.

detective police

The detective police, as its name implies, was engaged in a detective, that is, a criminal investigation. In addition to the special department of the detective police, the police units had representative offices of the detective police. In each part there were detective rooms. The vast majority of the apparatus of the detective police were officials. They wore their official police uniform only in the office. Operational work was carried out by them in civilian clothes (cabbers, lackeys, vagrants, etc.). In addition to the administrative investigative and operational apparatus, the detective police had a numerous staff of informers in the person of janitors, porters, tavern floor, peddlers and simply criminal elements. Like all police services, the detective police were also engaged in political investigation, carrying out orders from the Okhrana or the gendarmerie.
Among the leadership of the detective police were also police officers who wore the uniform assigned to the outside police without any special distinctions.

The external protection of numerous bridges and embankments in St. Petersburg-Petrograd was carried by a special river police. The personnel of the river police was recruited from sailors and naval non-commissioned officers of extra-long service. The officers were also from former naval officers who, for one reason or another, left the service in the navy.

The river police had rowing and motor boats. In addition to the usual police functions, she carried out a rescue service. The cap and overcoat of the river policemen were the same as those of the land policemen, but the river policemen wore trousers over their boots, like sailors. In the summer they wore white cotton tunics of a marine style made of matting. With a white tunic, a white cover was pulled over the cap. In winter, they wore blue cloth tunics and naval-style pea coats. Instead of a checker, each of them had a heavy cleaver with a copper handle. On the other side, a revolver in a black holster hung from the river policeman's belt. The belt was black, lingering, with one hairpin; buttons - silver plated; on the chest badge - the inscription: "St. Petersburg river police" and the personal number of the policeman.

The officers of the river police wore exactly the same uniform and weapons as naval officers, with the only difference being that they had red piping, and buttons, shoulder straps and epaulettes (on dress uniform) were silver, not gold. The exception was the officers of the economic and administrative staff, who wore naval bureaucratic shoulder straps - "Admiralty" (narrow, special weaving, with the same arrangement of stars as on bureaucratic buttonholes).

Palace Police

The palace police carried the external protection of the royal palaces and palace parks. Privates and non-commissioned officers were recruited here from among the former soldiers of the guard regiments, who were distinguished by their tall stature and gallant bearing.

The palace police had a special uniform.
F wore the colors of the sea wave with red piping, a cockade of a special pattern (with a black double-headed eagle on a golden background) on the crown. In winter, black lambskin caps with a sea-green bottom, with galloon for officers and piping on the crown for privates; white suede gloves.

Sh ineli privates and officers were double-breasted, officer-style, gray, somewhat darker than officers. The uniforms were of the same style as those of the ordinary police, but not black, but navy blue. The shoulder straps of privates and non-commissioned officers were of a silver cord with red stripes, while those of officers were the same as those of ordinary police. Sea green buttonholes with red piping. Silver plated buttons with double-headed eagle.

Armament consisted of a sword and a revolver in a black holster. Our revolver neck cord was silver for officers and red-striped silver for privates and non-commissioned officers.

The Palace Police were subordinate to the Minister of the Court. It was headed by the chief police chief (adjutant general or major general of the royal retinue). The police guarding this or that palace was headed by a special palace police chief - usually an adjutant wing with the rank of colonel, who was operationally subordinate to the commandant of the palace, in whose hands the command of both the military and police guards of this palace was concentrated. If the military guard of the palace changed all the time (individual guard regiments sent in turn the corresponding military outfits led by officers), then the police guard of each given palace was constant in its personnel.
The external posts of the military guard were duplicated by the military police, which actually controlled all the entrances and exits of the palace.

After the overthrow of the autocracy, the palace police was liquidated and the guards of the palaces, as the centers of the most valuable monuments of art and culture, were guarded by the soldiers of the suburban garrisons.

The bailiff of the admiralty unit. Petersburg

Gendarmerie Captain. Petersburg

Gendarmerie

The most powerful protection system of the tsarist regime was the gendarmerie - the political police of the empire. She was subordinate to the local provincial authorities, but in fact she controlled them and directed their activities "to protect the foundations" of the empire, in turn, reporting only to the "center" in the person of the chief of gendarmes, the commander of a separate corps of gendarmes, who was directly subordinate only to the king.

The gendarmerie, like the police, had its own varieties: the gendarmerie of the capital and provincial departments, the railway gendarmerie (each railway had its own gendarmerie department), the border guard (it served to protect the borders and control entry into and exit from the empire) and, finally, the field gendarmerie, which performed the functions of the military police (it can also include the serf gendarmes who performed the same functions in the fortresses).

