Militia (police)

A militia car in Moscow (2005)

Ukrainian militiamen during a soccer game

Militia ( Russian Милиция Milizija ) was in the Soviet Union and is still the name for the police in some of its successor states .

history

The Milizija was founded in 1917 as a so-called workers and peasants militia . This name was chosen by the Bolsheviks to express the difference to the “civil” tsarist police. In Russia, the term police is still associated with the sergeants of the Tsarist regime, who are not very close to the citizens, as well as the German Gestapo , secret field police and field gendarmerie in the occupied territories, and therefore has a negative connotation.

Later the name was changed to Ministry of Internal Affairs (Министерство внутренних дел, МВД for short). The regional structures were initially called the "Department of Internal Affairs" (Отделение внутренних дел, ОВД), later the "Administration for Internal Affairs" (Управление внутренних дел, УВД).

Public Security Militia and Criminal Police

The militia consists of two groups, the public security militia and the crime militia . Both groups differ in their function, management and funding. While the staffing and funding of the first group is determined by the local authorities, the Russian government is responsible for the criminal militia.

The "State Inspection for Road Safety" (Государственная инспекция безопасности дорожного движения, ГИБДД) corresponds roughly to the German traffic police and belongs to the militia for public safety.

Reforms in Russia

As part of the ongoing reform of the Russian Interior Ministry , then President Dmitri Medvedev had the Milizija renamed Police again. The reform is intended to free the militia from redundant functions so that they can concentrate on their main task of maintaining public order. On August 7, 2010, the President posted the draft of the new Police Act with 11 chapters and 57 articles on the Internet and called on citizens to discuss it - a one-off event not only in Russia. On January 28, 2011, the law was passed by the State Duma . The Federation Council approved the law on February 2, 2011, forwarding it to the President for signature. The law came into force on March 1, 2011; since then there has been a federally organized police force in Russia .

See also

• OMON
• Militiaiskaya Volna

Web links

• Russian Interior Ministry ( Memento from February 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Russia News: Medvedev wants to rename the Russian militia police . Russia Current. August 6, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
2. ^ RIA Novosti: Medvedev wants the militia to be renamed the police again . RIA Novosti. August 6, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
3. ↑ Russian government: проекте федерального закона "О полиции" . Russian government. August 7, 2010. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
4. ^ Markian Ostaptschuk, Yegor Winogradow (dpa): Russian militia becomes police . German wave. February 2, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2011.