Rostov police move to a new beat

In the third of a series from southern Russia, the BBC's Steven Eke reports on the challenges facing police in Rostov, a city once associated with gangland violence.

Officers Zaporozhtsev and Kubov have a tough job as law enforcers

I joined a deputy divisional commander, Ilya Zaporozhtsev, and his junior, squad commander Sergei Kubov, as they went out on weekend duty.

Both are members of the patrol service, a division of the Russian police (militsiya).

They drove at a leisurely speed, keeping a sharp eye out for anything unusual.

Thriving, bustling Rostov-on-Don is a major city, the capital of Russia's southern federal region, with a population of more than one million. It is attracting investors and its wide thoroughfares have taken on a smart, modern look.

Rostov-on-Don's authorities are running a "safe city programme" aimed at curbing crime.

The policy includes a much tougher approach to the registration of migrants and foreigners.

The police explained to me that, in essence, it means tracking people from the moment they enter Russia to the moment they leave, or simply move location.

Alert buttons

The other key element of this programme is making the police more accessible.

The authorities have established "alert buttons" at key points in the city.

The "alert button" has become part of daily life in Rostov

By pressing a button installed on a special panel, the caller immediately establishes a video link to police headquarters to report a problem.

The officers stopped to carry out an ID check on two young men near Rostov's main train station.

It turned out that both were refugees from Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia.

While Division Commander Zaporozhtsev briskly interrogated the men about their presence and movements, Commander Kubov radioed their details through to police headquarters.

Everything was in order, and they were allowed to go after a few minutes.

I pointed out that ethnic minorities in Russia are often specifically targeted for such checks, and that they consider them racist.

Division Commander Zaporozhtsev rejected this. He insisted that specific types of crime were overwhelmingly committed by particular ethnic groups.

Georgians, he said, carried out robberies and burglaries. Azeris, he added, were to blame for the high rates of crime at outdoor markets.

Both officers said they enjoyed their work, although they occasionally saw things that were very difficult to deal with, and which they would rather not discuss.

'Father of the mafia'

Salaries have grown, but remain very low by comparison with Western countries.

Rostov city centre has been spruced up, reflecting its prosperity

Rostov-on-Don has a reputation in Russia as a violent and dangerous place.

Indeed, it is sometimes referred to popularly as the "father of the mafia".

Neither officer I accompanied had lost colleagues to violent attacks in recent times.

However, they said stabbings and shootings were constant dangers they had to be ready for.

They were armed with pistols and carried body armour in the vehicle.

Human rights groups in Russia and abroad often accuse the police of brutality towards detainees - indeed, of the widespread use of torture.

The Russian government acknowledges there is a problem, but insists it is the exception, rather than the rule.

I asked Division Commander Zaporozhtsev how he responded to such accusations.

Brutality allegations

He suggested human rights activists should put themselves in the position of the police and Russia's prosecutors, who work in a country with high rates of violent and organised crime.

Rostov straddles both banks of the River Don

He had a tough line on the death penalty. Russia has observed a moratorium on executions for many years.

But a majority of politicians and ordinary people would like to see the "highest measure of punishment", as it is known, remain on the statute books.

Division Commander Zaporozhtsev said he felt strongly that "murderers and terrorists" should face the death penalty.

I found ordinary people extremely reluctant to talk to me about the police.

Most waved me away when I brought the subject up. However, there was one exception.

An ethnic Armenian taxi driver was scathing. In Soviet times, he said, the police saw their role as patriotic defenders of the motherland.

Now, he asserted, people join the police for the power it gives them over ordinary people, especially when it comes to extracting bribes.

Read Steven Eke's earlier reports:

Scraping by in a Russian resort

Russia's Cossacks rise again