The uniform of all gendarmes, excluding field and serfs, was the same.
The personnel of the gendarmerie consisted mainly of officers and non-commissioned officers; there were almost no privates, since the junior ranks were recruited mainly from those who had served extra-long service in the cavalry units (the gendarmes were considered to belong to the cavalry, although there were very few actual cavalry units of the gendarmerie). The officers had military cavalry ranks: cornet instead of second lieutenant, staff captain instead of captain. Among the non-commissioned officers there was also a cavalry rank: sergeant major instead of sergeant major.

The recruitment of officers was carried out in the gendarmerie in a very special way. All other military formations were served by officers who were released to one or another regiment from cadet schools or transferred from other regiments in the course of military service. The gendarme officers were officers of the guards (mainly) cavalry, forced to leave the regiment for one reason or another (unseemly stories, debts, or simply the lack of the necessary funds to continue the expensive service in the guards).

Going to serve in the gendarmerie, the officer was formally registered in the military service, but there was no way back to the regiment for him. Despite all the power of the gendarmerie - the most trusted and all-powerful apparatus of the tsarist government - the gendarmerie officer found himself outside the society to which he belonged by birth and former service in the army. The gendarmes were not only feared, but also despised. First of all, they despised those circles (the aristocracy, the highest bureaucratic nobility, officers), whose social and property interests were protected by the gendarmerie. This contempt, of course, was not caused by the progressive views of the ruling nobility and bureaucracy. It was primarily contempt for people who were forced to leave the environment from which they came; it was directed at this or that person who served in the gendarmerie, and not at the institution as a whole.

The transfer of a guards officer to the gendarmerie was associated with the need to hush up this or that ugly story in which he was involved, or to correct his financial situation: gendarmes received salaries much higher than officers in the regiments, and in addition, they had at their disposal various special appropriations for which an account was not required.

From their Guards past, gendarmerie officers retained their outward gloss (which distinguished them from the police) and dapperness. This was also helped by the shape, which was similar in cut to the uniforms of the Guards.

Since the rank and file of the gendarmerie was recruited from non-commissioned non-commissioned officers, his age ranged from thirty to fifty years. The gendarmes carried out guard duty at railway stations, marinas (station gendarmes), made arrests, escorted the arrested. At political trials, gendarmes stood guard at the dock.
Unlike city gendarmes, they were not on duty at posts, but appeared on city streets only in exceptional cases, usually on horseback with rifles over their shoulders. Such cases, in addition to the dispersal of demonstrations and strikes, included celebrations with the participation of high-ranking or even high-ranking persons, and so on.

Gendarmerie officers. Petersburg

Uniform of gendarmerie ranks

Gendarmerie officers wore caps with a dark blue band and a blue crown. The blue color was a special, turquoise, shade, it was called: "gendarmerie blue". The piping on the cap was red, the cockade was an ordinary officer's.

The tunic of the usual cavalry type with triangular cuffs served as the everyday uniform of the gendarme. His epaulettes are silver with a red edging and a blue light. With high boots, they wore narrower or half-breeches, gray, with a red edging, with boots - loose-fitting trousers. On boots and boots there were necessarily spurs - on boots, heeled, screwed, without a belt.

Like cavalrymen, all gendarmes wore cavalry checkers and lanyards, and in ceremonial cases, curved broadswords in a nickel-plated scabbard.

A distinctive feature of the gendarme uniform were silver aiguillettes on the right shoulder (only adjutants wore aiguillettes in military units).
Gendarmerie officers wore blue double-breasted frock coats with a blue collar and red piping. With a frock coat, trousers were usually loose. The frock coat could have both shoulder straps and epaulettes.

The dress uniform of the gendarmes was double-breasted, dark blue, with a blue collar and triangular cuffs. The embroidery on the collar and cuffs was silver.
The uniform of the gendarmes was worn with shoulder straps or epaulettes (metal, scaly and even silver), as well as with a silver belt of the general officer type and a frog (bandolier for revolver cartridges) thrown over the left shoulder on a silver belt. On the silver lid of the carcass is a golden double-headed eagle. The ceremonial uniform was worn only with trousers in boots.

The headdress was a black astrakhan hat with a cutout in front - a dragoon. Its bottom was blue, with a silver galloon. A metal double-headed eagle was fastened in front of the dragoon, and under it was an officer's cockade, somewhat smaller than on the cap. The cap was topped with a white horsehair plume.
In dress uniform, gendarmerie officers wore a revolver in a black lacquered holster. The revolver hung from a silver neck cord. From edged weapons they had a hussar saber - a curved broadsword in a nickel-plated scabbard with a cavalry lanyard. The broadsword was attached to a silver belt belt.

