The people of Russia had always been accustomed to heavy-handed law enforcement and to the sight of uniformed authorities. In tsarist times, police officers, both uniformed and undercover, kept tabs on all those considered subversive or disloyal to the regime. In Communist Russia, police officers directed traffic, guarded museums and important buildings, accompanied officials in their automobiles, and patrolled the important streets and squares of every city. Their orders were to keep order, restrain troublemakers, supervise public gatherings of any and all kinds, and prevent or thwart crime. For the most part, they were well paid, well equipped, and efficient, and the Communist government often boasted of a serious-crime rate far lower than that of Western capitalist countries.

Russia's leaders often held up the low crime rate as proof that the Communist system was superior to that of the West. Communist leaders...