In Crime and Punishment it is unclear exactly how nineteenth century Russian police operated. By examining Russian history, it is possible to understand the police system of the nineteenth century and today. Changes can first be seen when czar Alexander made reforms in the early nineteenth century. Other nineteenth century changes occurred when Alexei Arakcheev reorganized the police. Western idea can be seen in the Russian police of today.
When Czar Alexander came to power in the early nineteenth century, he made new reforms in the police system. The old secret police were disbanded and a new set of laws were created for crimes. These laws stated that general laws were to be set up and all crimes should be accounted for and tried. This was a significant change from the self-serving and self-operating secret police.
Unfortunately, Alexander's plans were undermined by his close friend and official, Alexei Arakcheev. Arakcheev, in the early nineteenth century, went about setting up the old secret police organization. Arakcheev even put many secret police into the army in order to find any officers that had liberal ideas. Any man or officers that had liberal idea were sent to Siberia or put into prison.
Today's Russian police, which is called "the people's militia," is organized by Internal Affairs and has many of the same procedures as Western police. One large difference between Russian and American police is that the Russian police can detain someone up to three days without a warrant.
Even though early nineteenth century Russian police failed because of the likes of Alexei Arakcheev, today the Russian police have a successful force that works much like Western police forces.