With a tunic, gendarmerie officers wore a broadsword or an ordinary cavalry saber. If they put on a broadsword, then the indispensable attributes were a frog and a silver officer's belt.
With a frock coat they wore a saber on a shoulder silver harness or a sword.
The overcoat of the gendarme was of the general officer type with blue buttonholes and red piping.
Before the World War, gendarmerie officers sometimes wore "Nikolaev" overcoats in winter.
Gendarmerie officers almost never took off the insignia of the cadet corps, cadet schools and the insignia of their former regiments; often flaunted in chain bracelets with flat links cut off.

Non-commissioned officers of the gendarmerie had caps of the same color as officers, but with a soldier's cockade. The daily uniform of a gendarme consisted of: a general-military tunic with a clasp of four buttons on the left side (epaulettes on the tunic are red with a blue edging); gray narrow trousers, boots with spurs, a drawstring belt with a single prong buckle; red woolen aiguillettes with copper tips on the right shoulder.

Parade uniform non-commissioned officer was of the same style and colors as the officers. He was wearing a dark blue cloth belt with red piping. On the left sleeve of the tunic of the uniform and overcoat there were silver and gold triangular chevrons, which meant years of service in extra-long service - in the army or in the gendarmerie, service in which was considered extra-long. Almost every gendarme had a large neck medal "For Diligence". The ceremonial headdress of the privates was the same as that of the officers, but not from astrakhan, but from lambskin, and on the bottom, instead of silver, there was a red piping.

The gendarmes were armed with cavalry sabers on a brown sash, a revolver or a Smith and Wesson revolver. A revolver in a black holster hung from his belt, attached to a red woolen neck cord. The overcoat of the gendarmes of the general cavalry sample, with buttonholes, like those of officers. She had one row of fake buttons and fastened with hooks. In full dress, gendarmes wore broadswords instead of checkers.

In preparing the article, materials from the book by Ya. N. Rivosh were used
"Time and things: An illustrated description of costumes and accessories in Russia
late XIX - early XX century. "- Moscow: Art, 1990.

In 2011, a landmark event took place in the Russian police - a new uniform was adopted for employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the Decree of the Government, the old form, which had served its time and lost its compliance with modern requirements, began to be replaced. This also affected shoulder straps. When creating new designs, comments were taken into account, both by current employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and by police veterans, who determined how the shoulder straps of the Russian police look at the present time.

History and police insignia

First shoulder straps

The first shoulder straps are mentioned in the second half of the 17th century. More precisely, under Peter I in 1680-1690, a kind of shoulder straps appeared on a soldier's uniform to support bags and a gun.

years, a kind of shoulder straps appeared on the soldier's uniform to support bags and a gun

The primary purpose is to keep the straps and straps of the equipment from slipping, to protect clothes from scuffs with straps.

Subsequently, epaulets acquired an additional function, which eventually became the main one - to endow the wearer with distinctive signs of belonging to a certain structure (usually a power one) and show his rank in it.

Shoulder straps of tsarist Russia

As insignia of the military of one regiment from another and soldiers from officers, shoulder straps began to be used from 1762. There was no single pattern then, the soldier's and officer's shoulder straps did not differ much from each other, so they did not cope well with their task. Only in 1855, the name of the military unit, emblems of weapons, asterisks and monograms are attached to shoulder straps. They begin to perform their function.

The civil ranks of Imperial Russia (for example, titular councilor, collegiate assessor) corresponded to the ranks of the tsarist police.

The epaulets of the police were similar to the military.

If the officer transferred to the police from military service, then the same rank remained behind him, and army-style shoulder straps. The lower ranks of the police retained the title assigned to them in the army. Additionally, they were assigned a police rank.

Corporals and privates became lower salary policemen, junior non-commissioned officers - average salary policemen, and senior non-commissioned officers - senior salary policemen. The military rank was marked by the number of stripes, and his rank - by the number of stripes on the shoulder twisted cord.

In the last days of February 1917, the Russian imperial police ceased to exist along with the dynasty. In Soviet Russia, shoulder straps were abolished as a relic of the tsarist satrapy and revived again in the USSR, both in the army and in the police, in February 1943. The scale of ranks in the police almost completely began to correspond to the army. The uniform and shoulder straps were also a copy of the army ones, differing in color and minor details.

