Assistance to Ukrainian SSR Police Officers in the Fight against Crime and Protection of Public Order in the 20s of the 20th Century

Abstract

The paper deals with the issues of assistance of the population to the police in the fight against criminal crime and the protection of public order in the USSR in the 20s. of the 20th century. The author examines some features of the involvement of auxiliary forces by the Soviet Ukraine police, including committees of non-eligible villagers, village performers, janitors, workers’ squads. The role of each type of auxiliary forces in the protection of public order and the fight against criminal crime is revealed.The author points out that the committees of the unfit villagers, contributing to the realization of the goals of combating banditry, actively opposed the kulaks. The role of the institute of rural performers who contributed to solving the tasks of the police by protecting public order, supervising the execution of decisions of local councils, performing security and convoy functions is considered. It is noted that the tasks of street cleaners in each city household included supervision of order and public safety within the boundaries of the territory of households. The paper also reveals the specifics of assisting the police by workers’ teams (druzhinas) who opposed thefts and hooliganism on the streets of large cities, actively conducted propaganda activities among workers.The paper focuses on the widespread use of explanatory work and campaigning through speeches to workers’ organizations and village gatherings, posting publications in the media in order to attract the population to the tasks of the police.The author concludes that due to the close connection with the working class and the peasantry, the tasks set to combat crime and protect public order by the Soviet police were successfully carried out, specifying what prospects in the work of the modern police will reveal the appeal to similar experience of the Soviet state.