by Ajay Kamalakaran

So much has been written about the Russian police in the Russian and Western media. They have been labelled “Bandits in Uniform” by several leading human rights groups. Horror stories about the brutality and corruption of Russian police aren’t uncommon. The Russian public right from the Finland border to the Kamchatka Peninsula don’t hold the police force in high regard and hesitate before approaching a policeman. While their fears aren’t unwarranted, the actions of the police department in the remote Far Eastern Sakhalin Island have been in contradiction with the general Russian perception.  

On a cool, early-Spring day, I was on my way to a bus stop, when a couple of Azeri people approached me, with the standard “hello” that most foreigners get in Far Eastern Russia. I chose to ignore the men, who were drunk, but before I knew it, I was surrounded by six people and mugged. It wasn’t a violent crime and they removed money from my wallet, which I guess was acceptable. The ring leader was unhappy with the proceeds and decided that they needed my ring and my watch. That would end up being a costly mistake for the muggers. 

After rushing back to my apartment, my roommate insisted that I call the police. She warned me that if I didn’t call the police, the same gang would hit on me regularly. My initial apprehension lay with the fact that I read too much about the inefficiency of the Russian police. I expected a long wait at the police station, stupid questions and the police not being serious about catching the criminals. After we called 02, the police helpline, we were told that the police were busy and they would send someone soon.  

As we prepared for our three hour wait, we were in for a real surprise. Within five minutes, six police constables and four officers landed up at our apartment. The police completely rounded up the neighbourhood in the next five minutes. They didn’t catch anyone from the gang, but the news (and fear) would spread across the neighbourhood.

While going around the neighbourhood in a police jeep, looking for the criminals, I gave a description of the some of the criminals. Within two minutes of my description, they nabbed the ring leader.  

Being a mugging victim in New York and in a few other international cities, I had never seen such efficiency! Within 15 minutes of the mugging, the main criminal was caught. The police found my watch and money on the suspect. An English-speaking (and gorgeous) Lieutenant warned me of the dangers of Russian cities as we went to the police station. Russia, for those who don’t know, is a country where police have the right to ask anyone to show their passport at any time. In Moscow, the police often enforce this rule and accuse people of not having proper registration or visas. When I told the lieutenant that my passport is with the visa office as they are renewing my visa, she told me that it was “no problem” and they would get it from the visa office.  

The whole process in the police station took a few hours, but the police officers were extremely friendly and courteous. The criminal, an illegal immigrant from Azerbaijan, told the police that I voluntarily gave him my money, ring and watch. He knew the law well and told the police that he was just with one person and there weren’t six people. A mugging by two people would get a smaller jail sentence than one by six, if convicted. 

In the ten minutes after the mugging, the man actually managed to sell my ring to a jeweller, who melted the gold. The police retrieved the stone from the jeweller.

I did get my money and watch back though. The trial took a few months as the police needed to contact Interpol, Baku, to get the documents of the mugger. I had a few short and sweet trips to the police before the trial. The criminal was unrelenting in court and insisted that there were just two people and not six. The court sentenced him rather harshly, but who I am to interfere with Russia’s criminal justice system? 

A Russian Language Professor, who was a close friend of mine, insisted that the police only helped me because I was a foreigner. However, just two months after this incident, her (190 metre tall) son was mugged by three teenagers at around midnight. They took his expensive leather jacket. The Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk police arrested the culprits in two days!  My case definitely rested then. There is still hope for the police in Russia.

Ajay Kamalakaran is the Editor The Sakhalin Times 

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