Gorodovoy — the lowest rank of the urban police guard in the Russian Empire. The rank was introduced in 1862.
Rank-and-file members of the city police were called "gorodovye," while those of the county police were called "strazhniky."
Equipment of the Gorodovoy
Gorodovye were armed with a revolver and a saber, and carried a police whistle.
Appearance
The gorodovoy's headgear bore the city coat of arms along with the officer's service number.
Gorodovye wore grey uniforms, white in summer, and distinctive shoulder insignia in the form of counter-epaulettes (cross-wise epaulettes) with stripes indicating the rank attained during active military service, overlaid with a double orange cord corresponding to their police rank.
In summer, gorodovye wore a light linen tunic without pockets, belted with a draw-strap, or long double-breasted white jackets.
In winter, they wore woolen tunics or double-breasted coats, black long-haired papakha hats, bashlyks, and sometimes sheepskin coats.
Recruitment
They were recruited from retired soldiers and non-commissioned officers on a voluntary-hire basis, and were maintained from the city budget.
The funds allocated for the upkeep of gorodovye were: no more than 180 rubles per year for a senior gorodovoy, and no more than 150 rubles per year for junior ones, not counting 25 rubles annually for uniforms.
Interesting Facts
- In towns with a population of no more than 2,000, under the law of 14 April 1887, no more than 5 gorodovye were authorized. In towns with a larger population, no more than 1 gorodovoy per 500 inhabitants was authorized.
- For every four gorodovye, there was one senior gorodovoy.
- The anarchy that followed February 1917 laid bare the true role of the police and made many people look back with nostalgia on the absent guardians of the law. "What was most alarming was the rapidly growing awareness that there was no one left to concern himself with keeping the peace. The red-and-blue armbands of the military police had disappeared, and the phlegmatic, dependable policeman no longer stood on the street corner." (Reden N. Through the Hell of the Russian Revolution: Memoirs of a Midshipman. 1914–1919. — Moscow: Tsentrpoligraf, 2006.)