The shoulder straps of the junior commanding staff had stripes of silver galloon in accordance with the rank. On shoulder straps, the number or name of the police department is applied with yellow paint through a stencil.

Shoulder straps of the USSR

The shoulder straps of the middle and senior command staff are pentagonal; the epaulette field is made of silver galloon or light gray silk lace.

Insignia of the Russian police, photos in sequence: colonel, lieutenant colonel, major, captain, senior police lieutenant, police lieutenant, ml. lieutenant. Shoulder straps and titles. Photo in good quality, in sequence: police commissioner of the third rank, police commissioner of the second rank, police commissioner of the first rank. The picture shows a police lieutenant in an overcoat and hat. Sample form 1943-1947

In 1947, the uniform of the police officers was changed, including shoulder straps.

Shoulder straps ml. commanders and privates are pentagonal. The field of shoulder straps is red and has a dark blue edging. A metal cipher was attached to the shoulder straps, corresponding to the number of the police department.

In the figure, in sequence: foreman, senior sergeant, sergeant, ml. sergeant, senior policeman, policeman, cadet

The shoulder straps of the middle and senior command staff are hexagonal. The epaulette has a galloon silver field.

In the figure, in sequence: colonel, lieutenant colonel, captain and senior lieutenant

Shoulder straps of the highest command staff are hexagonal. The epaulette has a galloon silver field. The epaulette buttons are golden with the coat of arms of the USSR embossed (as on the army general's epaulettes), and for all other categories, the hammer and sickle are applied on the buttons.

In the figure sequentially: 1-commissioner of militia of the third rank, 2-commissar of militia of the second rank, 3-commissar of militia of the first rank

1958 brought a new design.

For employees of all trains, shoulder straps became quadrangular.

And soft hexagonal shoulder straps were fastened to the shirt.

And finally, in 1969, according to the Order of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 230, the shoulder straps of the Soviet police changed for the last time:

	Policeman
	ml. sergeant
	Sergeant
	Staff Sergeant
	Shoulder straps for a police shirt.
	ml. lieutenant
	Fastening stars on the shoulder straps of a lieutenant
	Senior Lieutenant
	Captain
	Major
	Lieutenant colonel
	Colonel
	Commissioner of the third rank
	Commissioner of the second rank
	Commissioner of the first rank

The rank of police commissars was abolished by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 23, 1973 and replaced by the ranks of major general and lieutenant general.

The principle of building a scale of ranks in the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and compliance with the army structure has been preserved to this day.

What do Russian police shoulder straps look like?

All ranks in the police of the Russian Federation, from a cadet to a police general of the Russian Federation, have their own insignia and shoulder straps. And these titles are divided into four groups, or composition.

• private and junior command staff - warrant officers, foreman and sergeants, privates;
• middle command staff - captain and lieutenants;
• senior command staff - colonel, lieutenant colonel and major;
• senior command staff - colonel general, lieutenant general, major general.

Outdated Samples

Until 2013, removable and sewn-on shoulder straps with an upper rounded edge were installed for police officers (for senior command personnel - with an upper trapezoidal edge) and a dark gray field of special weaving.

Private and junior compound

• Enlisted personnel did not have any insignia on shoulder straps;
• ml. command staff. Sergeants had insignia in the form of rectangular stripes of golden color;
• Ensigns(how many stars on shoulder straps, see the photo) had insignia in the form of vertically arranged small stars. Shoulder straps were similar to those of sergeants and privates, the color of the stars was determined in the same way as the color of the stripes.

Private police	Junior Police Sergeant	Police sergeant	Senior Police Sergeant	police chief	Police ensign	Senior Ensign of the Police

middle commanders

One vertical strip - (clearance). The distance between the stars on the shoulder straps of the Russian police is 25 mm.

Ranks in DPS by stars:

Ensign	Lieutenant	Senior Lieutenant	Captain

Senior com. compound

Two gaps and big stars.

Generality

Vertically arranged large stars, no gaps.

Modern police shoulder straps

After 2013, sewn-on and removable shoulder straps with a trapezoidal upper edge for the highest command personnel were canceled ->		Now shoulder straps for all the compositions of the internal affairs bodies have a single rounded shape.
In addition, the color of the special weaving of the shoulder strap field was changed - from dark gray ->		on dark blue

A special rank of police general of the Russian Federation was introduced:

As you can see, the “police” emblem appeared on the chasing of the private and other epaulets, and on the chasing of the foreman, the longitudinal wide strip for the entire length was replaced by a strip also longitudinal and wide, but short.

