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countries. The departments in western countries are usually civil executive bodies headed by
politicians and responsible for many other tasks as well as the supervision of law enforcement.
One unique feature of policing approach in Russia is the system of territorial patronage over
citizens. Cities as well as rural settlements are divided into districts and the policeman is the main and
actually the real police force in these areas.
The duty of a policeman is to maintain close relations with the residents of his district. He is
also responsible for tackling minor offences like family violence, loud noise, residential area parking
etc.
Police personnel carry firearms, but are not permitted to carry their weapons when they are off
duty. Although women constitute a significant
proportion of police staff, they are usually not permitted
to fill positions that carry risks but they are allowed to carry firearms in self-defence. Instead, they are
widely represented among investigators,
juvenile crime inspectors, clerks etc. However, limited
attempts are being made to appoint women as traffic officers.
Another unique feature is the use of conscripted soldiers from the Internal Troops for regular
urban policing. The Internal Troops are the military force who can be assigned
to carry out simple
public security tasks like patrolling while being accompanied by professional policemen, or cordoning
large crowds at sport events, concerts and protests.
On 1 March 2011 Russian law enforcers were renamed from militia to police. Russian police
reform is an ongoing effort to improve the efficiency of Russia’s police forces and improve the public
image of law enforcement.
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