On November 10, 1917, during the revolutionary events, the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs issued a decree establishing the Workers' Police.
The origins
The concept of militia appeared in 1903 in the program of the Bolshevik party, and in March 1917, after the Provisional Government came to power, police officers took the place of the tsarist police. These were ordinary workers who stood at the machine during the day, and in the evening with rifles went out into the streets to maintain order.
Even V. I. Lenin spoke out about the need to create a "people's militia", which implied the complete arming of the people.
The first police of the USSR
In fact, the work of law enforcement was carried out by the Red Guards of the revolutionary guard. The authorities understood that a separate body should monitor the order within the country. In August 1918, it was decided to create a police force. This new body lasted the entire period of Soviet power.
The militia became a workers and peasants and people from 23 years old could serve there.
The tsarist police bodies needed to be simply reorganized, because according to F.Z. Dzerzhinsky, new people could not bring anything good to the previous power bodies. But this ideology was ignored by the authorities, and the Soviet police of that time consisted of lay people.
In turbulent post-revolutionary times, the history of the police was written in blood. In the spring of 1918, the first police officers were killed in the fight against bandits.
The first weapons that the new law enforcement officers were armed with were the Mauser and the revolver. Mauser is a well-known powerful weapon that was in use almost until the 50s of the last century.
MUR
On October 5, 1918, the authorities issued a regulation on the establishment of departments to combat criminal crime. Under the tsarist regime, the Moscow criminal investigation was transformed into MUR - Moscow Criminal Investigation.
“Murovtsy” wore a special identification mark on the lapels of their jackets - the crescent moon and “Murovsky eye” - the all-seeing eye. Departmental difference was issued for a certain time.
The main task of MUR employees was the destruction of armed gangs, of which there were about 30 in Moscow alone.
Form and Ranks
At first, they did not think much about external insignia. The policemen walked in civilian clothes and wore only red bandages on their hands. In 1923, they came to the introduction of the form. The pedestrian Soviet police of that time had a black uniform, and the mounted one was dark blue. New insignia appeared almost every year. The colors of the buttonholes, the signs themselves and their configuration changed.
In 1931, the uniform of a Soviet policeman became gray. The newly-minted law enforcement officers did not have ranks, only positions.
Together with the appearance of the ranks in the army in 1936, the ranks appeared among the police. In addition to sergeants and lieutenants, police directors also appeared - the most important ranks. Shoulder straps were introduced in 1943, and the main color of the insignia was blue.
In 1947, the uniform of the uniform changed and a red color appeared. In the famous children's poem by Sergei Mikhalkov about Uncle Step, such a policeman who is on duty is very clearly depicted.
On January 13, 1962, the Soviet Union was shocked by the story of a policeman hero who, while on duty, saved a woman and children from a drunken armed criminal. The local policeman Vasily Petushkov was mortally wounded and was posthumously awarded the title of hero.
Soviet police and women
Women appeared in the ranks of the Soviet police back in 1919. Many representatives of the weaker sex worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the years of World War II. And in peacetime, almost a quarter of employees successfully combined epaulettes with a skirt.
In fact, women during critical situations act no worse than men. In addition, the characteristics of psychology make them valuable employees of internal organs.
The famous writer Alexandra Marinina served in the Soviet police for 20 years, analyzing criminal offenses. She became the most famous retired lieutenant colonel, writing a series of detective novels about the everyday life of internal affairs workers.
Personnel training
To solve the problems with training, the authorities opened Police Schools. The militia of the USSR has become more professional, thanks to permanent schools and continuing education courses for district and guard officers. In order to get to the investigating authorities, it was necessary to graduate from the Higher Police School.
Positive image of a policeman
Since the mid-60s, the state has constantly raised the prestige of the police in the eyes of the population. The media and creative intelligentsia worked to create a positive character - a Soviet policeman. The police of the USSR became very popular among the people, thanks to fascinating films.
Since 1962, a holiday was officially introduced - Police Day in the USSR. The date of November 10 was noted before, but more locally. At the state level, officials and the best artists of the country congratulated the police on this day.
Soviet people sacredly believed and repeated the phrase that had become popular: "Our police are protecting us!"