Officer and sergeant epaulets for office uniforms (dimensions).

Insignia

The uniform of the new model of the police provides, as before, the presence of emblems on the chevrons, indicating a particular unit. For example, the emblem of the OMON officers is a sword and wings, emphasizing the functions of this special unit. The emblem of traffic cops, of course, is a car. Fortress bastions with a hoisted key - on the chevron of private security fighters.

	for employees of the central office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia
	for heads of territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia
	for employees of public order protection units, operational units
	for special forces personnel
	for traffic police officers
	for employees of departments of internal affairs in transport
	for employees of private security units
	for teachers of educational institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

How to sew stars

Depending on how to sew stars on the shoulder straps of a lieutenant or colonel, the attitude of colleagues and command staff to a subordinate or colleague depends. This task is actually quite responsible. After all, the neglect of this can cause the righteous anger of the authorities and the kind smirks of fellow colleagues. It is imperative to know, for example, how many stars a senior lieutenant has on his shoulder straps, so as not to sew on an extra one and not become a captain.

The general principles are:

• for the shoulder straps of the middle, senior and higher commanding staff, as well as warrant officers, the distance between the rows of stars, as well as the distance from the lower edge of the shoulder strap, is 25 mm. An exception is made for owners of one-star shoulder straps (junior lieutenant, major, major general) - 50 mm from the edge.

An example is the captain's shoulder strap - the highest rank of junior commanding staff among officers.

• for shoulder straps of junior command personnel, the distance from the lower edge of the shoulder strap to the lower edge of the insignia is 40 mm, the distance from the lower edge of the uniform button of the shoulder strap to the upper edge of the emblem is 5 mm.

Police of the Russian Empire in 1913, at the International Congress of Criminalists in Switzerland, she was recognized as the most advanced in the world in terms of solving crimes! The head of the Moscow detective Arkady Koshko is called the Russian Sherlock Holmes, the scientific methods of investigation invented by him were adopted by Scotland Yard. And the Japanese colleagues were very impressed when they saw how the Moscow policemen master the techniques of jiu-jitsu. But these are already the successes of the pre-revolutionary years. Now let's see how it all began.

Arkady Koshko

Pre-Petrine era

The first attempts to regularly restore order in our city began only in the sixteenth century. Since 1504, Moscow was guarded by guards, kept at the expense of the townspeople. Ivan the Terrible also introduced horse patrols to keep order.

In the 1530s, robberies intensified in Moscow, and a temporary commission of boyars was assembled to fight them. In 1571, on its basis, a permanent body was created - the Rogue Order, which lasted until the beginning of the eighteenth century.

In 1649, Aleksey Mikhailovich issued a “Mandate to the city deanery concerning” and for the first time instructed law enforcement officers to also monitor fire safety. City police officers are now called "zemstvo yaryshki", their hallmark is a green-red uniform with the letters "Z" and "I" sewn on the chest. By the same time, the construction of city prisons began.

Under Peter 1

regular police. Chronology.

AT 1715 year Peter I creates a police office in St. Petersburg. Now not any class can participate in maintaining order, but only former soldiers and officers.

From January 19, 1722 the police under the leadership of the chief police chief begins to operate in Moscow. In the early years, the chief police chief reports directly to the St. Petersburg general police chief, remaining independent of the Moscow city authorities.

In 1802 created in the country Ministry of the Interior (MIA) which is also in charge of the police. The chief police chief now reports directly to the governor-general, police departments are led by police chiefs, and district bailiffs are subordinate to them. The smallest pieces of urban territory are called districts, and district guards are responsible for them. The policemen were the lowest in the ranks (not to be confused with the mayor), but it was they who were the first to find themselves in the thick of the riots. This hierarchy continued until the revolution.

In 1866 The first detective department is opened in Russia under the leadership of the famous detective Ivan Putilin.

In 1903 for a more rapid response to crimes, the first "flying detachment" (the prototype of the modern OMON) is being created.

In 1913 the police, finally, are transferred to the full maintenance of the state (before that, only salaries were transferred to them from the treasury, and, according to ancient custom, the city was responsible for all other expenses). The Ministry of the Interior is preparing a new reform of the reorganization of the police, plans to increase the salaries of police officers and to select personnel more carefully. But due to the outbreak of the First World War, the project had to be postponed.

In February 1917 the city police became one of the first victims of the Bolsheviks, and already in November of the same year they were replaced by the workers' and peasants' militia.

