УДК 93/94: 351.746

EDN ASYNOW

 

Original article

 

Cooperation between the Police and the Public in the Fight against Crime in the Period of Late Socialism (a Case Study of the Yaroslavl Region)

 

Tumakov D. V.

 

Abstract

Introduction. The issues of interaction between the Soviet police and the public in the fight against crime in the period of late socialism are still insufficiently studied. The purpose of this work is to study various forms of cooperation between law enforcement agencies and the public of the Yaroslavl region in the fight against criminal deviations during the period of “stagnation”.

Materials and methods. This article analyzes the materials of the central and regional press of the 1960s — 1980s, as well as the declassified correspondence of law enforcement agencies with the Yaroslavl regional committee of the CPSU of those years. The research is based on the principles of objectivity and historicism, problem-chronological and historical-comparative methods.

Results and discussion. In the period of late socialism, despite the noticeable progress in the work of the police and the general improvement of the socio-economic situation in the country, crime remained relevant and even increased. In the fight against it, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR resorted to close cooperation with the public. Voluntary people’s squads and strongholds for law enforcement were massively created, and propaganda of their activities was actively carried out through the press.

Conclusion. As a result of the study, it was possible to identify the existence of close and not unsuccessful cooperation between the Soviet police and the general public in the fight against various criminal deviations. At the same time, the beginning of the crisis of the socio-economic and political system of the Soviet Union led to a number of significant shortcomings of the voluntary people’s squads, which could not be overcome.

Keywords: late socialism, police, voluntary people’s squad, crime, public, press, the Yaroslavl region

For citation: Tumakov DV. Cooperation between the Police and the Public in the Fight against Crime in the Period of Late Socialism (a Case Study of the Yaroslavl Region). Bulletin of the Research Institute of the Humanities by the Government of the Republic of Mordovia. 2024;16(1):168—182. EDN ASYNOW

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The article was submitted 30.08.2023; approved after reviewing 10.01.2024; accepted for publication 17.01.2024.

 

Information about the author:

Denis V. Tumakov, Associate Professor of Department of History and Philosophy of Yaroslavl State Medical University (5 Revolutsionnaya Str., Yaroslavl 150000, Russia), Candidate of Historical Sciences, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8569-7246, denistumakov@yandex.ru

 

Conflict of interest: the author declares no conflict of interest.

 

The author has read and approved the final version of the manuscript.