Latest Data on the
Performance of
Internal Affairs Agencies
and
Internal Troops
in 1996
Ministry of Internal Affairs - MVD
20 February 1997
Crime Factors Influencing State of Law and Order in
Russia
Basic Indicators of Crime Rate
Last year, in 1996, the main factors influencing the
state of law and order in the Russian Federation were the
same as in previous years. The level of economic and social
development, the relative physical and spiritual well-being
of citizens, and the conflict in the Chechen Republic
continued to have the greatest influence. The crime world
continued to accumulate resources and functional potential
and to become more highly organized. Within a relatively
short period of time the crime world has made the transition
from separate groups of disparate gangs to a set of
intellectually and technically secure and well-disguised
criminal communities. There were fewer cases of broad-scale
conspiracies by crime families. Exceptionally dangerous
methods and means, including acts of criminal terrorism,
were used for intimidation and for shows of strength. During
the year there were 708 reported cases of the deliberate
obliteration or destruction of objects by explosive devices.
There were 30 victims, including 13 fatalities, in just the
bombing of the Kotlyakov Cemetery in Moscow. Dozens of
people suffered death or serious injury in the ruins of a
bombed residential building in Kaspiysk in the Dagestan
Republic.
The main cause of many negative developments, including
difficulties in the fight against crime, can be found in the
sphere of economic relations. At the end of 1996 the Russian
Ministry of Internal Affairs sent the President of the
Russian Federation a special report analyzing crime factors
in the present-day Russian economy and proposing ways of
eliminating them. The main sections of the report were
printed in Nezavisimaya Gazeta and several other
publications. The main conclusion of the criminologists and
economists who compiled the document was that the state of
law and order in this sphere offers no grounds for optimism.
Criminal methods of economic management are becoming
increasingly distinct. The number of economic entities
operating illegally or failing to report or pay taxes on a
high percentage of their income is rising rapidly.
Delays and lapses in the establishment of mechanisms to
monitor and protect the new system of economic relations
from criminal infiltration contributed to the rapid rise and
qualitative transformation of economic crime. The most
dangerous types of offenses are becoming more prevalent, new
ways of committing crimes have been developed, and the
corruption of central and local government agencies has
reached menacing proportions.
Mercantile conspiracies by officials, criminal lobbying
in representative government bodies, the investment of
budget funds in commercial structures against the interests
of the state and its citizens, the establishment of spurious
businesses, the unwarranted and unprofitable transfer of
state property to the control of private individuals,
illegal foreign economic operations, and the combination of
government service with participation in commercial
enterprises and organizations have become common everywhere.
The credit and finance sphere has been damaged most by
criminal infiltration. There has been a steady rise in the
number of crimes in this sphere (a 2.5-fold increase over
the last four years). The embezzlement of funds with the aid
of forged payment documents and fraudulent bank guarantees,
illegal applications for preferential credits and the
subsequent use of this money for other than the designated
purpose, the transfer of capital to the unmonitored (shadow)
economy and foreign banks, and the "laundering" of criminal
proceeds are being practiced extensively. Huge bribes are
paid for the extension of credits, the issuance of cash, the
opening of settlement accounts, and the speedy processing of
financial documents, and the amount charged for a single
unlawful operation of this kind can run into billions of
rubles.
All of this has been accompanied by the deterioration
of the average Russian's status. The decline of production,
inadequate financing of the budget-funded sphere, and lack
of funds for social programs and protection of low-income
citizens are alienating most of the population from the
objectives of property reform and economic restructuring in
the country. There has been a growing sense of
disillusionment with life and increasing contempt for moral
standards and ethical behavior.
The marginalization of the population has not been
stopped. In fact, more and more people are becoming involved
in unlawful activities. Last year 1,618,000 people were
charged with crimes (23,000 more than in the previous year),
and 1.25 million of them were first-time offenders.
People with no permanent source of income represented
almost half of the total number (777,900). The relative
numbers of repeat offenders (22.7 percent), women (15.9
percent), and juveniles (11.9 percent) were still high.
Almost a third (28 percent) had committed the crimes in a
group acting on a common impulse.
The "transparency" of borders and the extensive
opportunities for permanent residence in Russia in the guise
of migrants and refugees have perceptibly increased the
criminal "contribution" of foreign citizens. New arrivals
from the CIS committed 30,700 crimes. Measures to deport
individuals who have violated the residence regulations for
foreign citizens are a heavy burden on the MVD budget:
These measures were taken against a total of 14,500 foreign
citizens during the year, and one out of every four had to
be escorted out of the country.
The mounting public indifference toward alcohol and
drug abuse is having a negative effect on the state of law
and order. The percentage of individuals committing crimes
under the influence of alcohol is still high (36.4 percent).
The number committing crimes under the influence of narcotic
drugs and toxic substances has increased by 15 percent.
Crime Rate and Dynamics
Total number of crimes reported
2,760,700 in 1992
2,799,600 in 1993
2,632,700 in 1994
2,755,700 in 1995
2,625,100 in 1996
2,700,000 in 1997 [estimated]
Overall crime rate per 100,000 inhabitants
1,857 in 1992
1,888 in 1993
1,779 in 1994
1,862 in 1995
1,774 in 1996
Despite the complexity and dangers of the crime
situation in the country, we have to acknowledge that the
efforts of federal and regional governing structures and law
enforcement agencies to strengthen law and order and
guarantee public safety have produced definite results. An
analysis of the overall situation in the Russian Federation
in terms of several basic indicators suggests that it is
changing for the better. The total number of reported crimes
was lower than the 1995 figure by 130,600, or by 4.7
percent. A drop in the crime rate has been reported by 61
members of the Russian Federation, with the most perceptible
reductions (from 11.1 to 18.6 percent) recorded in the
Tatarstan Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, the Chuvash
Republic, Maritime Kray, Astrakhan Oblast, the Jewish
Autonomous Oblast, Kamchatka, Leningrad, Pskov, and Ryazan
Oblasts, and the city of St. Petersburg.
In the expectation of doubts and questions about the
possible manipulation of statistics to soft-pedal the actual
crime figures, the failure to report many types of unlawful
behavior, and the number of law enforcement agencies
remaining outside the monitored sphere for various reasons,
we must underscore the reduction in the number of the most
serious types of crime, particularly the reductions of 7.2
percent in premeditated homicides, 13.5 percent in grievous
bodily injuries, and 21.5 percent in crimes committed with
the use of firearms and explosive devices. In addition to
this, there were reductions of 13.7 percent in the number of
reported robberies, 8.1 percent in muggings, and 11.7
percent in petty thefts. There was a substantial decrease of
18.7 percent in street crime as a whole and all of its
separate elements, including felonious assaults (18.9
percent). Cases of homicide and the intentional infliction
of grievous bodily injuries decreased by almost one-fourth,
and there was an average reduction of 20 percent in the
numbers of muggings, robberies, and disturbances of the
peace in public places. There was noticeable improvement in
the maintenance of law and order and the guarantee of public
safety in the passenger and freight transport network, where
the number of felonies decreased by 17 percent.
It is too early to relax our efforts, however, because
felonies are still predominant in the overall structure of
reported crimes. Although the total number was reduced by
167,000, this reduction has not alleviated the pressure of
crime because there were qualitative changes in the targets
and methods of criminal offenses and a shift toward more
dangerous types of behavior. "Contract" murders have become
even more common.
The illegal circulation of large quantities of firearms
and explosive devices is still the most destabilizing factor
contributing to the commission of particularly serious
violent crimes. More than 9,500 offenses were committed with
the use of guns during the year. The highest numbers were
recorded in the cities of Moscow (1,096) and St. Petersburg
(508) and in Moscow Oblast (372).
As far as other spheres of MVD activity are concerned,
there has been some improvement in the situation with regard
to traffic accidents. Despite the increase in the number of
vehicles on the road, particularly privately owned vehicles,
there was a decrease of 4 percent in the number of traffic
accidents and a decrease of 10.1 percent in the number of
fatalities in these accidents.
Conflicting tendencies were recorded in the fire
prevention sphere. The number of fires did not decrease
(294,800), and there was an increase in human and material
losses. Last year 15,900 people (an increase of 6.7 percent)
died in fires, and the combined material losses exceeded 1.5
trillion rubles. Most of these fires (71.3 percent) occurred
in the residential sector. The reasons for most of the fires
and the ensuing losses were connected with alcohol and drug
abuse.
The quantitative increase and growing criminal
potential of the inmates of labor camps, pretrial detention
centers, and prisons, the dilapidated state of these
facilities, the inadequate federal budget funding, and the
production and economic problems common to the whole society
are the causes of tension in institutions of the
correctional system.
Efforts of Internal Affairs Agencies and Internal Troops
of Russian MVD To Fight Crime and Strengthen Law and Order
The previously mentioned qualitative changes in the
structure of crime necessitated a search for new solutions
and active measures to counter the most dangerous forms of
criminal behavior. The strategy was based on the objectives
President B.N. Yeltsin of the Russian Federation set in his
annual message to the Federal Assembly of the Russian
Federation to protect human life and dignity, as well as
measures specified in the government-approved Federal
Program of the Russian Federation for More Intense Efforts
in the Fight Against Crime in 1996-1997.