Moscow city police

“By the way, the Muscovites jokingly attributed the name of these police officers to the evil spirit, believing that there is a goblin in the forest, a water goblin in the water, a brownie in the house, and a policeman in the city,” recalls the writer Teleshov.

Indeed, the residents perceived the police officers who stood for hours not as official representatives of the order, but as something native, as part of the Moscow landscape - streets and squares - this is exactly how these colorful characters look in pre-revolutionary photographs. Some of them served for many years in the same area and even at the same post. So, the policeman Dementyev spent 25 years on duty in one place - on Labaznaya Street (near Bolotnaya Square).

They took to this service retired soldiers and non-commissioned officers, literate, preferably married. But that's not all - applicants had to pass a real exam by learning the answers to 80 questions! And then - to demonstrate their skills in martial arts. The policeman had to be able to disarm and twist a criminal attacking him with a knife or a pistol, and also to possess another skill useful in Russia - to single-handedly raise a dead drunk from the ground. Toward the beginning of the twentieth century, the Japanese system of self-defense jiu-jitsu came into fashion in the police. And those who did not own or poorly mastered her techniques were simply not hired! The policemen from Japan who arrived in the capital in those years wished to test their art on themselves. And none of the guests managed to defeat the Moscow policeman!

Inherited from the city and Icelandic wrestlers. In 1911, the Icelanders demonstrated their art on the stage of the Moscow restaurant "Yar". At the end of the program, they offered to compete with them from those who wished to from the audience, but there were no volunteers, and then the wrestlers, without an invitation, drove into the premises of the police reserve. In the reserve were policemen who were just preparing for exams, but for now they were taken to guard theatrical performances or street festivities. Seemingly clumsy and clumsy, they were able to adequately respond to the challenge of professional athletes, about which even a report was published in the Early Morning newspaper.

At the same time, the life of the city was the most severe. At first they lived in common barracks, then, when it became problematic to find premises for barracks in Moscow, they had to rent housing - the salary was only enough for a modest corner on the outskirts of the city. They were on duty in three six-hour shifts. After the end of the shift, the police could be sent to help the police at the station, sent to the fire or escort the prisoners. At the post, the policeman was responsible for literally everything: for traffic, silence and order (including the fight against drunks), a dog that bit someone, lost and abandoned children.

The documents stated that the policeman must know:

1. the names of all streets, lanes and squares in the territory entrusted to him, as well as churches, bridges, gardens and the names of homeowners;
2. addresses of pharmacies, hospitals and maternity shelters closest to the post;
3. nearby fire hydrants, mailboxes and donation mugs;
4. home addresses of doctors and midwives living nearby;
5. location of the chambers - the prosecutor of the District Court, the District Justice of the Peace and the Judicial Investigator
6. addresses of dignitaries living nearby.

Poorly armed and constantly in plain sight, policemen more often than other policemen became victims of murder. Anyone could become a killer - from tipsy students or young aristocrats who simply did not like the calls for silence, to revolutionaries - "expropriators" (those who robbed shops and factories in order to replenish the party fund).

detectives

The first Russian detective is called the Moscow robber - Vanka Cain. In 1741, a brilliant idea dawned on the thief, and he offered his services to the Moscow police. Vanka was given the official title of informer. At first, he really betrayed his former comrades to the police. But then he thought of taking money from serious criminals for concealing their activities, and gave out only petty thieves to the authorities. In 1749, Major General Ushakov, who arrived from St. Petersburg, revealed his secret, but the hearings on the case of the detective-thief lasted for 4 whole years. In the end, Vanka was found guilty and sent to hard labor in Siberia.

The next famous detective was the bailiff Gavrila Yakovlevich Yakovlev (1760s-1831). Yakovlev performed his work perfectly, in emergency situations the St. Petersburg police also turned to him for help. True, not one of his cases could do without torture. The genius of the detective spent his free time at the slaughterhouse, and at night he had fun in dens, where at the same time he learned a lot of new things.

The Moscow bailiff Khotinsky, who returned the stolen cigarette case and wallet to Minister Timashev, also went down in history. On the very first day of his arrival in Moscow, a wallet, a luxurious cigarette case and a notebook were stolen from the minister in the Assumption Cathedral. Ordinary cops couldn't do anything. And Khotinsky immediately went to the outlying area where the thieves settled, and in a friendly conversation figured out the culprits. Within a few hours, the minister's belongings were delivered to the detective's apartment, and the thieves received a monetary incentive for their accommodating. The satisfied minister told Khotinsky that he works better than the London police.

