Formation of the legal culture of public order enforcement officers in Russia in the first third of the 20th century (based on the Chernozem center of Russia)

Importance. The issues of legal consciousness and legal culture development are relevant for modern society and for individuals who are employed in the public service system of law enforcement agencies. The purpose of this study is to analyze not only the acquisition of professional skills by employees of public order agencies in the first third of the last century, but also to identify and compare the methods of forming their legal culture, which includes cognitive, emotionalpsychological, and behavioral elements.

Materials and Methods. The research is based on a wide range of sources, including archival documents from seven central and local archives, as well as legal acts and scientific works from that time. The study, which is interdisciplinary in nature, uses the following methods: the universal (dialectical) method; formal-logical methods; general scientific methods used in humanities field; special methods in history (problem-chronological, historical-comparative, historical-typological, historical description, etc.); and methods from other sciences.

Results and Discussion. The areas of work with employees of the pre-revolutionary police, the people's (civil) militia, and the Soviet militia are examined. The trend of expanding the forms of legal training during the Soviet period, from legal education and raising the prestige of employees to cultural and educational work and political enlightenment is proved. Legal culture is based on moral culture, which is why attention is paid to general education and self-education. Legal culture is not only about shaping legal consciousness, but also about its manifestation in activities. In this regard, the regulation of the moral aspects of employees’ relationships with their colleagues and the public, as well as their disciplinary responsibility is analyzed.

Conclusion. It is concluded that some methods of legal training and discipline of employees have been continuously developing under various models of organization of public security structures, moreover, they are still used today.

1. Yakushev V.A. (2006). Social Policy of the Russian State and the State of Law Enforcement Personnel and the Fight against Crime (Early Twentieth Century and Early Twentieth Century). 21th Century). Moscow, 90 p. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/tkjbev

2. Gorlova N.I., Saltyk G.A. (2016). From the history of the formation of professional education of police officers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Kursk school of police officers. In: Mir kul’tury: kul’turovedenie, kul’turografiya, kul’turologiya = The World of Culture: Cultural Studies, Culturography, Culturology, issue 5, pp. 153-160. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/yjurpj

3. Savitsky N.M. (2016). The main activities of police educational organizations of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century on the example of the Voronezh training team – the school of police guards. Obshchestvennaya bezopasnost’, zakonnost’ i pravoporyadok v III tysyacheletii = Public Safety, Law and Order in the Third Millennium, no. 1-3, pp. 238-241. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/wyiihp

4. Nakhimov A.P., Kirnos A.V., Kolesnikov V.A. (2020). Characteristic of formation and development of lower ranks of district police professional training in the Russian Empire in late XIX–XX centuries. Nauchnyi portal MVD Rossii = Scientific Portal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, no. 1 (49), pp. 8-19. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/wphhlg

5. Kirnos A.V., Kolesnikov V.A. (2022). The “fourth wave” of the organization of professional training of the lower ranks of the county police in the Russian Empire: attempts at unification on a pan-imperial scale. Pravo i gosudarstvo: teoriya i praktika = Law and State: Theory and Practice, no. 2, pp. 6-13. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/lnjccb

6. Nakhimov A.P., Kirnos A.V., Kolesnikov V.A. (2017). Educational Organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs/NKVD in the Voronezh Region (1888–1942). Voronezh, 382 p. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/numtdh

7. Ulanov N.D., Sitnikov K.A. (2024). Professional training of militia officers in the period from 1918 to 1942 (on the example of the Voronezh region). Via in Tempore. Istoriya. Politologiya = Via In Tempore. History and Political Science, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 162-171. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/krilhw

8. Sorokina Yu.V., Sitnikov K.A. (2019). V.M. Levandovskiy as organizer of professional training of police guards of the Voronezh province. Vestnik Voronezhskogo instituta MVD Rossii = Vestnik of Voronezh Institute of the Ministry of Interior of Russia, no. 3, pp. 9-20. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/zpqcnb

