Just a quick note: a I have a piece on Russia’s new Law on the Police in the British analysis website openDemocracy addressing the question of whether it represents a meaningful piece of reform. It will be interesting to see how things look a year from now; indeed, next time I’m in Russia I’ll be interested to see if the new politsiya title will yet have replaced militsiya on uniforms and signs…
All posts in category Police
On today’s Law on the Police, in openDemocracy
Posted by Mark Galeotti on March 1, 2011
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/on-todays-law-on-the-police-in-opendemocracy/
Bad news: official Russian crime data are under-reports; good news: Russian academics are digging out the real data
There is a long and inglorious tradition of under-reported crime rates in Russia. In part, this sometimes reflects the state’s unwillingness to admit the scale of the problem; in part, the police themselves choosing to ignore crimes or report them as being less serious than they really are; and in part, ‘latent crime’ resulting from public unwillingness to turn to the authorities, whether out of mistrust or simply because they don’t think there is any point. Together, these can lead to all kinds of anomalies in the apparent crime rate.
Posted by Mark Galeotti on January 17, 2011
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/bad-news-official-russian-crime-data-are-under-reports-good-news-russian-academics-are-digging-out-the-real-data/
A cosmetic ruling: fortuitous failure to file key documents may mean wanted mobster Mogilevich walks
On 8 October, the Moscow Arbitrazh court ruled illegal unpaid tax claims and fines against Arbat & Co, the owner of Arbat Prestige (Arbat Prestizh), the now-bankrupt cosmetics chain, were illegal. The total amount, 155.1 million rubles ($5.2 million), is relatively minor and the case would hardly be worth mentioning were it not for the fact that one of the two individuals arrested in connected with this case is Sergei Schnaider, better known as Semyon Mogilevich, ‘Seva’, one of the FBI’s ten most wanted men in the world.
Posted by Mark Galeotti on October 10, 2010
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/a-cosmetic-ruling-fortuitous-failure-to-file-key-documents-may-mean-wanted-mobster-mogilevich-walks/
What’s in a name: Russian militia to be called police again
The draft of the new Law ‘On the Police’ has been released for public comment, and bears some more detailed consideration, to follow. [Edit: though do take a look at this excellent and detailed study in A Good Treaty.] In the mean time, though, one element which Dmitry Medvedev has proposed is that the militsiya regain their old, pre-revolutionary name, the politsiya, police. On the one hand, this might sound a little like rechristening the Titanic in the hope that this will make it float again, but it is in fact not quite as tokenistic a move as it may at first glance appear.
Posted by Mark Galeotti on August 9, 2010
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/whats-in-a-name-russian-militia-to-be-called-police-again/
Mixed messages from Moscow’s 2009 crime figures
Moscow police chief Major General Vladimir Kolokoltsev managed a populist one-two punch on 20 January. While congratulating himself on a decline in overall crime rates in the city in a press conference, he also got to single out the city’s migrant population as especially criminal. Yet the hidden subtext is also the continuing problem with police corruption and criminality.
Posted by Mark Galeotti on January 21, 2010
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/mixed-messages-from-moscow%e2%80%99s-2009-crime-figures/
The latest Russian police reform: the Kremlin is likely to be the only beneficiary
On Thursday 24 December 2009, President Medvedev signed a decree which he said would “enhance the work of the Interior Ministry”, and in particular “specify organisational changes and changes in certain financial and legal issues.” (more…)
Posted by Mark Galeotti on January 1, 2010
https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2010/01/01/the-latest-russian-police-reform-the-kremlin-is-likely-to-be-the-only-beneficiary/
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