But the head of the Moscow detective police (since 1908) Arkady Frantsevich Koshko is recognized as the real king of the detective. With the help of agents from all walks of life, Koshko monitored not only the criminals, but also his own subordinates, which greatly influenced their zeal in their work. Arkady Frantsevich was the first to start using fingerprinting, and most importantly, he established a full-fledged account of urban criminals - using photographs and anthropometric measurement, the results of which were entered into a special file cabinet. In 1910 alone, the photo gallery of the detective police was replenished with 20,252 photographs. He also began to conduct mass raids on criminals on important holidays. From the caught hooligans, Koshko came up with the idea of ​​taking a subscription - that they undertake to "behave in a decorous manner in the future", and in the event of a second arrest, they face expulsion from Moscow. Oddly enough, this measure turned out to be effective, and for the second time only 1-2 hooligans a month came across.

Thanks to Koshko, the Russian detective police was recognized as the best at the International Congress of Criminalists in Switzerland. The detective was appointed head of the entire Russian investigation, and only the revolution interrupted his brilliant career. Arkady Koshko emigrated to Europe, where he first advised colleagues from the English police, and then started writing memoirs.

Anyone who is interested in the history of the police, we advise you to visit Museum of the history of the internal affairs bodies of Moscow.

The address - st. Sretenka, 6/2
Underground - Turgenevskaya, Chistye Prudy, Sretensky Boulevard
Phones: +7 495 62190-98, +7 495 62191-15
Working mode: Mon-Fri, 9.00 – 18.00
Attention: Visiting by appointment only.

Uniforms of the Russian Imperial Army Who among us now, without hesitation, can name the military ranks of the Russian Imperial Army and the armies of the White movement. Young people can’t name anything at all, can they? that "Admiral", like that, with a firm sign. The older generation will issue a set: lieutenant (everyone remembers "The White Sun of the Desert and his glamor with a revolver), staff captain (there is no doubt "His Excellency's Adjutant" Staff Captain Koltsov), captain (Captain Ovechkin from counterintelligence "Elusive Avengers "), well, chieftains, sergeants and captains from "Quiet Don" and "Shadows disappear at noon" and dozens and hundreds of films and performances in which officer epaulettes and ranks flicker passed and did not remain in our memory. Most of us are holy confident that the shoulder straps and ranks in the Red Army, introduced in 1943, practically completely correspond to the uniform and shoulder straps of the tsarist army, only some names have changed, instead of, say, second lieutenant, the lieutenant began to be called. in a documentary work, officer ranks and their explanations are so different that you don’t know what to think.For example, who is the captain, what analogue of the military rank corresponds to. Clearly, what are the similarities and what are the differences. Initiation to this topic gave such a volume of material that at first it seemed that a lifetime would not be enough to digest and realize all this.

Cossacks The first information about the Cossacks appeared in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Then the Turkic word "qazaq" was translated as "wanderer", or "Turkic Cossack", that is, one warrior, not a people. The first Cossack communities appeared in the middle of the 15th century. The word "Cossack" then meant a way of life, and not at all a community of people. In the middle of the 15th century, the Polish-Lithuanian monarchs and Moscow princes instructed the Cossacks to protect the steppe borders from the Tatars, and after that - to populate the conquered lands. Such Cossack communities consisted mainly of Russians and Ukrainians, soon they were joined by the Tatars who converted to Christianity, the former local population of the occupied lands, as well as some North Caucasian tribes. By the beginning of the First World War, there were 11 Cossack armies. which numbered 4 million 500 thousand people. These troops were scattered between the Black Sea and the Pacific Ocean, along the southern borders of the Russian Empire. Of the 11 Cossack communities, only 4 (Don, Terek, Kuban and Ural) were formed as ethno-cultural groups. The rest were social, but all communities were closed hereditary castes. To be considered a Cossack, one had to be born into a Cossack family, and only the tsarist government could produce Cossacks. First, in this war, the Cossacks were used as cavalry, and then they were transferred to the infantry and served in the trenches.

Uniforms of the Red Army

Until 1943, the appearance of the Soviet soldier was dominated by severe asceticism. In any case, from films about the civil war, it was difficult to understand whether there was any system of external distinction in the Red Army, say, a company commander from a platoon commander. How, in general, a fighter of the Red Army, being, let's say, on dismissal, could understand that he was in front of a commander, and not a courier in a leather jacket on a motorcycle. Probably, most people were not very interested in the details of what the kubari and sleepers on the buttonholes of the red commanders in the pre-war and war period mean. It’s not that it wasn’t interesting at all, but somehow the usual “lieutenant”, “captain” or “colonel” sounded in films and books. Of course, there were situations when, when reading a book or a story on a military theme, I came across phrases like "judging by the two sleepers on the buttonholes, it was a major ...", the familiar shoulder strap of a Soviet major with one asterisk instantly jumped out of my memory, but the development of the plot was distracting from a question that remained in the subconscious until better times. Let's assume that these best times have come.