9. Nikonov K.O. (2024). Comparative analysis of personnel training systems of various law enforcement structures in the Russian Empire in the XIX–XX centuries. Materialy Vserossiiskoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii «Gumanitarnye chteniya» = Proceedings of the All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference “Humanitarian Readings”. Khabarovsk, Forpost nauki Publ., pp. 16-20. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/bswcqm

10. Sadekov R.R., Mal’tseva V.R. (2024). The problems of organizing the educational process in the context of the formation of continuous professional education of law enforcement officers in Russia in the late XIX – early XX centuries. Upravlenie obrazovaniem: teoriya i praktika = Education Management Review, no. 9-1, pp. 79-89. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25726/c1841-8283-1423 , https://elibrary.ru/wuueoe

11. Migushchenko O.N. (2011). Professional training and legal education of police officers in the 20s – 30s. Rossiiskii sledovatel’ = Russian Investigator, no. 7, pp. 37-40. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/nuneop

12. Sal’nikov E.V. (2017). Training of police personnel in the Orel province in the 20s – 30s of the XX century. Materialy Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-teoreticheskoi konferentsii «Gosudarstvo i pravo: evolyutsiya, sovremennoe sostoyanie, perspektivy razvitiya» = Proceedings of the International Scientific and Theoretical Conference “State and Law: Evolution, Current State, Development Prospects”. St. Petersburg, pp. 230-233. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/ztfhpx

13. Zverkov E.A., Savitsky N.M. (2023). Educational training of militiamen of the Central Chernozem region in the early 1920s. Vestnik Tambovskogo universiteta. Seriya: Gumanitarnye nauki = Tambov University Review: Series Humanities, no. 28 (6), pp. 1553-1567. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.20310/1810-0201-2023-28-6-1553-1567 , https://elibrary.ru/jcjszx

14. Zvyagin S.P. (2022). Training of militia officers of the anti-bolshevik governments of Siberia during the civil war (1918–1919). Vestnik obshchestvennykh i gumanitarnykh nauk = Bulletin of Social and Humanitarian Sciences, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 6-12. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/qhbdye

15. Kuznetsov A.A. (2021). The establishment of professional education of police o cers in the 1920s in eastern Siberia. Pedagogicheskii Imidzh = Pedagogical Image, vol. 15, no. 4 (53), pp. 488-499. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.32342/2409-5052-2021-15-4-488-499 , https://elibrary.ru/zublnq

16. Kuznetsov D.E. (2022). The level of legal training and qualification of law enforcement authorities of Novonikolaevskaya province in the 1920s. Vestnik Altaiskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta = Bulletin of the Altai State Pedagogical University, no. 4 (53), pp. 77-82. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.37386/2413-4481-2022-4-77-82 , https://elibrary.ru/kfkwjp

17. Smirnykh V.M. (2002). Almost a Military Organization: Essays on the History of the Voronezh Militia in the 20s of the 20th Century. On the 200th Anniversary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. Voronezh, 190 p. (In Russ.)

18. Shchendrigin E.N., Bulyzhkin A.V. (2003). The Orel Militia (1917–1928): Historical and Legal Essay. Orel, 199 p. (In Russ.)

19. Fedosova S.V. (2007). On the issue of combating crime in the Kursk province in the 1920s. Sbornik trudov Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii «Pravovoe obespechenie APK v Rossii: sostoyanie, problemy i perspektivy razvitiya» = Proceedings of Scientific Papers of International Scientific and Practical Conference “Legal Support of Agriculture Complex in Russia: Status, Problems and Prospects of Development”. Kursk, Almaz Plus Publ., pp. 144-150. (In Russ.)

20. Morukov Yu.N. (2007). History of Russian Law Enforcement Agencies in Exact Dates. Moscow, 188 p. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/qxfvdb

21. Kostin Yu.V. (1996). Historical experience of fighting crime in the militia environment in the Orel province in the early 1920s. Materialy nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii «Prezidentskie vybory i puti povysheniya effektivnosti raboty organov vnutrennikh del» = Proceedings of the Scientific and Practical Conference “Presidential Elections and Ways to Improve the Efficiency of Internal Affairs Bodies”. Orel, Higher School of Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Publ., pp. 195-202. (In Russ.)