Measures to improve the administration of the MVD
system are an important and necessary organizational
condition for the attainment of announced objectives. The
reform of the administrative staffs of the internal affairs
agencies of republic, kray, and oblast centers and the
transportation network and of regional organized crime-
fighting directorates has been completed. Their
administrators have been given broader authority and more
responsibility in making decisions connected with the
performance of fundamental law enforcement duties, crime-
fighting operations, and the provision of subordinate
subdivisions with human, material, and technical resources.
The updated Statute on the Ministry of Internal Affairs of
the Russian Federation, approved by an RF presidential edict
of 18 July 1996, clarifies the duties and functions of the
federal ministry and defines their basic aims as the
protection of human and civil rights and liberties, the
enforcement of laws, and the guarantee of public safety.
Structure of Crime
(in percentages)
crimes by officials -- 0.6 percent
crimes against individuals -- 3.6 percent
thefts -- 46.0 percent
robberies -- 4.6 percent
muggings -- 1.3 percent
business fraud -- 2.8 percent
embezzlement -- 1.5 percent
consumer fraud -- 1.1 percent
disturbances of the peace -- 6.9 percent
other crimes -- 31.6 percent
Above all, internal affairs agencies concentrated on
improving operations to stop and solve serious crimes
against individuals. The resources and methods of undercover
investigation services were updated with a view to the
additional opportunities provided by the federal law "On
Undercover Investigations and Searches." Measures were
taken to strengthen the personnel staff and improve the
professional skills of criminal investigation agencies, new
subdivisions were established to investigate criminal
bombings, thefts of weapons and explosive devices, crimes
against individuals, and other offenses, and existing
subdivisions handling these matters were reinforced.
Dynamics of
Number of Crimes Solved and
Case Clearance Rate
Number of percentage of
Crimes crimes solved
1,022,500 49.5 percent in 1991
1,217,300 46.9 percent in 1992
1,394,600 50.6 percent in 1993
1,578,100 59.6 percent in 1994
1,745,200 64.5 percent in 1995
1,843,500 70.1 percent in 1996
Stricter supervision was instituted to monitor
responses to complaints and reports of crimes and plans to
commit crimes and oversee the quality of investigative
activity and undercover operations. As a result, 1,843,500
crimes were solved, which was 98,300 more than in 1995.
Property, money, and other valuables worth 1.8 trillion
rubles were seized from criminals for the reimbursement of
material losses.
More criminal assaults on the life and health of
citizens and crimes committed with the use of firearms and
explosive devices were solved. The perpetrators of 75
percent of the premeditated homicides (22,600), 75.8 percent
of the premeditated felonious assaults, and 86.9 percent of
the rapes were apprehended. The highest case clearance rates
for crimes against individuals (87.7- 91.3 percent) were
reported by internal affairs agencies of the Altay Republic,
Bashkortostan Republic, and Amur, Bryansk, Ivanovo, Kursk,
Pskov, and Tambov Oblasts.
It is no coincidence that we focused so much attention
on the number of crimes solved, because we view the
inevitable punishment of the guilty as a decisive link in
the chain of measures to lower the crime rate and to prevent
violent crimes, theft, corruption, and the other unlawful
types of behavior accompanying the process of reform in the
Russian economy and sociopolitical structure.
The practice of conducting effective large-scale crime
prevention operations by sizable detachments of police and
internal troops continued to be developed last year.
Operations "Touring Company," "Arsenal," "Search," and
others were conducted in several parts of the country to
prevent, stop, and solve crimes, identify the channels for
the illegal circulation of certain items and substances, and
confiscate these items and substances. These operations
resulted in the clearance of around 40,000 serious criminal
cases, including more than 500 murders, 1,200 felonious
assaults, and 2,700 muggings and robberies. Agents
confiscated 34,000 weapons of various types, 380,000 pieces
of ammunition, 340 kilograms of explosives, 670 grenades and
artillery shells, 2,300 stolen vehicles, 1.6 tonnes of
illegal drugs, and money and other valuables worth over 78
billion rubles. Around 5,000 fugitives from justice were
apprehended.
In spite of the complexity and diversity of criminal
behavior in Russia, the public is particularly disturbed by
the phenomenon of organized crime. In fact, this is the most
destructive new development of our day, and it is having a
strong impact on the social, economic, and cultural
development of the country and on the state of crime in the
broad sense by involving more and more segments of the
population in illegal activities. We frequently hear that
our country is doomed to total criminalization and that
criminal gangs are becoming omnipotent. There is no question
that the danger of this form of crime requires much greater
resistance and the coordinated efforts of all government and
social institutions. The accumulated experience and
operational results of subdivisions specializing in
organized crime and other criminal police divisions
indicate, however, that the situation is not as hopeless as
it seems to the public.
A group of targeted preventive measures in the past
year stopped the criminal activities of 8,800 organized
crime gangs. Criminal charges were filed against 20,800 of
their leaders and most active members, who were involved in
the commission of 37,400 dangerous crimes, including 304
brutal gang assaults. Foreign currency amounting to 4.6
million dollars, 6,400 firearms, over 2.2 tonnes of
explosives, 313 antiques, 2,700 pieces of equipment used in
the commission of crimes, and more than 1,300 motor vehicles
were confiscated in criminal proceedings.
Structure of
Indictments for Corruption
(in percentages)
41.1 percent personnel of ministries, committees, and local structures
11.7 percent personnel of credit and finance system
8.9 percent personnel of regulatory agencies
0.8 percent deputies
26.5 percent personnel of law enforcement agencies
3.2 percent personnel of customs service
7.8 percent others
The "godfathers" of the crime world are under constant
scrutiny. Undercover operations broke up 17 "gangster
rallies" attended by 277 of the most odious members of the
crime world. The meetings were to be held for the purpose of
discussing matters connected with the division of spheres of
influence, the resolution of internal disputes, and the
"coronation" of crime bosses. Criminal charges were filed
against 31 "crime lords." Charges have been filed against
three "crime lords" and 38 other leaders of the crime world
just in the environs of the capital since the publication of
the Russian Presidential Edict "On Immediate Measures To
Strengthen Law and Order and Intensify the Fight Against
Crime in the City of Moscow and Moscow Oblast."
Stopping the activities of the gangs and groups
responsible for the criminal atmosphere in several regions
is one of the main objectives of criminal police divisions
and specialized organized crime subdivisions primarily
because each of them usually can take credit for at least 10
felonies.
Here are just a few examples.
The activities of several
gangs and groups operating primarily within the territory of
Voronezh Oblast and in Russia's southern regions were
stopped. One of them was suspected of committing 58
felonies, including three murders and two attempted murders,
15 home invasions, two carjackings, and 35 vehicle thefts.
Twenty active members of one group were arrested. Rifled
handguns, grenades, ammunition, and 16 stolen vehicles were
seized from the criminals. Another operation neutralized a
group in the same location (21 members were arrested), which
has been credited with over 50 crimes, including three
murders, 17 muggings, and more than 20 vehicle thefts.
Firearms, grenades, and 13 stolen vehicles were confiscated.
The investigators of a criminal case against another 20-
member gang found evidence of the involvement of its members
in the commission of more than 40 murders, thefts, and
muggings.
Five members of a criminal gang committing crimes
wearing police uniforms were arrested in Ryazan Oblast. They
had committed six robberies and assaults on drivers of
freight vehicles. Rifled handguns, ammunition, the uniform
and badge of a GAI [State Motor Vehicle Inspection] officer,
several sets of special service camouflage uniforms, three
radio transceivers, and counterfeit vehicle license plates
were confiscated from the arrested criminals.
Five members of an organized crime gang responsible for
the murders of four citizens were identified in Samara
Oblast. All of them were arrested. The arresting officers
confiscated 18 pieces of combat weaponry, including eight
assault rifles, and 18 grenades from them.
Agents neutralized an organized crime ring in
Sverdlovsk Oblast which had committed 15 homicides,
including the murders of three police officers, and eight
armed robberies of commercial stores in the city of
Yekaterinburg. They arrested 38 individuals. The criminals
resisted arrest, wounding three policemen, one of whom later
died.
In Perm Oblast 16 members of a crime ring responsible
for 52 crimes, including three murders and 45 thefts, were
arrested.
Broad-scale preventive operations were conducted on the
country's main highways to ensure the safety of freight and
passenger transport. Agents stopped the activities of an
armed gang in Moscow Oblast with 10 active members
assaulting the drivers of inter-urban delivery vehicles.
They also neutralized several similar gangs which had been
active for a long time on the highways between Moscow and
Minsk, Moscow and Nizhniy Novgorod, and Barnaul and
Novosibirsk and in Vladimir, Tver, Smolensk, and some other
oblasts.