Uniforms of the Third Reich “I forged the Wehrmacht for six years,” Hitler once said, referring to the years from 1933 to 1939, that is, from the moment he came to supreme power in Germany to the beginning of the world war. However, he officially announced the creation of a new army only in March 1935. Often, the word "Wehrmacht" means only the Land Forces of Nazi Germany, considering the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine independent parts of its armed forces. This is fundamentally wrong. Wehrmacht (Wehrmacht, which means "defense forces") - this is the armed forces of Germany 1935-1945, consisting of the Ground Forces, the Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine. However, the Wehrmacht did not exhaust all the armed forces of the Reich. It is necessary to rank among them the very numerous German police, which later included even tank regiments. And, of course, the SS troops.

On March 1, the law "On Police" comes into force. The law, in particular, provides for the renaming of the militia into the police, as well as the reduction of personnel by 20%. All employees will be withdrawn from the state, and after passing an extraordinary recertification, they will return to the service already as police officers.

The word militia is traditionally used in Russian in two main meanings: a) an administrative institution in charge of protecting public order, state and other property, the security of citizens and their property; b) voluntary military squad, people's (zemstvo) militia (obsolete).

Historically word "police" goes back to the Latin militia - "military service, army", as well as "military campaign, campaign" (according to the verb milito - "to be a soldier, infantryman", the same root as in the word militarism). The word militia most likely came into the Russian literary language through French or Polish mediation (see the old French form milicie; Polish milicija).

The term "militia" was used in ancient Rome, where it meant the service of infantry soldiers. In medieval Europe (mid-15th century), militia were called militia units from the local population, convened during the war.

In Russia, the Zemstvo army, which existed in 1806-1807, was called the militia, and at the end of the 19th century, the troops put up by the indigenous population of the Caucasus and the Trans-Caspian region (permanent mounted police). The main difference between the militia and the regular troops was that it was recruited not on the basis of military service, but on a voluntary basis.

The origin of the militia as a public order service body is associated with the Paris Commune of 1871, where the police prefecture was liquidated, and the responsibility for ensuring order and security of citizens was assigned to the reserve battalions of the National Guard. In Russia, during the February Bourgeois-Democratic Revolution (1917), the Provisional Government abolished the Police Department and proclaimed the replacement of the police by "people's militia with elected authorities subordinate to local governments." Its legal basis was the government decree of 30 (17 old style) April 1917 "On the establishment of the police" and the Provisional Regulations on the police. However, these solutions have not been fully implemented.

In Soviet Russia, the Workers' and Peasants' Militia (RKM) became the executive body for the protection of revolutionary social order. The foundations of the RKM were laid by the NKVD decree of November 10 (October 28, O.S.) 1917 "On the workers' militia."

According to Ozhegov's dictionary, police- "in tsarist Russia and in some other countries, an administrative body for the protection of state security, public order."

In Russian, the word police has been known since the beginning of the 18th century, and it entered the dictionaries in its first third. (Dictionary of Weismann, 1731).

The word "police" itself goes back to the German polizei - "police", which comes from the Latin politia - "state structure, state". The Latin word politia itself has its origin in the Greek word politeia - "state affairs, form of government, state" (it is based on the word poliz - originally "city", and then - "state").

As one of the main instruments of state power, the police appeared along with the formation of the state.

At one time, Karl Marx emphasized that the police is one of the earliest signs of the state: for example, in Ancient Athens "... public power originally existed only as a police force, which is as old as the state" (K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 21, p. 118).

In the Middle Ages, the institution of the police was most developed: it was the period of its heyday, especially in the conditions of the police states of the era of absolute monarchy. The bourgeoisie, having won political power in its turn, not only preserved but improved the police, which (like the army) became the bulwark of the state.

In Russia, the police was established by Peter the Great in 1718. It was divided into general, keeping order (its detective departments investigated criminal cases), and political (information and security departments, later on - the gendarmerie, etc.). There were also special police services - palace, port, fair, etc. City police departments were headed by police chiefs; there were also district bailiffs (guards) and police officers (police guards). (Military Encyclopedia. Military Publishing. Moscow, 8 volumes, 2004)

In Russia, the police was abolished on 23 (10 old style) March 1917.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources