Police Department of Russia
The Police Department of the MVD (Russian: Департамент полиции МВД России) was the main police force of the Russian Empire and part of the Ministry of Police in the late 19th century, and was responsible for the management of all the police forces in the Russian Empire including Okhrana branches,[1][2][3] and was aided by the Special Corps of Gendarmes.
| Департамент полиции Российской империи | |
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | August 6, 1880 |
| Dissolved | February 27, 1917 |
| Jurisdiction |  Russian Empire |
| Headquarters | Petrograd |
| Parent agency | Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Empire |
| Child agency | |
History
The Police Department was established on August 6, 1880 following the dissolution of the Third Section. The newly formed Police department was part of the MVD. From 1880 til 1883 it was called The Department of the State Police ("Департамент государственной полиции"). Under it jurisdiction was the Okhrana, all the policing bodies, including the detective branches, and the Fire departments.
After the February Revolution the Department was dissolved by the decree of the Russian provisional government from February 27, 1917.
After the October Revolution the government has announced the establishment of the Militsiya, as the new police force.
Director
The head of the department was The Director of the Police Department, which was appointed by the Minister of the Internal Affairs.
| Minister | Start year | End year |
|---|---|---|
| Ivan Velio | 1880 | 1881 |
| Vyacheslav von Plehve | 1881 | 1884 |
| Pyotr Durnovo | 1884 | 1893 |
| Nikolai Petrov | 1893 | 1895 |
| Nikolai Saburov | 1895 | 1896 |
| Anton Dobrzhinsky | 1896 | 1897 |
| Sergei Zvolyansky | 1897 | 1902 |
| Aleksei Lopukhin | 1902 | 1905 |
| Sergei Kovalensky | March 1905 | June 1905 |
| Nikolai Garin | July 1905 | November 1905 |
| Emmanuel Vuich | 1905 | 1906 |
| Maximilian Trusevich | 1906 | 1909 |
| Nil Zuev | 1909 | 1912 |
| Stepan Beletsky | 1912 | 1914 |
| Valentine Brun de Saint Hippolyte | 1914 | 1915 |
| Ruschu Mollov | September 1915 | November 1915 |
| Konstantin Kafafov | 1915 | 1916 |
| Evgeny Klimovich | February 1916 | September 1916 |
| Aleksey Vasilyev | 1916 | 1917 |
Further reading
- Ronald Hingley, The Russian Secret Police: Muscovite, Imperial, and Soviet Political Security Operations (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1970). ISBN 0-671-20886-1
- R. J. Stove, The Unsleeping Eye: Secret Police and Their Victims (Encounter Books, San Francisco, 2003). ISBN 1-893554-66-X
- Dominic Lieven (ed.), The Cambridge History of Russia, Volume II: Imperial Russia, 1689–1917, Cambridge University Press (2006), ISBN 978-0-521-81529-1.