A police officer is a low-ranking official in the city police of Tsarist Russia. Such a position arose in 1867 and was abolished in 1917, with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks.
Circular guards were only in large cities, such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, etc. They reported directly to the district bailiff, they also had policemen subordinate to them.
Requirements for candidates for police officers
People aged 21-40 years old were admitted to the civil service as a police officer. Applicants must have previously served in the army or have civilian experience.
The future police officer must have a good education, be physically developed and, above all, have a good appearance.
Suitable candidates in all respects were enrolled in the super-reserve, where they underwent training and at the end of it they took an exam. After successfully passing the commission, the district guards were transferred to the main staff and received a supervised territory (about).
Salary
The district guard of the metropolitan police, being in reserve, received a salary of 20 rubles. When he moved to a vacancy at the police station, his annual income was calculated in three categories and amounted to 600, 660 and 720 rubles, respectively.
For a better understanding of the salary level of this official, you can convert tsarist rubles into the equivalent of the modern Russian currency. So, a police station with a permanent staff of the lowest category received 59,431 rubles. monthly.
Duties of a police officer
The minor official of the city police, which was considered a police officer, performed a range of different duties. He had to bypass the site entrusted to him, within which 3000-4000 citizens lived and monitor compliance with the rules of social behavior. The detailed instruction, developed by the city authorities, consisted of more than 300 pages.
The police officer should have known everything about his precinct. His job was to identify "foreign" citizens on the territory, drawing up protocols in case of various kinds of offenses.
As well as to the modern district policeman, everyone and sundry made claims to the district police officer. The janitor does not remove the snow well - the warden is to blame (he didn’t see it). Someone was bitten by a dog - the policeman should find out whose dog it is and take action against its owners.
The police officer did not have the right to call the population to his station or apartment. All inquiries, the preparation of the necessary papers, the delivery of subpoenas, took place,as they say, "in the fields".
The uniform of a police officer in Tsarist Russia
The police officer was supposed to wear a uniform worn by class ranks. If he had an officer's rank, then his uniform was appropriate. However, he usually held the rank of sergeant major or senior non-commissioned officer, in which case his uniform was different.
The police of the Russian Empire, represented by a police officer, wore black trousers with red trim and a double-breasted uniform of the same color, fastened with hooks. The collar, cuffs and side were also decorated with red trim.
The ceremonial version was completely similar to the everyday one, except for the columns of silver galloon on the cuffs.
Shoes were patent leather boots, but it was also the police officers who were allowed to wear galoshes, on the backs of which there were holes for spurs lined with copper plates.
The police officer wore green shoulder straps, decorated in the center with a wide silver stripe.
Weapons and other paraphernalia of a police officer
Being a servant of the law, an officer of the tsarist police was supposed to carry a weapon. They wore an officer's saber with a silver band, a revolver in a black lacquer holster, or a Smith & Wesson revolver.
One cannot imagine a police officer without his famous whistle. It was attached to the right side of the uniform and had a long metal chain. With the help of a long whistle, the peace officer could call for reinforcements and call for calm the enragedcitizens.
The briefcase is also an integral part of the image of this official. All sorts of agendas and protocols that were written with or without it implied the constant wearing of this accessory. Sometimes he did not have enough working day to deliver all these papers to the recipients.
Interesting facts from the life of police officers
The police officer did not have the right to attend festivities and festivities as a private person. He was forbidden to go to taverns and restaurants in his spare time and relax at the tables of pubs with friends.
He could even marry only with the permission of the mayor, this rule also applied, by the way, to policemen.
Each time leaving the police station, the police officer had to inform his superiors where he was going and where he could be quickly found if necessary.
Until 1907, the policeman moved only on foot, and after the highest decree of the mayor, police officers could use bicycles, which greatly facilitated their difficult official life.
Police officials, among other things, had to visit the theater and understand fiction. Beginning in 1876, a police officer was required to attend each performance, sitting in a chair specially reserved for him. He not only kept order during the performance, but also acted as a censor.
Imagecorrupt official
Being a link between the population and the state machine, the police officer was highly respected. Merchants from numerous shops, holders of state-owned houses, and ordinary townspeople fawned over him.
This attitude is provoked by bribery on the part of these authorities. Conducting inquiries, many police officers gently hinted that in the event of financial gratitude from the suspect, the policeman could turn a blind eye to many undesirable facts and details.
The introduction of Prohibition during the First World War was another reason for taking bribes. Covering the clandestine activities of the shinkars, the police officers had a stable additional source of income, albeit not a very legal one.
In fiction, this petty official is often represented as narrow-minded, lazy and biased. This stereotype about the police officer is still alive today. Although, if you think about it, work in law enforcement agencies under the tsar, and today is a colossal work that is rarely appreciated.
