Policing in Russia

This Brief provides an in-depth look at crime and corruption in Russian Law Enforcement, in the fifteen years since the 2009 police reforms. It focuses on corruption and organized crime at various levels of public services and law enforcement, how these organized crime networks operate, and how to enhance police integrity and legitimacy in this context.

It begins with a short overview of the history of law enforcement in the Soviet and Post-Soviet context, and the scope of organized crime on the operations of local businesses, public services, and bureaucratic offices. It provides an in depth examination of how organized crime developed in this context, to fill a void between the supply and demand of various goods and services. Based on an in-depth survey of police integrity and corruption in Russia, it provides key insights into how countries in a transition to democracy can maintain and enhance legitimacy of their police force.

This Brief will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, particularly with a focus on policing, corruption or organized crime, as well as related disciplines such as political science. 

Serguei Cheloukhine's areas of expertise are Corrupt Networks, Organized Crime, Anti-Money Laundering and Financing Terrorism, Property Rights. Dr. Cheloukhine worked as a police officer in Caucasus and Chechnya, and then professor in the Department of Social Sciences. He was chairperson at the Rostov-on-Don Law School (former Higher Police Academy) for ten years. From 1997 to 2001, he was the first Russian police officer working at the Nathanson Center for the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption (Toronto, Canada) as a researcher. After finishing his PhD., Cheloukhine participated in projects that studied Transnational Organized Crime, Corruption, Money Laundering and Terrorism. Currently, Dr. Cheloukhine's research and publications are focused on organized crime and corrupt networks in Russia and Countries of Independent States.