There was a special emphasis on blocking the channels
for the illegal circulation of weapons, ammunition, and
explosives. Agents identified 27 organized crime gangs that
had specialized in this illegal business for a long time.
They confiscated 3,900 firearms, 91 grenade launchers, and
1,500 grenades from the members.
Zones of military operations still served as one of the
sources of weapons delivered to criminal gangs. More than
5,000 firearms were removed from illegal circulation in the
North Caucasus. An even more impressive number is smuggled
into the country from states of the "near abroad,"
particularly the Baltic countries. Internal affairs agencies
of Leningrad and Pskov Oblasts prevented the smuggling of
more than 7,000 weapons. Regional organized crime
directorates stopped contraband imports of large shipments
of weapons across Russia's border with Latvia and Estonia
and confiscated 1,600 Tokarev Tula pistols.
Much of this "merchandise" is put into illegal
circulation by "underground gunsmiths." Undercover searches
and preventive operations conducted directly on the grounds
of enterprises producing arms led to the discovery of 224
crimes connected with the theft and illegal circulation of
weapons and stopped the activities of nine crime rings. In
particular, one gang in Izhevsk had been stealing components
for several years. A search turned up 19 complete sets of
components for the Kalashnikov assault rifle.
The continued development of private detective and
security services (at this time there are more than 9,600
registered security and investigative enterprises with more
than 112,000 employees) has increased the quantity of
weapons in the possession of citizens considerably. Over
55,000 firearms and gas guns are being used legally just in
the sphere of security and investigative services. This has
given internal affairs agencies several new responsibilities
connected with the oversight of, first of all, the
safekeeping of legally issued weapons and special equipment
and, second, the legal use of this equipment by security
guards.
Inspections of operating conditions in private
detective and guard service enterprises and security
services revealed that 620 of these enterprises and more
than 2,800 physical persons were performing investigative
and guard services and training private security guards and
detectives without any license or registration. They
confiscated more than 4,800 firearms, around 1,000 gas guns
and revolvers, 73,000 pieces of ammunition, 76 grenades, and
74 stun guns which were being used illegally. They also
discovered hundreds of cases of the use of prohibited
equipment and devices for radio and telephone
communications, listening devices, and stationary and mobile
radio transceivers.
These violations resulted in the revocation of 336
licenses, the suspension of the activities of 138 security
services, the issuance of 1,300 official warnings to the
administrators of guard and investigative enterprises which
had violated the laws on private detective and security
guard services, the collection of fines from 544
individuals, and the institution of criminal proceedings in
32 cases.
A national comprehensive arms inventory included
inspections of more than 30,000 elements of the licensing
system, enterprises, stores selling weapons, sports and
hunting clubs, and private security services, over 1.3
million individual owners of weapons, and 1,300 facilities
for the storage of explosives. Violations discovered during
these inspections resulted in administrative penalties for
more than 37,000 officials, the institution of criminal
proceedings in 3,500 cases, and the confiscation of 12,800
weapons, including 2,600 rifled guns. These inspections and
other measures helped to reduce the number of crimes
committed with the use of weapons and explosives by 20.7
percent.
"Contract" murders have been a sore spot in recent
years in evaluations of the performance of internal affairs
agencies. Law enforcement agencies are frequently criticized
for the lack of perceptible progress in the search for the
hired killers of prominent journalists, businessmen, and
public figures and for the people who hire them. We cannot
deny the fact that undercover agents of the MVD and the law
enforcement system as a whole are still accumulating
experience in solving these crimes. Last year there were 580
reported homicides that appeared to be contract murders.
Only 70 were solved during the year. In particular, the
organizer, perpetrator, and accomplices in the murder of
General Director V.A. Smirnov of the experimental design
office of the Kalinin Plant in Yekaterinburg were arrested.
We have to admit, however, that contract killings are
the most difficult of all violent crimes to solve, primarily
because they are usually committed by highly professional
"experts" in an atmosphere of deep secrecy. The client and
the perpetrator often do not know each other, and the chain
of middlemen between them can require considerable time and
effort to "decipher." Obviously, the public and the friends
and relatives of victims want criminals to be caught as soon
as possible, but their interrelations with law enforcement
officers are not always distinguished by trust and
frankness.
An interdepartmental program is being carried out at
this time to intensify the fight against serial crimes
against persons and contract murders. Within the framework
of this program, coordinated measures are being taken for
the investigation of the most highly publicized crimes of
recent years.
Internal affairs agencies have been more active in
stopping the violent crimes accompanying the process of
residential privatization. Highly organized crime rings are
active in the real estate market. The personnel of housing
offices, passport desks, and notary public offices often
serve as their accomplices. Agents arrested four members of
a gang in Moscow which had resorted to murder, extortion,
and fraud for the illegal appropriation of dwellings. The
gang members took over 150 dwellings in this manner. During
the investigation the criminals were also implicated in the
murder of the president of a commercial finance company, as
a result of which they took possession of the deeds to 29
residences and 2.5 million dollars.
A gang of 14 was broken up in St. Petersburg after the
members had committed 16 murders for the appropriation of
privatized housing. Agents in Chelyabinsk Oblast neutralized
a gang of 29 who had killed 15 people for similar reasons.
Gangs of this kind were also identified and neutralized in
Vladivostok, Samara, Novgorod, St. Petersburg, and Omsk, in
Kaliningrad Oblast, and in other regions.
Property crimes constitute three-fourths of all crimes,
and the overwhelming majority of these are thefts. These
crimes represented the highest percentages of the total in
Mordvinia (89 percent), Bryansk Oblast (85 percent), Ivanovo
Oblast (84 percent), Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast (85 percent),
and Tver Oblast (87 percent).
Crude resources and metals have been the object of
constant and growing interest to criminals because their
sale on the "black market" produces a high income. In
Murmansk Oblast nine members of a crime ring were arrested
for stealing 500 million rubles worth of nickel from the
Severonikel Combine. All the stolen metal was recovered. Two
local inhabitants were apprehended and arrested in the same
place for the theft of 32 reels of copper coil worth $340
million from the grounds of the Pechenganikel Combine. In
Stavropol Kray three people were arrested after they had
stolen raw materials and goods worth more than a billion
rubles from the warehouse of a closed joint-stock company.
The inspection of potential targets of crime for the
purpose of discovering and eliminating the factors
contributing to the commission of crimes is an effective
precautionary measure. In particular, this was the reason
for the inventory of storage facilities for strategic raw
materials and precious metals and stones, safes and vaults
for the safekeeping of money, sites for the production and
storage of commodity stocks, and facilities of the Russian
Savings Bank, the RF Committee for Precious Metals and
Precious Stones, and the defense branches of industry. All
of them were guarded by the police or by internal troops of
the Russian MVD and some were equipped with additional alarm
systems. These measures reduced the number of thefts from
these facilities, and they even prevented all thefts in the
Bashkortostan Republic, Maritime Kray, and Irkutsk, Tula,
and several other oblasts.
Crimes in Transportation Network
116,400 in 1992
113,400 in 1993
80,400 in 1994
67,500 in 1995
64,700 in 1996
The public's unwavering interest in acquiring private
vehicles and the sometimes unaffordable prices in the legal
market have led to the existence and development of an
underground trade in vehicles, consisting mainly of stolen
cars. This is the reason for the high rate of vehicle theft.
In half of the regions there were more reported vehicle
thefts last year than in the previous year, and the
clearance rate of these crimes in Russia as a whole was only
15.6 percent. These crimes are difficult to solve because
stolen vehicles usually undergo quick modifications that
eliminate the identifying features reported by the victims
of theft. Agents in Moscow stopped the activities of an
established criminal gang with four members suspected of
committing 22 muggings and thefts. They were using three
stolen vehicles when they were arrested. Further
investigation in Volgograd Oblast led to the identification
and arrest of their accomplices--five men from Chechnya who
were leasing and selling the stolen cars. Agents confiscated
six stolen vehicles with altered serial numbers.
Residential burglaries are the most common crime, and
more than half are never solved. During the year 268,000 of
these incidents were reported. One effective way of
preventing these crimes is the use of security systems. At
this time 580,000 residences are equipped with alarms. These
systems are highly reliable (92 of every 93 attempted thefts
in homes guarded by extradepartmental security services are
prevented).
The prevention of burglary also depends largely on the
citizens themselves. That is why the police are
concentrating on explanatory work with the population, the
organization of guard duty at the entrances to buildings,
the technical fortification of residences, the installation
of alarms in apartments and houses, and the reinforcement of
doors and windows. The guarding of the lobbies of 4,200
residential buildings by tenants and the installation of
alarms in 158,200 apartments reduced the number of thefts by
17.5 percent in the capital.
