General Police of Minsk Province at the Beginning of XX Century
The organization of law enforcement authorities characterizes the political regime and the political system in an indirect way. Thus, the history of police institutions in the Russian Empire indicates that at the beginning of the XX century Russia was not the police state. Minsk province is an example that shows that the police did not have absolute control over the population. At least in the cities, the police density did not exceed the corresponding index in the countries of Western and Central Europe. In rural area, the county police maintained weak control up until the establishment of the police guard in 1905. It was caused by small numbers of personnel and the vast area of police stations in a county. Instead of professional police officers, the county police could rely only on the incompetent constables chosen by peasant communities, which were called desyatsky and sotsky. The history of the organizational structure of the local police in Minsk province shows that there were very few changes over 40 years, despite the population growth in the cities and in the countryside. The Russian government responded to the political crisis of 1905-1907 by reorganizing the structure of the general police. In spite of the political crisis, there were not organised any extra police structures in Minsk province, and the growth in the numbers of police staff has not led to any substantial increase in the number of police officers per 1,000 residents. In rural area, the police density rose after the establishment of the police guard. However, the Russian government was oriented to Western European model of the organization of gendarmerie in order to provide law enforcement in rural areas