Nikolay Arkharov (1742–1814) was an infantry general, chief of Moscow, Saint Petersburg and some other Governorates. He was a legend of the Russian criminal investigation. Arkharov was born in 1742. In 1754, he joined the Russian Guard; from 1756 he served as a soldier of the Preobrazhensky Regiment and in 1761 obtained the rank of officer. In 1771, during the operation led by G.G. Orlov to suppress the Moscow plague riot caused by the epidemic of plague, Arkharov proved himself to be a diligent and energetic officer; later he was promoted to the police force in the rank of colonel. In 1775, he became Moscow Head Police Master. Arkharov could, at a glance, accurately determine whether a suspect was guilty. Knowledge of his ability to solve crimes at dramatic speed reached St. Petersburg. Catherine II invited Arkharov to the capital to carry out the most complicated investigations on many occasions. On the fist day of his reign, Paul I summoned Arkharov and appointed him Governor-General of St. Petersburg.
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Fedor Ertel (1768–1825) was a Russian general of Prussian descent, a commander during the Patriotic War of 1812, Head Police Master of Moscow and later St. Petersburg. Ertel was born in 1767. He graduated from the Smolensk Cadet Corps. In 1785, he enrolled in the Russian Army at the rank of ensign. In 1789, he distinguished himself in the Finnish War. In December 1798, Ertel received the rank of major general and was appointed Head Police Master of Moscow. He served in this capacity for two years and, during such a short term, made a good progress in crime prevention. For the excellent service, he was awarded the Order of Saint Anna, 1st class, and the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. During the reign of Alexander I, he held the same position in St. Petersburg for six years. During the Patriotic War of 1812, he was appointed General Chief of Police of all field forces and was granted the rights of a commander of an independent corps. He was awarded the Orders of Alexander Nevsky, St. Vladimir, 2nd class, Grand Cross, and Saint George, 3rd class.
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Ivan Putilin (1830-1893) was the first Chief of the Criminal Investigation Police of St. Petersburg, Active Privy Councillor. Putilin was born in Novy Oskol of the Kursk Governorate in 1830. He studied in a district college, and started working at the age of 14. After turning 20, he left for St. Petersburg, where, with the help of his brother who served in the Ministry of the Interior, joined the police as a scribe. In a short period, Putilin showed such courage and ability in catching vicious criminals that he was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav, 3rd class. He was the first to apply investigative techniques which remain in use until the present time. He also developed an efficient agent network among all social classes of St. Petersburg. By nature, Putilin was exceptionally talented and fit for his position. Highly sensitive attentiveness and extraordinary observation skills united in him together with calm restraint, a great sense of humor, and a peculiar kind of cunning geniality. There was no major difficult investigation solved in St. Petersburg in the late 1870s without Putilin’s contribution. In May 1889, Putilin was granted the title of general lieutenant.
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Vladimir Filippov (1863–1923) was an important law enforcement figure of the Russian Empire, in 1903-1915 he was a Chief of the Criminal Investigation Police of St. Petersburg, Active State Councillor. Filippov was born in 1863 in the family of a St. Petersburg public official. In 1889, he completed a science course in the St. Petersburg University, following which he entered service in the judiciary. He started his carrier in the Troitsk police of the Orenburg Governorate, where he was responsible for solving criminal crimes. In 1903, Filippov took command of the Criminal Investigation Police of the capital of the Russian Empire. While he was in office, dactyloscopic laboratories were created in every police department, dactyloscopic tape, which remained in use until the present time, was widely adopted. He also gave special attention to forensic photography. Forensic photographers began to participate in international exhibitions regularly, and their works used to appear on stands of the Museum of Police. A great deal of effort was put into categorizing criminals of the capital. It resulted in twenty-seven enormous albums containing photos of criminals active in different sorts of crimes. Today, every police department has such albums.
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Arkadiy Koshko (1867–1928) was a criminalist and detective. Chief of Moscow Criminal Investigation Police, later in charge of Criminal Investigation of the Russian Empire, after immigration — a memoir writer. Active State Councillor. Koshko was born in 1867 in the Minsk Governorate. Graduate of the Kazan Infantry School. In 1894, Koshko entered service in the Riga police as an unranked inspector and proved himself from the beginning. To increase the clear-up rate, Koshko not merely relied on his courage, but also proficiently applied methods of the European criminalistics. In 1900, Koshko became Chief of Police of Riga, and in five years Deputy Chief of the Criminal Investigation Police of St. Petersburg. In 1908, he took the office of Chief of Moscow Criminal Investigation Police. Koshko developed and first introduced a new identification system based on a special classification of anthropometric and dactyloscopic data. As a result, an exceptionally accurate criminal file was created in Moscow. Later this system was adopted by Scotland Yard.
The envelopes with a commemorative stamp feature the emblem of the 300th anniversary of the Russian police and portraits of Ivan Putilin, Vladimir Filippov, Arkadiy Koshko, Nikolay Arkharov, and Fedor Ertel.
In addition to the envelopes with a commemorative stamp, Marka JSC has produced a special cancellation postmark for Moscow.
Design: М. Bodrova.
Circulation: 1,000,000 of each.
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