Putin Signs Law Allowing Police Commanders to Serve Longer

Paul Goble

            Staunton, August 3 – Even though Russia has four times as many police per capita as the United Nations recommends – and that number doesn’t include internal troops, security agencies and the armed forces (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/06/russia-has-four-times-as-many-police.html) – Vladimir Putin clearly feels the need to have even more.

            Not only has he in recent months boosted pay and benefits for those who are on the front line of defending his regime against the population, but now the Kremlin leader has signed a new law with allows the senior officers, majors and above, to stay on the job for an additional five years (publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001201908020091).

            The measure also allows those who do retire to work as contractors for the police and thus receive salaries as well as pensions, measures that the interior ministry says will ensure that the “qualified cadres nucleus” of the police will be “preserved” rather than undermined by retirements (idelreal.org/a/30090626.html).

            The latest Putin action is intended both to keep police commanders happy and thus not think seditious thoughts like following the Constitution rather than obeying the orders of their Kremlin bosses and to ensure that there is a sufficient number of officers available to organize and carry out the suppression of the population.