The development of collective flower and vegetable
gardening and private subsidiary farming has increased the
number of thefts from houses and other structures on
subsidiary lots. The Internal Affairs Ministry of the
Tatarstan Republic and the internal affairs directorates of
Astrakhan, Vologda, Kemerovo, and some other oblasts set up
subdivisions to guard the property of vacation and gardening
societies. The result in the Tatarstan Republic, for
example, was the reduction of crimes in the gardens by
almost half and a rise in the clearance rate of reported
thefts to 75.6 percent. Large gardening societies now have
territorial police stations, and local budget funds are used
to retain precinct police inspectors on a permanent basis.
The contributions of enterprises and private donations from
society members are being used to pay for patrols of more
than 500 of the 1,700 gardening societies in Krasnodar Kray.
Russia's rich historical and cultural heritage has
always aroused the interest of genuine connoisseurs and
experts and of those seeking a high income, because national
cultural treasures are still one of the most reliable
currencies in the world. Internal affairs agencies have
taken several measures to prevent the theft and export of
national cultural treasures. The preservation of items of
historical and cultural value has necessitated interaction
with state agencies of the Russian Federation--the Ministry
of Culture, the Federal Border Service, and the State
Customs Committee--and also with the Moscow Patriarchate and
several other religions. The Russian Federation Government
has received reports on the state of icons and other
religious objects and on the real property used by religious
organizations, as well as proposals on the prevention of
their theft.
Last year there were 3,100 reported thefts of antiques.
Agents managed to solve 1,400 of the crimes of this
category. There was extensive coverage in the press of the
success of Moscow criminal investigators in identifying the
individuals who had stolen 200 rare items from the State
Public Historical Library with an estimated value of $2
million. They solved the case of the theft of a unique
private collection of orders, medals, and badges spanning
the 17th- 20th centuries, with an appraised value exceeding
several million dollars, as well as 170 items from the
Kutuzov Museum which had been stolen in August 1995. They
caught a representative of the consul general of a foreign
state in St. Petersburg in the act of taking antiques worth
26 million rubles out of the country. There are also many
other examples of the productive work of these services in
solving cases involving the theft of unique cultural
treasures from private and state collections.
A search organized by the National Central Bureau of
Interpol in Russia stopped the attempt to sell four
paintings and six icons in major auction houses in London
after they were identified as stolen Russian artworks.
The problem of protecting our national cultural
heritage is exceptionally acute, however. Extradepartmental
security services are guarding 4,600 cultural facilities,
including 3,300 museums, galleries, and libraries, around
750 archives, and 451 places of religious worship. In 1996
only 66 facilities were added to the list of locations under
official protection. This is certainly not enough, but the
expansion of services in this sphere has been limited by the
shortage of federal budget funds.
Despite the efforts of law enforcement agencies and
other state agencies to counter the illegal drug trade,
Russia still attracts drug dealers because of its vast
dimensions and the "transparent borders" enabling them to
choose new routes constantly for the drug traffic within the
country and from abroad. The high number of qualified
experts without jobs or salaries, and the large quantity of
unused high-technology resources and equipment are
encouraging the investment of intellectual and industrial
potential in the development of new synthetic drugs.
The Russian MVD predicted this turn of events and made
preparations for the expansion of the drug trade in our
country. Specialized subdivisions were set up to combat the
illegal drug traffic. The process of setting up the whole
vertical structure of these subdivisions--from the federal
ministry to the internal affairs ministries, main
directorates, and directorates of RF members--was
essentially completed last year and their staffs were
augmented.
The prevention of drug-related crimes was also more
productive last year. In all, agents stopped 96,700 of these
crimes, or 21 percent more than in the previous year,
including 20,000 crimes (an increase of 73.4 percent)
connected with the sale of narcotic plant products. Stronger
preventive measures and stricter storage regulations for
narcotic substances reduced the number of thefts from
storage facilities.
During the broad-scale preventive Operation "Poppy,"
28,000 illegal narcotic plantations were discovered, the
plants on 3,000 hectares were destroyed, more than 24,000
citizens were charged with drug-related crimes, including
3,900 sellers and 6,800 people who were transporting illegal
drugs, and 20 tonnes of narcotics and the raw materials for
their production were confiscated. Operation "Doping"
included inspections of 20,400 facilities for the
production, storage, and sale of manufactured narcotic drugs
and medicines and revealed 9,000 crimes connected with the
illegal traffic in narcotic drugs and virulent substances.
Shipments from abroad are still the main source of the
drug traffic in Russia. Immigrants from the African
continent, the countries of the "Golden Crescent," and South
America are highly active in this field. Agents arrested 49
citizens of Nigeria for the sale and storage of illegal
drugs and confiscated more than a kilogram of heroin worth
over $170,000 from them. A series of undercover operations
in October and November exposed crime rings consisting of
citizens of Zaire, Nigeria, and Afghanistan who were active
in heroin smuggling. Arresting officers confiscated two
kilograms of heroin worth $340,000 from them.
Drug dealers have been more active in the drug traffic
between East Asia and Russia. Four citizens of the DPRK were
detained on a train traveling from Khabarovsk to Moscow.
They were carrying 2,200 ampules of morphine and other hard
drugs. Russia's neighbors in the near abroad are drawn to
the Russian market as much as their counterparts in distant
foreign countries. Agents confiscated more than a tonne of
hashish and poppy straw from drug couriers from Moldova and
Ukraine.
We realize that the measures internal affairs agencies
have taken so far are not commensurate with the invasive
illegal traffic in large quantities of drugs, and we will be
intensifying the fight against this criminal trade because
its inherent dangers can jeopardize the whole society. We
hope that all law enforcement structures fighting against
the expansion of the drug trade in Russia will receive the
necessary legal and financial support in time.
The Russian MVD's organizational and practical measures
to intensify the investigation of criminal cases in the
economic sphere took the form of comprehensive operations in
the most crime-ridden branches and certain locations and
coordinated interaction with other law enforcement and
regulatory agencies in solving specific crimes.
In all, 239,400 economic crimes were reported during
the year (27,600 more than in 1995), and 57,900 were
classified as felonies. There were 30,000 crimes resulting
in losses in large and particularly large amounts (an
increase of 36.4 percent). The rate of larceny in the sphere
of financial and economic operations rose by 16 percent, and
the rate of grand larceny rose by more than one- fourth (28
percent). The number of economic crimes resulting in
criminal trials (79,300) increased by a third, and the
number of individuals convicted of crimes (51,600) increased
by one-fourth.
Thorough undercover investigations revealed cases of
larceny and grand larceny in the banking system and in state
and nonstate insurance and pension funds. The vice president
and broker of one firm, for example, were caught in an
attempt to negotiate forged Savings Bank drafts for more
than $2.5 million. There was also an attempt to distribute
fraudulent Russian Savings Bank bills of exchange in the
secondary securities market for over $240 million.
The increase in cases of the improper use of budget
funds necessitated special operations to document and stop
these incidents. The employees of a bank and commercial
structure in Moscow were arrested after they used the
settlement account of a fictitious firm to appropriate 12.5
billion rubles allocated for Russian regional development. A
criminal case is being investigated in Vologda Oblast at
this time in connection with the improper use of 21.7
billion rubles in federal budget allocations for grain
purchases. The theft of a billion rubles from the Social
Welfare Fund was discovered in Voronezh Oblast. The fund
administrators exaggerated the amount of required
construction and repairs in work estimates and then pocketed
the additional budget resources. They were also implicated
in the theft of allocated building materials.
The need to curb corruption in government is still an
urgent problem, and its resolution will depend directly on
the effectiveness of the struggle against crimes by
officials and bribery. In all, 14,800 crimes by officials
were reported, and 5,500 were cases of bribery. Cases of
bribes in large and particularly large amounts increased by
almost one-fourth. Around 2,900 bribery cases were sent to
the criminal courts (an increase of 28.1 percent).
There were numerous abuses in the expenditure of
targeted budget funds by officials of the Federal Food
Corporation of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture. Part of
the money--1.8 trillion rubles-- was returned to the state.
This case is still being reviewed by the Russian Federation
Procuracy General.
A criminal case involving 19 officials of the capital
construction office of the Voronezh municipal administration
is under investigation at this time. They are suspected of
taking more than 100 bribes for a total of around 800
million rubles in exchange for over 70 dwellings from the
state housing supply. There is evidence that the defendants
had connections with organized crime.
The level of criminal activity by officials is
particularly high in the privatization sphere, where more
than 1,700 crimes were reported. Corruption is most common
in territorial property management agencies and the funds
directly responsible for the implementation of the
privatization program. Officials of these and other state
agencies in Moscow, in Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Tula, and Samara
Oblasts, in Stavropol Kray, and in other regions have been
charged with taking bribes and committing other abuses of
office.
The administrators of a commercial bank in Moscow were
charged with fraud after they embezzled tens of billions of
rubles belonging to the Russian Federal Property Fund and
intended to finance various operations in the market for
stock in enterprises slated for privatization.
We believe that there should be no zone above suspicion
in the fight against corruption. The personnel of internal
affairs agencies, the courts, and the procuracy, deputies on
all levels, and the employees of state and commercial
structures should be equally accountable before the law. Law
enforcement agencies are still encountering obstacles,
however, in the form of immunity, commercial secrets, etc.
