On the basis of declassified documents of party organizations and law enforcement agencies of the Yaroslavl region, the article analyzes the causes of gross violations of the law by local policemen in the first post-war years. The most striking and characteristic examples of this kind are given. As a rule, they took place in the peripheral areas of the region. The command of law enforcement agencies immediately informed the leadership of the regional committee of the ruling party about each of these cases. The perpetrators were subjected to severe punishments: they were deprived of military ranks, removed from their posts, in some cases even arrested and put on trial by the Military Court. Nevertheless, in a number of other cases, the command group sought to find mitigating circumstances for the actions of their subordinates, tried to take some officers out from under the blow of the internal affairs bodies. The command also tried to focus the attention of the party-Soviet leadership of the Yaroslavl region on the fact that citizens affected by the actions of policemen are active criminals. A real surge in crime in the post-war period played a big role in the widespread violation of the rule of law. The author comes to the conclusion that such actions of the guards of order were caused by the mutual cruelty of the criminal world and the authorities of that period.
For citation:
Tumakov D.V. Crimes of law enforcement officers of the post-war years in the historical context of the era: (Based on archival materials of Yaroslavl region), Ivanovo State University Bulletin, Series: Humanities, 2022, iss. 2, pp. 113—122.