Police Units

Categories / City Administration/Administrative-territorial Division
POLICE UNITS, the main units of administrative and territorial division of St. Petersburg in the 18th - early 20th centuries. In 1737, at the suggestion of the Commission on Construction in St. Petersburg the city territory was divided into five police units: Admiralteiskaya (Admiralty Island), Vasilievskaya (Vasilievsky Island), St. Petersburg (Peterburgskaya Side and Vyborgskaya Side), Moskovskaya and Liteinaya. According to the City regulations of 1782 St. Petersburg was divided into 10 units and 42 blocks (with 50-100 houses in each). Police units were headed by private police officers. With formation of police departments in 1798 the number of police units did not change. In 1792 Vyborgskaya unit was separated from St. Petersburg unit. In 1799, Admiralteiskaya unit was divided into the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd and the 4th Admiralteisky units, Okhta was included in Vyborgskaya unit. Now there were 11 police units, and in 1849 - 13 units (Karetnaya and Kolomenskaya units were added), in 1858 there were 12 units (two Admiralteisky units were merged into one). In 1865, police units were renamed (their structure and names remained unchanged through 1917): the 1st Admiralteiskaya unit was renamed Admiralteiskaya, Karetnaya was now called Alexandro-Nevskaya, the 2nd Admiralteiskaya became Kazanskaya, the 3rd Admiralteiskaya became Spasskaya. Kolomenskaya, Liteinaya, Vyborgskaya, Vasilievskaya, Narvskaya, Moskovskaya, Peterburgskaya, Rozhdestvenskaya units kept their names. According to the reform of police of 1866-67, blocks were reorganized into police districts, and functions of private police officers were given to district police officers. The position of a private police officer was abolished in 1867, but police units were preserved. Five suburban districts were formed at that time, they were equal to police units and subordinated to the city governor. They were Novoderevensky District, Lesnoy, Polyustrovsky, Petergofsky, and Schliesselburgsky districts (later Okhtinsky District was added). In 1903, Alexandrovsky District was separated from Schliesselburgsky District. In February 1917, police zoning was abolished, and the so-called Duma districts were created (headed by district Dumas). At the same time the system of present-day districts was formed on the basis of so-called party districts (they were governed by Soviets of Workers' Deputies) which soon after October 1917 formed the basis of administrative division of the city.

Reference: Высоцкий И. П. Санкт-Петербургская столичная полиция и градоначальство, 1703-1903: Крат. ист. очерк. СПб., 1903. С. 61-62, 177-185.

Y. N. Kruzhnov. Высоцкий И. П. Санкт-Петербургская столичная полиция и градоначальство, 1703-1903: Крат. ист. очерк. СПб., 1903 Commission for St. Petersburg Construction
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