The Russian budget is losing large amounts of revenue
as a result of illegal transactions with foreign currency,
which are still rising in number. Agents discovered more
than 11,300 illegal transactions with forex assets,
including 1,600 involving particularly large amounts of
money (an increase of 32.1 percent). The amount of precious
metals removed from unlawful circulation increased by one-
fourth and included 477 kilograms of gold, 573 kilograms of
silver, 45 kilograms of platinum, 21 kilograms of rare-
earth metals of the platinum group, and 10,000 carats of
precious stones. The economic impact of these measures
exceeded 100 billion rubles.
Structure of Street Crime
(in 1996, in percentages)
robberies -- 22.9 percent
petty thefts -- 30.2 percent
disturbances of the peace -- 17.8 percent
premeditated felonious assaults -- 4 percent
muggings -- 3.3 percent
premeditated homicides -- 1.4 percent
rapes -- 0.4 percent
others -- 20 percent
The amount of valuable assets in illegal circulation is
impressive. Agents confiscated 61 kilograms of gold and
jewelry worth more than 4 billion rubles from the
administrators of a commercial structure selling illegally
acquired gold in the cities of Moscow and Kostroma and in
Moscow Oblast. An unemployed inhabitant of Moscow was
charged with attempting an illegal transaction with forex
assets when he tried to sell 20 carats of diamonds for
$20,000.
Large quantities of raw materials containing precious
metals enter the underground market via industrial
enterprises using these materials in production. Criminals
used technological deviations and the falsification of
inventory records for the accumulation and subsequent theft
of metal. This is what happened at a plant in Ryazan Oblast,
where an undercover investigation prevented the theft of 12
kilograms of industrial platinum (in the form of heavy
concentrate) worth 655.4 million rubles.
Measures taken in recent years have reduced the amount
of counterfeit money. Nevertheless, counterfeit domestic
banknotes, foreign currency, and state securities are still
being circulated. Last year there were 8,700 reported cases
of this. According to preliminary data, the prevented losses
amounted to around 1.5 billion rubles. Around 24,000
counterfeit Bank of Russia notes and almost 5,000
counterfeit foreign bills were taken out of circulation.
A citizen carrying 163 counterfeit bills with a face
value of 50,000 rubles was arrested in Tambov Oblast. Later
his "place of business"--a printing press--was also
discovered along with another 100 counterfeit banknotes.
Our domestic "experts" are not the only ones
specializing in the counterfeiting of Russian currency. Many
of the counterfeit bills come from abroad. Two Polish
citizens with 5,300 counterfeit 50,000-ruble bills from the
Bank of Russia were arrested in Warsaw in summer 1996.
Subsequent undercover operations and investigations of two
printing companies by Polish police officers led to the
confiscation of a printing press and several dozen plates.
Several operations were conducted to prevent the
unlawful export of nonferrous and rare-earth metals,
petroleum products, timber, and other strategic materials
and crude resources. The operations were targeted to
identify and block the channels for the transfer of the
resources, identify the individuals involved, and confiscate
the stolen property. They resulted in the prevention of the
illegal export of more than 5,000 tonnes of various metals,
15,000 tonnes of oil and petroleum products, and around
30,000 cubic meters of timber and wood products with a
combined value of close to 200 billion rubles.
Organized gangs in Moscow and Irkutsk used forged
documents of the Angarsk Petrochemical Company to control
the assets of a foreign firm worth $4.6 million and obtain
18,000 tonnes of petroleum products for export.
Criminal elements in the consumer market, where one out
of every three reported economic crimes was committed, are
still under the constant scrutiny of internal affairs
agencies. During the year agents discovered more than 1,700
cases of the production and sale of goods not meeting safety
requirements, over 29,000 cases of consumer fraud,
overcharging and overweighing, more than 5,600 cases of
illegal trade, and tens of thousands of thefts.
Few of the 346,000 audited trade organizations were
operating according to established regulations. There were
almost 120,000 offenders, fines were imposed on 116,200
physical and legal persons, and over 7,700 enterprises lost
their licenses to sell alcohol and tobacco products.
The retail sale of illegally bottled alcohol is a
particularly urgent problem. The illegal activities of
almost 2,000 underground shops producing alcoholic beverages
were discovered and stopped. This exceptionally lucrative
field of production is not diminishing. The production is
now being conducted on an industrial basis and the
underground production units are expanding. An illegal plant
bottling the Agdam brand of wines was discovered in Maritime
Kray, for example. Agents confiscated more than a billion
rubles' worth of alcohol unfit for sale. More than 200,000
decaliters of alcohol produced without a license were
discovered at an enterprise in Kurgan Oblast. The unreported
income exceeded 16 billion rubles.
Entrepreneurship in the consumer market often serves as
a "screen" for the manipulation of hidden profits. In
particular, this is done by using the procedure of false
exports of alcohol products, in which an enterprise
concludes fictitious contracts with foreign firms to avoid
the payment of excise taxes and then sells the alcohol in
the domestic market. The amount of unpaid revenue in one
criminal case in Ryazan Oblast was 10 billion rubles, and
the state lost 70 billion rubles in another case.
Illegal business transactions involving particularly
large amounts of money are being investigated in the
criminal case against the administrators of a limited
partnership in Moscow. They received a license to sell up to
60,000 liters of vodka a year in 1995, but they actually
sold 10 times as much, and the unreported income exceeded
1.1 billion rubles.
One of the most "popular" types of economic crime is
fraud. In terms of percentages, it (13.4 percent) is
surpassed only by property theft (16 percent). The reasons
for its "success" are the inadequate legal knowledge of
participants in civil-legal transactions, the excessive and
unwarranted trust of the victims, and the unscrupulous
behavior of individuals with access to cash conversion
services.
Criminal proceedings were instituted in Tyumen Oblast
against the founder of a limited partnership who took over
the duties of the firm director and concluded several credit
agreements with various commercial organizations. She would
then convert the credits to cash and use the money for her
own needs, making no effort to repay the loans. The total
losses exceeded 1.2 billion rubles.
In the Bashkortostan Republic the criminal activity of
11 organized gangs of con men with interregional ties was
stopped. The arrested leader of one gang, a resident of
Odessa, had stolen various types of physical valuables worth
a billion rubles from state and commercial structures using
the forged documents of a fictitious firm he had created. A
search of his premises turned up 27 stamps of institutions
and enterprises of varying property status, stolen
passports, and combat weapons.
The broad-scale comprehensive operation "Harvest" was
conducted in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies
to guarantee the safety of agricultural products during
harvesting, transport, storage, and processing for the
purpose of preventing and stopping crime in the agro-
industrial complex. More than 20,000 economic crimes were
reported in this sector of the economy during the year.
Operation "Fishing Season" led to the detection of
around 4,000 crimes connected with the theft and illegal
circulation of fish and shellfish, and one out of every two
was committed by a group. Around 6,000 people were charged
with crimes. The stolen products were confiscated: 108.5
tonnes of caviar, including 8.2 tonnes of sturgeon caviar,
1,200 tonnes of valuable types of fish, including 200 tonnes
of sturgeon, and 412 tonnes of shellfish. The production of
caviar, smoked sturgeon, and other products was stopped in
34 underground shops. Administrative penalties were imposed
on more than 33,000 offenders. Their combined fines amounted
to 4.8 billion rubles. The unlawful use of more than 1,200
boats and 526 kilometers of nets was stopped. The economic
impact of this operation exceeded 100 billion rubles.
The investigators of internal affairs agencies have a
heavy workload. The main reasons are the shortage of
personnel and the increasing complexity of the cases they
handle. In spite of this, investigative subdivisions managed
to keep up with the colossal volume of work in 1996. More
criminal cases were investigated and sent to the courts (an
increase of 2.2 percent). Some indicators of procedural
quality improved: The number of investigations completed
after the expiration of the statute of limitations
decreased, and so did the number of cases returned for
additional investigation. More intense efforts to identify
and apprehend offenders reduced the number of suspended
cases by 16.4 percent.
Rate of Street
Crimes
number committed each year
303,600 in 1992
333,700 in 1993
283,100 in 1994
269,500 in 1995
219,200 in 1996
Measures to relieve investigators of the need to handle
minor infractions focused the efforts of qualified experts
on serious crimes committed by organized gangs, crimes
connected with corruption, broad-scale financial intrigues,
embezzlement and malfeasance, and indications of
racketeering.
Several cases with unequivocal and frequently turbulent
public reactions were investigated and sent to the courts by
the organized crime division of the Investigative Committee
of the Russian MVD. This was true, in particular, of the
case of the high-level Central Bank officials who were
accused of taking huge bribes. Sitdikov, the head of the
central operations office of the Russian Central Bank, his
deputies Turova, Popruga, and Martynov, and former
Soyuzprofbank chairman of the board Letunov were sentenced
to lengthy prison terms and the confiscation of property for
organizing and taking several bribes in large amounts and
for violating the rules of operations with foreign currency.
