Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Police of Russia

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Formed
  
March 1, 2011

Employees
  
904,871 (2016)

Police of Russia

Motto
  
Служа России — служу закону! By serving Russia, I serve the law!

Preceding agencies
  
militsiya Police Ministry

Annual budget
  
2.1 Trillion ruble (until 2014)

Legal personality
  
Governmental: Government agency

The police (Russian: полиция, politsiya; [pɐˈlʲitsɨjə]) is the federal law-enforcement agency in Russia, operating under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was established in 2011, replacing the militsiya, the former police service. It is the federal police service of Russia operates according to the Law on police (Закон "о полиции"), as approved by the Federal Assembly and subsequently signed into law on February 7, 2011 by the then President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev.

Contents

History

The police force in Saint Petersburg was established as the Main Police on June 7, 1718 by decree from Peter the Great. Anton de Vieira was appointed as the first General Polizmeister.

On January 19, 1722 the Governing Senate established the Moscow Police. The Detective Department was founded in 1866 operating under the Police Department of MVD, and by 1907 similar departments had been created in other major cities of the Russian Empire, including Moscow, Kiev, Riga, Odessa, Tiflis, Baku and Rostov-on-Don. Other districts were policed by rural police or gendarmerie units.

The 3,500 strong police force of Saint Petersburg provided the main opposition to the rioting which marked the initial outbreak of the February Revolution. After the army units garrisoning the city defected, the police became the main target of the revolutionaries and a number were killed. The Police of the Russian Empire was dissolved on March 10, 1917, and on April 17 the Provisional Government established the People's Militia (Militsiya) as a new law enforcement body.

2011 Police reform

Russian police reform (Закон РФ "о полиции" (Zakon RF "O politsii" {Law on police}) is an ongoing effort initiated by former President Dmitry Medvedev to improve the efficiency of Russia's police forces, decrease corruption and improve the public image of law enforcement. On 7 February 2011, amendments were made to laws on the police force, the criminal code and the criminal procedure code. The amendments came into force on 1 March 2011. These changes stipulate a personnel cut of 20% in law enforcement, a renaming of Russian law enforcers from "militsiya" (militia) to "politsiya" (police), substantial increases in wages, centralization of financing, and several other changes. Around 217 billion rubles ($7 billion) have been allocated from the federal budget to finance the reform.

Main changes and aims of the reform

  • Name change. Under the reform, the name of Russian law enforcers was changed from the Soviet-era term "militsiya" (militia) to the more universal "politsiya" (police) on 1 March 2011.
  • Personnel reduction and salary increase. The number of police officers will be reduced by 20%, dropping from 1.28 million to 1.1 million by 2012. The reduction will be accomplished via a comprehensive evaluation of all officers. The evaluation will be conducted before June 2011, and those failing the evaluation will end up losing their jobs. All officers who in the past have received administrative penalties or who have links to the criminal underworld will be fired. For those officers surviving the reduction, salaries will be increased by 30%.
  • Centralisation. As a result of the reform, the Russian police will be made a federal-level institution, with funding accomplished fully from the federal budget. Under the old system, police units responsible for public order and petty crimes were under the jurisdiction of regional and city authorities, financed from regional budget and responsible more to the regional governors than to the federal center.
  • Changes to police and detainee rights. According to the new law, the detainee will receive a right to make a telephone call within 3 hours of the detention. They will also receive the right to have a lawyer and interpreter from the moment of their detention, and police must inform the detainee of their rights and duties. The police will lose its right to carry out and demand checks of a company's financial and business activities. Police may also no longer detain a citizen for an hour just to verify his identity.

    • Transportation

    Russian police use a number of different models of automobiles which range greatly in age and technical specification.

    Weaponry

  • AK-74M
  • AKS-74U
  • AS Val
  • OTs-14 Groza
  • PP-19 Bizon
  • 9A-91 carbine
  • A-91 rifle
  • Makarov pistol
  • OTs-02 Kiparis
  • PP-91 KEDR
  • Saiga-12S shotgun
  • MP-443 Grach pistol
  • GSh-18 pistol
  • PP-2000
  • KS-23 shotgun
  • Vityaz-SN
  • CZ-75
  • AEK-971

    • Central administration

    1. Criminal Police Service: Criminal Investigations Department (Russian: Уголовный розыск)
    2. Main Office for Criminal Investigation
    3. Main Office for Combating Economic and Tax Crimes (Russian:Отдел борьбы с экономическими преступлениями)
    4. Office for Operational Investigation Information
    5. Co-ordination Office of Criminal Police Service
    6. Main Office for Public Order Maintenance
    7. Main Directorate for Road Traffic Safety (Traffic police) (Russian: Государственная инспекция безопасности дорожного движения)
    8. Main Office of the Interior for Restricted Facilities
    9. Main Office of Interdepartmental Security Guard Service
    10. Co-ordination Office of Public Security Service
    11. Main Office of the Interior for Transport and Special Transportation
    12. Office for Passports and Visas
    13. External Labour Migration Department
    14. Legal Office
    15. Office for Crisis Situations
    16. Office for Resource Provisions
    17. Finance and Economy Office
    18. Logistical Service
    19. Office for Material and Technical Support
    20. Finance and Economy Department
    21. Medical Office
    22. Office for Communication and Automation
    23. Office for Capital Construction
    24. Co-ordination Office of Logistical Service
    25. General Services Office
    26. Independent Divisions
    27. Office of Affairs - the Secretariat
    28. Main Office for Internal Security -Internal affairs
    29. Control and Auditing Office
    30. MVD Inquiry Committee
    31. Forensic Expertise Center
    32. Main Office for Organization and Inspection
    33. Main Office for (Special) Investigations
    34. National Central Bureau for Interpol
    35. Mobilization Training Office
    36. Main Center for Information
    37. Main Legal Office
    38. Office for International Co-operation
    39. Office for Information Regional Contacts
    40. Main office for Drug Enforcement (former FSKN)
    41. Main office for Migration issues (former Federal Migratory Service)

    Rank insignia

    The Russian Police do not use the rank of Corporal.

    It should also be noted that there is a 4 star police rank, General of the Police of the Russian Federation, (Генерал полиции Российской Федерации). The rank is only newly established.

    References

    Police of Russia Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA