The Role of the Institution of Non-Commissioned Officers in the Protection of Law and Order in the Russian Empire (Based on the Materials of the Novgorod Governorate)

The article reveals the role of the institution of police officers in the system of law enforcement agencies of the Russian Empire in the last quarter of the XIX century. Based on the materials of the Novgorod province, the implementation of the law enforcement function by the lower level of the police is traced in the conditions of increasing social contradictions after the abolition of serfdom, accelerating the pace of capitalization of the economy and the growth of criminalization of the population.