Criminal activity is becoming more extensive, crossing
geographic and sociopolitical boundaries. Many cases,
particularly those connected with the activities of
interregional and international crime rings, could not have
been solved without close cooperation with other state
structures. In particular, in cases of crimes connected with
the drug trade, several undercover operations and
investigations were conducted in conjunction with the State
Customs Committee, resulting in the confiscation of illegal
drugs worth more than 11 billion rubles in "black market"
prices.
Criminology subdivisions have been more active in the
investigation of crimes. They have mastered new types of
expert analyses--bomb detection, voice and genetic
identification, and others. The use of automation equipment
(more than 60 percent of the Internal Affairs Ministries,
main directorates, and directorates have automated
fingerprint identification systems) and computers has
reduced the amount of time required for expert analyses and
research by 20-30 percent.
Whereas the work of the investigator, the undercover
agent, and the criminologist is not seen by outsiders, the
activities of vehicle inspectors, postal inspectors,
precinct police inspectors, and many other officers of
public safety divisions (the local police) are conducted in
public. They are the first to respond to reports of possible
criminal activity in the streets and in public places and to
the requests of citizens for assistance. Public opinion
regarding the thousands of personnel of internal affairs
agencies often depends on the way in which they perform
their duties, on their ability to make a good impression
instead of insulting people with their indifference,
arrogance, boorishness, or authoritarian behavior.
Most of this staff is supported by local budgets. The
shortage of funds in several regions, however, has virtually
suspended the hiring of new personnel. The number of public
safety police officers in Russia is equivalent to only 72.5
percent of the average required number, and the number of
patrolmen is equivalent to only 68.5 percent. Furthermore,
the number does not exceed 30 percent in the Altay Republic
and in Tomsk and Chita Oblasts.
Law and order in the streets and in public places are
secured by more than 2,000 tactical squads of patrolmen. The
improvement of organizational forms of police work and the
stronger supervision of this work have led to the
identification of the perpetrators of 123,300 crimes,
including 52,800 felonies, 3,400 homicides and felonious
assaults, 11,300 thefts and muggings, and 10,600 drug-
related crimes.
The institution of regular police patrols is an
effective means of monitoring the situation in potential
locations of crime, in locations frequented by large groups
of citizens, on the sites of new construction projects, and
in remote neighborhoods. Last year the number of these
patrols was increased to 700. The preliminary results of an
experiment with patrol precincts headed by a precinct
inspector have been encouraging. Representatives of
different police services work under his supervision. This
results in a more professional and effective response to
critical situations in the region served. The officers of
these details solve most street crimes as soon as they
occur.
Precinct police inspectors are instrumental in solving
crimes. They identified the perpetrators of 436,100 crimes.
The prevention of criminal acts and other offenses is
another important element of the precinct inspector's
professional duties. The preventive work of the police
focuses simultaneously on two targets: certain groups prone
to criminal behavior and the causes and factors contributing
to violations of the law.
The number of repeat offenders rises each year and is a
matter of particular concern to the precinct inspector. His
legal methods of regulating the lifestyle of individuals
released from detention facilities are constantly dwindling,
however. The absence of reliable social guarantees and the
virtually insoluble job and housing shortages have
complicated the process of resocializing this category of
citizens.
The prevention of juvenile delinquency has always been
a crucial part of police work. The total number of crimes
committed by juveniles decreased by 6,900 last year, and
this tendency was recorded in more than half of the Russian
regions. Almost 80 percent of the crimes committed by
juveniles, however, are felonies. Juvenile delinquency is
still an exceptionally dangerous phenomenon.
That is why the Russian MVD put several regions with
the highest rates of juvenile delinquency under special
supervision. A comprehensive interdepartmental preventive
measure, Operation "Juvenile," was conducted with
consideration for past experience. Special preventive
counseling has been offered to 56,000 juveniles, 16,000
parents, and 8,700 juvenile gangs regularly exhibiting
unlawful behavior.
One of the most crucial problems is the number of
neglected and unsupervised children, primarily because these
children are seen as new recruits for the crime world due to
their lack of care and protection. Many of the leaders of
territorial elements of the Russian Federation have
responded to this situation with understanding and are
trying to solve at least part of the problem by organizing
leisure activities for juveniles. In spite of its economic
difficulties, the network of children's associations and
recreation centers in the Tatarstan Republic is operating
effectively. There are 34 clubs and 260 informal
organizations and discussion groups just in Naberezhnyye
Chelny. Almost 9,000 juveniles attend these gatherings, and
more than 800 of them are enrolled in the special police
counseling programs. They can use the services of the
"Trust" social center and a psychological help line. Similar
associations also exist in Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, Almetyevsk,
and Zelenodolsk.
The Russian MVD, just as other state agencies and
public organizations concerned about child welfare,
associates certain expectations with work on the federal
targeted program for the "prevention of juvenile neglect and
delinquency."
Special police squads made their contribution to the
fight against crime. During the year they conducted 38,000
preventive measures, detained more than 14,100 criminals,
and identified more than 544,600 violators of administrative
laws. These subdivisions experienced their heaviest workload
during the period of hostilities in the Chechen Republic.
Recently the personnel of the special police squads
have been enlisted more frequently for special operations to
stop acts of terrorism and the activities of armed criminal
gangs, to free hostages, and to confiscate illegally stored
weapons, ammunition, explosives, and drugs. These forces
regularly cover the actions of task forces of the criminal
police and other services to stop felonies in progress,
participate in regional and interregional preventive
operations, and serve with police patrolmen and highway
patrolmen of the GAI on 24-hour guard duty in public places,
in locations with a high crime rate, on major highways, and
in transportation hubs.
Last year some necessary measures were taken to enforce
new regulations in the sphere of traffic safety, state
vehicle inspectors played a more important role in the
maintenance of law and order and the fight against crime,
and additional measures were taken to reinforce discipline
and legality in the actions of law enforcement personnel.
As a result, the rate of traffic accidents was
stabilized to some degree. The main indicators of highway
safety suggest the continuation of the tendency toward a
lower accident rate recorded in the last five years. The
number of traffic accidents decreased by 4 percent, the
number of people killed in accidents decreased by 10.1
percent, and the number injured in accidents decreased by 3
percent. There was a reduction of 2.3 percent in the number
of child and teenage victims. The persistent efforts of
thousands of GAI personnel can be discerned behind these
colorless statistics.
The report on their work could have been more
optimistic if drivers had realized their role and
responsibility in the maintenance of traffic safety. The
indifference of drivers to traffic regulations and the
absence of mutual respect and mutual understanding among
these drivers are the main reasons that the overall accident
rate is still so high. Furthermore, the number of accidents
and the number of fatalities and injuries rose dramatically
in some regions (in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, in
Murmansk, Penza, and Smolensk Oblasts, and in the Taymyr
Autonomous Okrug). The proportional number of accidents
caused by violations of traffic regulations by drivers (75.2
percent), including those driving under the influence of
alcohol (23.1 percent), is an indication of the area in
which the GAI could institute stricter control to ensure
public safety.
Clearance Rate for Different Types of Crimes
[table data]
Crimes --1991--1992--1993--1994--1995--1996
Premeditated homicide
including attempted homicide) --85.6--81.4--76.8--74.7--73.5--75.0
Felonious assault --70.5--67.0--66.0--69.7--72.2--75.8
Rape (including attempted rape) --85.2--81.8--81.5--84.0--84.8--86.9
Larceny --28.3--28.8--34.0--41.9--46.6--51.6
Robbery --37.9--36.8--36.6--42.2--45.9--51.3
Mugging --59.9--54.4--52.9--56.5--57.5--62.8
Fraud --61.4--59.9--76.4--74.3--73.7--77.3
The GAI was more active in the fight against crime. It
opened 134 police checkpoints equipped with automated
vehicle information systems. During the year the personnel
of these stations inspected around 12 million vehicles. They
discovered more than 5,000 vehicles that had been used in
the commission of crimes, around 4,000 stolen vehicles, and
more than 500 drivers who had left the scene of an accident.
They stopped 1,500 incidents of the illegal transport of
drugs, 500 vehicles carrying firearms, 700 carrying
ammunition, and around 10,000 with fraudulent documents.
They detained more than 9,200 citizens for the commission of
crimes and imposed fines on 400,000 offenders.
In all, the personnel of the GAI solved more than
57,000 crimes during the year, including more than 8,000
thefts, 1,500 muggings and robberies, and 2,400 crimes
connected with the illegal traffic in drugs. They found more
than 36,000 vehicles wanted by the authorities, including
16,000 stolen vehicles, during the year.
The institution of new types of registration documents,
new procedures for their distribution and processing, and a
new system to check the status of vehicles, and the more
extensive practice of special undercover operations reduced
the number of crimes connected with the unlawful possession
and operation of vehicles by 19 percent.
One of the main objectives of the GAI is to enhance the
prestige of this service by purging its ranks of
unscrupulous personnel. Special preventive monitoring
subdivisions conducted more than 5,000 confidential reviews.
They led to proceedings against 2,500 people, including
1,700 highway patrol inspectors and the personnel of 141
registration and examination subdivisions.
The ministry system includes structures with diverse
functions and duties and a service sphere connected with
specific facilities rather than the territorial
administrative divisions of the country. The internal
affairs agencies in the transportation network are one
example of this. The measures taken in conjunction with the
administrations of transport organizations had a positive
effect on the overall situation in this sphere. The number
of reported crimes decreased by 4.2 percent, and there was a
perceptible reduction in the number of homicides and
felonious assaults (20.8 percent and 14.8 percent
respectively).
The extra manpower of police squads in railroad
stations and terminals, on passenger trains, and in airports
and sea ports did much to improve the situation and was made
possible by the assistance of transport enterprises.
Railroads financed the addition of 6,000 policemen to the
squads guarding passenger trains. These details now patrol
almost half of the trains. The number of trains guarded by
police along the whole route and of eastbound international
trains escorted from the border of the Russian Federation to
Moscow has risen from 200 to 348. The inclusion of
undercover agents in these squads has proved to be a more
effective way of detecting and preventing felonies. A
passenger carrying five pistols and the ammunition and
silencers for these guns was apprehended on the train from
Kislovodsk to Novokuznetsk in December, for example.
Territorial subdivisions of internal affairs agencies
work closely with the transport police. In particular,
around 500 transport facilities are on the patrol route of
the GAI, 856 are patrolled by the officers of city and rayon
agencies, and 76 are patrolled by special motorized units of
the internal troops of the Russian MVD. Public peacekeeping
groups have also improved the situation in the
transportation network. There are now around 150 of these.
Many criminal acts require the use of the
transportation network, particularly the transit shipment of
illegal drugs. More of these drugs are being shipped through
Russian airports. Police and customs inspectors discovered
and confiscated around 80 kilograms of cocaine at
Sheremetyevo-2 Airport. The organizers of illegal shipments
of drugs can resort to exotic methods. Citizens of African
states are used as live containers, for example. Each of 11
detained citizens of Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon was
carrying from 30 to 60 capsules of cocaine in his stomach,
with a combined weight of around 10 kilograms, and worth
more than $2 million in "black market" prices.
The 49 police detachments on the railroads specialize
in cases of the illegal transport of drugs, weapons,
ammunition, and explosives and other serious crimes. During
the year they confiscated around four tonnes of illegal
drugs and narcotic raw materials, 310 firearms, including
276 rifled guns, more than 850 grenades and other explosive
devices, and around 100 kilograms of explosive substances
from criminals. During a routine search in the Leningrad-
Finland Station, for example, they detained residents of St.
Petersburg who were carrying 17 grenades and more than 7,000
bullets. In the same region, in the city of Pushkin, they
detained a local resident who was trying to sell five
warheads of the Hurricane artillery system, capable of being
activated by coded radio signals.
Violations connected with the disconnection of alarm,
communication, and power supply systems to facilitate the
theft of nonferrous metals have become genuinely disastrous
in the transportation network. Operation "Metal" was
conducted in 13 Russian regions and in the facilities served
by 18 internal affairs transport administrations. This
resulted in the detection of 835 violations, the institution
of criminal proceedings in 213 cases, the termination of the
activities of 98 criminal gangs, and the confiscation of
around 800 tonnes of stolen metal worth more than half a
billion rubles. Around 400 scrap metal receiving centers
were inspected, and 38 were closed for reported violations.
In response to the higher rate of bombings and the
deliberate destruction of the railways (more than 20
incidents during the year), coordinated measures were
conducted with subdivisions of the Russian Federal Security
Service to identify and indict the criminals who had caused
the damage to the railways and the derailment of passenger
trains on the Oktyabrsk and Kemerovo railroads and to
neutralize explosive devices in the Baltic Terminal in St.
Petersburg and in a time vault in the Prokhladnaya Station
on the North Caucasus Railroad.
There were numerous incidents of corruption involving
employees of the transportation network, just as in other
spheres of economic activity. Undercover investigations led
to the exposure and indictment of 160 corrupt officials of
traffic control services. Agents discovered 77 organized
crime rings with corrupt ties. The heads of transport
subdivisions of the Southeastern, East Siberian, Northern,
South Ural, and Volga Railroads were indicted for taking
bribes and abetting thefts. Numerous reports of thefts of
money by the administrators of the Novorossiysk Shipping
Line are being investigated. Agents discovered a total of
1,900 crimes by officials (an increase of 11.1 percent), and
one out of every four was connected with bribery. They
neutralized around 400 organized crime rings responsible for
the commission of over 1,200 crimes in the transportation
network.
Internal affairs agencies in the transportation network
are aware of the crucial nature of the situation connected
with the illegal export of strategic resources and
materials, oil, petroleum products, and nonferrous and
precious metals. More than 4,000 of these violations were
reported in 1996. Total losses in thefts of nonferrous
metals amounted to 6.7 billion rubles, and the figures for
other resources were 612 million rubles for precious metals,
2.5 billion rubles for oil and petroleum products, and 211
million rubles for timber and wood products.
Subdivisions of the State Fire Prevention Service (GPS)
had a heavy workload in the enforcement of fire safety
regulations and the rules of the safe operation of equipment
in various branches of industry and in the home. The
personnel of this service saved the lives of around 30,000
people last year and prevented losses of 33 trillion rubles.
They successfully put out several large and dangerous fires
(the fire in the Chuvash Republic, for example, after the
derailment of the freight train carrying phenol and diesel
fuel).
Engineering and organizational measures continued to be
taken to guarantee the fire safety of new designs and
construction projects. The designs for 23 projects with no
counterparts in Russia were drawn up in conjunction with the
Russian Ministry of Construction and with scientific and
project planning organizations.
More than 1,500 licenses were issued for fire safety
projects. This fundamentally new field of fire prevention
was envisaged in the federal law "On Fire Safety." The
legal provision concerning reviews of compliance with fire
safety requirements in more than 30 different types of
facilities (in grain elevators, oil terminals, movie
theaters, trade enterprises, public health, education, and
social welfare institutions, the utility lines of residences
and industrial enterprises, etc.) was implemented through
federal agencies of the executive branch of government. Fire
prevention equipment was inspected at the Kursk and
Novovoronezh nuclear power plants.
The economic difficulty of equipping GPS subdivisions
and keeping them on alert status, however, has caused a
disastrous drop in the level of fire protection services.
Fire prevention subdivisions are equipped with only 79
percent of the fire engines they need, 58 percent of the
required special vehicles, and 37.5 percent of the necessary
protective clothing.
Comprehensive measures to stop the activities of
illegal armed squads in the Chechen Republic and border
regions, the protection of important government facilities,
including the nuclear power engineering network and the
nuclear weapons complex, and participation in the
maintenance of law and order and the guarantee of public
safety in big cities and in residential communities with the
highest crime rates constituted the basis of the military
duties of internal troops of the Russian MVD.
Operations in the Chechen Republic neutralized 2,700
fighters and resulted in the confiscation of 44 armored
vehicles, 274 artillery systems, 204 mortars and grenade
launchers, almost a thousand rifle barrels, 81,000 pieces of
ammunition, and 104 kilograms of explosives. Reconnaissance
operations were conducted on 345,200 kilometers of roads, 58
kilometers of power transmission lines, 78 hectares of
terrain, and 1.5 million square meters of premises of
various types, during which 21,700 explosive devices were
neutralized.
The functions of task forces and special motorized
units of the internal troops in the maintenance of law and
order were expanded. The services of more than 35,000
soldiers were enlisted to keep the peace before and during
the election campaign. During the year patrols confiscated
2,500 gun barrels, 74 knives, and more than 20 kilograms of
illegal drugs. Money and physical valuables worth 1.8
billion rubles were returned to the state.
During the course of military service in important
state facilities and during operations to guard supply lines
and special freight shipments and to escort convicted
felons, special security guards and military details
prevented 50 explosions and fires and 40,600 attempts to
break into guarded facilities, including some connected with
armed resistance. In August a squad of naval patrol boats
guarding the railroad bridge across the Amur River under the
command of Senior Warrant Officer A.V. Sokin stopped an
attempt by an unidentified boat to sail under the bridge.
When the commanding officer ordered the people on board the
offending craft to identify themselves, they began firing on
the patrol boats. The personnel succeeded in detaining the
craft and arresting the violators, and the matter is now
under investigation.
In recent years institutions of the criminal
correctional system have been under the scrutiny of the
general public, international organizations, and civil
rights movements. We view frankness in this area as an
essential condition of the reform of the existing
correctional system for the purpose of humanizing the forms
and methods of its functioning and bringing the conditions
of criminal detention up to civilized standards.
The 985 institutions of the correctional system (736
corrective labor colonies, including 126 timber camps, 188
pretrial detention centers and prisons, and 61 forced labor
camps) had 1.018 million inmates at the end of 1996,
although the specified maximum capacity was 976,700. The
situation is particularly crucial in the pretrial detention
centers, which are "overcrowded" by a factor of 1.7. In some
the number of inmates is actually 2-2.5 times the maximum
capacity. The pretrial detention centers in the cities of
Moscow and St. Petersburg and in Nizhniy Novgorod and Chita
Oblasts are in a critical state. There were no beds for more
than 105,000 detainees. The physical plant of 60 percent of
the institutions is run-down. Most of the structures have
been in use for several centuries and are in a disastrous
state of neglect. There have been virtually no funds for the
measures specified in the federal targeted program for the
construction and remodeling of pretrial detention centers
and prisons (only 9 percent of the required amount was
allocated in 1996). This is jeopardizing the fulfillment of
legal conditions, according to which all suspects and
defendants held in custody must be provided with private
sleeping quarters measuring at least 4 square meters per
person within the first year of detention.
The number of convicts and of defendants who are being
held in custody increases each year. In 1996, for example,
the increase was 5.8 percent just in the corrective labor
colonies (i.e., by court verdict). The criminal makeup of
the inmates is worse than before. More than 40 percent are
serving sentences for murder, felonious assault, mugging,
robbery, and rape. Over half are repeat offenders.
In spite of this, the overall situation in these
institutions has been kept under control. Economic
difficulties have not precluded the provision of the inmates
with accommodations and food. Incidents of serious crimes
against other inmates and guards and escapes from
correctional institutions have been reduced by one- fourth,
and there have been no riots. Measures to secure work for
convicts when their numbers increased by 5,500 reduced the
number of jobless individuals, but the number without work
is still high-- 161,400.
Enterprises of the correctional system produced goods
worth 4.2 trillion rubles. Seven new structures of the
market type were established with participation by
subdivisions of the correctional system (in all, there are
now 71 of these in 37 regions), and they managed to attract
investments of 60 billion rubles in the form of crude
resources, materials, and equipment. Agricultural
enterprises and the subsidiary farms of the correctional
system produced 9,200 tonnes of meat, 26,200 tonnes of milk,
and 1.3 million eggs, which were used to feed the inmates.
Human Resources
The improvement of the personnel staff and better
hiring practices constituted one of the main factors
determining the capabilities of the Russian MVD system and
the results of its work in the present and future.
The professional nucleus of internal affairs agencies
has grown weaker in recent years for many reasons. The
renewal of human resources, however, is a natural process,
and it must be managed with a view to satisfying the need
for qualified experts. In the belief that the people
entering the system must have firm convictions and a clear
idea of the nature of their future work, efforts were made
in 1995-96 to organize vocational guidance for potential
candidates for service. More than 600 specialized courses
with thorough legal training were taught in general
educational schools, 40 police colleges and academies were
opened, and instructors from educational institutions of the
MVD system and specialists from sectoral services of
internal affairs agencies were recruited to teach classes
there. More than 25,000 students attending these academic
institutions will have the opportunity for the conscious
choice of their future profession and will be prepared for
all of the difficulties and restrictions of service in
internal affairs agencies and the internal troops.
Today the ministry's educational network consists of 27
higher academic institutions and 15 specialized secondary
academic institutions. More than 80,000 people are trained
at the same time in this system. The academic process is
secured by around 20,000 educational and scientific
personnel, 250 of whom have doctoral degrees and 2,000 of
whom are candidates of science. Last year 20,600 graduates
replenished the ranks of regular and tactical subdivisions
of internal affairs agencies. The prestige of enrollment in
the institutions of our ministry is rising, and many of the
institutions can compete successfully with popular
universities in the country in terms of the application rate
for admission.
The contract form of employment is being developed, and
a procedure for the personal sponsorship of new personnel
has been instituted. Work to retrain and employ personnel
released from other jobs has been conducted in conjunction
with government agencies of Russian Federation members. The
employment committee of the Government of St. Petersburg,
for example, paid for the retraining of individuals who had
lost their jobs as a result of staff cuts, and these
individuals were then sent to work in subdivisions of the
Main Directorate of Internal Affairs. This not only
alleviated the general manpower shortage, but also reduced
the shortage in the main services--fugitive recovery,
economic crime, and investigative subdivisions and the
precinct police inspector service--to half of the Russian
average. Other staffing methods are also being tested. In
particular, the Internal Affairs Directorate of Yaroslavl
Oblast is conducting an experiment with competitive
employment examinations for certain subdivisions.
These measures have resulted in the recruitment of
178,000 new personnel for the service and reduced the number
of vacant positions to 47,200. The personnel shortage is
still quite serious, however, in the internal affairs
ministries of the Ingush Republic, the Komi Republic, the
Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, and the Sakha Republic
(Yakutia), the Main Internal Affairs Directorate of
Sverdlovsk Oblast, the internal affairs directorates of the
Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Irkutsk, Magadan, and Tomsk
Oblasts, and the Chukotsk Autonomous Okrug, and the Main
Internal Affairs Directorate of the city of Moscow.
There have been positive changes in human resources and
the state of military discipline among the servicemen of the
internal troops. The troops now have 80.8 percent of the
required officer personnel, and the exodus of officers has
been stopped. The absolute majority of officers perform
their duties conscientiously, and 1,600 were awarded state
honors. The number of noncombat losses in the troops has
decreased. The necessary measures were taken for the medical
and psychological rehabilitation of personnel returning from
the zone of military operations. The medical service was
able to return 91 percent of the soldiers who were wounded
and traumatized in the Chechen conflict zone to active
service.
In addition to the problem of recruiting new personnel,
there is the urgent need to encourage personnel to stay in
the MVD system. Although the number of people leaving the
system has been reduced, the situation is still critical for
at least two reasons.
First of all, many cannot withstand the pressure of the
work and justifiably feel that the level of social
protection for ministry personnel is inadequate for such
intensive and stressful work.
Second, there have been more active efforts to
strengthen discipline and legality in the actions of
personnel and to dismiss those who have discredited
themselves. During the year 24,000 people were dismissed
from internal affairs agencies for negative reasons.
We are often criticized for the gradual curtailment of
Operation "Clean Hands." Our response to this criticism is
that we are not doing this just "for show." This is not a
campaign; it is a painstaking process. Until sufficient
evidence of violations has been collected, we cannot
publicly expose anyone who attracts the attention of the
ministry's own security service. Today these subdivisions
exist on every level of the whole vertical structure and are
highly active. We will continue to strengthen the potential
of this service, so that each incident of duplicity,
bribery, or other types of unethical and illegal behavior
can be ascertained and so that the guilty can be punished in
accordance with law. We see this as one of the main ways of
enhancing public trust.
In spite of our staffing difficulties, we will not
tolerate anyone in our ranks who maligns the conscientious
daily work of hundreds of thousands of staffers of internal
affairs agencies and servicemen of the internal troops by
practicing extortion, taking bribes, and openly abetting
criminals. We are also obligated to do this by the memory of
our 801 comrades who died last year during the performance
of official and military duties. The majority of MVD
personnel are people of integrity who are sincerely
committed to the cause they serve. The highly professional
and selfless behavior of many of them has been rewarded with
state honors, which were conferred on 16,500 individuals,
and 25 who displayed outstanding courage were awarded the
title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
In spite of the growing workload of internal affairs
agencies and internal troops, their financial, material, and
technical support is dwindling. There have been considerable
delays in the payment of wages and sharp cuts in the supply
of vehicles, equipment, arms, and uniforms. None of the six
federal targeted programs for which the Russian MVD is the
main client has been financed in full. We are deliberately
choosing not to focus attention on these problems, however,
because we are in the same position as physicians, teachers,
miners, soldiers, and pensioners. We realize that only the
internal affairs agencies and internal troops can guard the
Russians effectively against criminal violence and theft.
That is why our personnel cannot afford to reduce the
intensity of their work, because any lapses in our scrutiny
of the crime world can only benefit all types of criminals.
The staffers of internal affairs agencies and the servicemen
of the internal troops are aware of their responsibility to
the people and will perform their duties in accordance with
law.
Of course, this report cannot cover all of the
multifaceted work of internal affairs agencies and the
internal troops. More detailed data on the state of law and
order in specific regions and the results of the work of MVD
agencies will be available to citizens in the reports of
Internal Affairs Ministries, main directorates, and
directorates. The ministry has instructed them to report
these data to the population of the territories they serve.
We are grateful to all of those whose words and actions
helped us in our work and those who responded with approval
or criticism to our statements in the press. We will also
welcome the suggestions and comments of readers and other
concerned individuals with regard to this report.
Struggle Against Corruption in Civil Service
criminal indictments
3,688 total
117 personnel of representative bodies of government
2,625 personnel of public administration agencies
857 personnel of law enforcement agencies
Violations of Russian Presidential Edict of 4 April 1992
In structures of the civil service
903 total
77 representative bodies of government
469 public administration agencies
321 law enforcement agencies
RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE-RELATED DOCUMENTS