CITY POLICE MOSCOW CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT
[ Aleksandr ] I'm Aleksandr Nosik.
[ Aleksandr ]As an actor, I've played police many times,
but acting's one thing, and it's quite another
[ ALEKSANDR NOSIK PRESENTER ]to sit at the desk where
Moscow's legendary Criminal Investigation Department's founders
used to sit 100 years ago.
[ Aleksandr ]It's City Police, with the MCID.
[ VO ]MCID, Moscow Criminal Investigation Department, is a branch of the Main
Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the city of Moscow -
where the capital’s high-profile crimes are investigated.
CITY POLICE
[ VO ]Before the abbreviation MUR or MCID became commonly used, the Soviet Criminal Investigation
Service was established - on October 5 1918. The reason being that by mid-1918, more than 30
major gangs were terrorising the capital.
[ VO ]Every workers’ and peasants’ militia department in major cities, with a
population of at least 40,000, had to establish criminal investigation units.
[ Aleksandr ]Murka, my little darling you…
[ Aleksandr ]Actually, 'Murka' is not a song.
[ Aleksandr ]It's what MCID detectives call their IDs, the only ones in Russia with a vertical design.
[ Aleksandr ]Here's another bit of memorabilia – a lapel
pin issued in 1920. There are only 150 like this.
[ VO ]The MCID became legendary after the 1917 revolution. Many Moscow police detectives had embraced the
new regime and joined the Soviet criminal investigation department. Their knowledge was used to train a new
generation of detectives who had no specialised skills, and were mostly from workers’ and peasants’ families.
[ VO ]And here’s another interesting thing: in those days, criminals adhered to a very strict code of conduct.
[ Aleksandr ]In Tsarist Russia, the underworld had a rigid code and its own set of laws.
[ Aleksandr ]Every thief had a specialisation and never stole from their colleagues.
[ Aleksandr ]For example, 'pigeoneers' stole from
attics where people's belongings were stored.
[ Aleksandr ]A 'lobbyist' stole things from lobbies, like clothes.
[ Aleksandr ]'Wakers' used to attend wakes for the dead
to pay their respects to the dearly departed
before stealing all the valuables in the flat.
[ Aleksandr ]But if a thief on a streetcar noticed a lady with a wallet sitting inside an open purse,
God forbid he steal it:
he'd be robbing a fellow thief, a pickpocket, of their future earnings.
[ VO ]We filmed this footage at the MCID museum – a fascinating
place! But we’ll have to stop for a bit… And here’s why.
[ Aleksandr ]Now I understand how many surprises await police officers.
[ Aleksandr ]Our film crew was nearly yanked out of bed.
[ Aleksandr ]We're on our way to detain a suspect that
MCID officers have long been planning to nab.
[ Aleksandr ]Where or how, we don't know.
[ Aleksandr ]We're heading to the rendezvous point now.
[ Aleksandr ]Let the adventure begin!
[ Aleksandr ]Night-time at a hotel, we're here to make an arrest.
[ Aleksandr ]The suspects are in a room.
[ Aleksandr ]If the operatives can't open the door, the SWAT team on standby will break it in.
[ Aleksandr ]Tension is high. We were moving around for 2 hours looking for the right place
[ Aleksandr ]We can't go any further, as there are police officers down there.
[ Aleksandr ]When they go in, we'll stay out of the way but keep recording.
[ Officer ]Get on the floor, now!
[ Officer ]Hands behind your head!
[ Officer ] Who else is here? [ Voice ] No one
[ Officer ] Are you alone? [ Voice ] Yes
[ Officer ] Your full name!
[ Officer ]Your full name!
[ Officer ] Date of birth!
[ Officer ]You've been arrested by Criminal Investigation Unit Petrovka 38.
[ Aleksandr ]It was all quick, effective, and quiet.
[ Aleksandr ]One conman was apprehended.
[ Aleksandr ]To be honest…
[ Aleksandr ]I got so carried away with what was happening…
[ Aleksandr ]I forgot that I had work to do…
but…
[ Aleksandr ]I will try now.
[ Officer ]Head down!
[ Aleksandr ] Do you know why you were detained? [ Detainee ] Not yet.
[ Aleksandr ]No idea?
[ Detainee ] No.
[ Aleksandr ]The SWAT team can already leave.
[ Officer ]Have you broken the law?
[ Officer ] Which? [ Detainee ] I don't know
[ Officer ]What do you mean? [ Detainee ] I'm not going to talk on camera.
[ Officer ] Why? [ Detainee ] Because…
[ Officer ] Are you shy? [ Detainee ] Yes.
[ Officer ] When did you arrive in Moscow? [ Detainee ] 10 days ago.
[ Officer ] What is it you do here? [ Detainee ] Nothing so far.
[ Officer ] What are you living off? [ Detainee ] I have money.
[ Aleksandr ] What are you thinking? [ Detainee ] Nothing.
[ Aleksandr ]Do you have a family?
[ Aleksandr ]A wife? Children?
[ Aleksandr ] How many children? [ Detainee ] 2.
[ Aleksandr ]A boy and a girl?
[ Aleksandr ] How old are they? [ Detainee ] 17 and 14.
[ Aleksandr ]Is the elder a boy?
[ Aleksandr ]What did you teach them?
[ Detainee ] I travel a lot.
[ Aleksandr ]You travel a lot…?
[ Detainee ] For work.
[ Aleksandr ]Your wife raised them?
[ Aleksandr ] Are you proud of your children? [ Detainee ] Yes.
[ Aleksandr ]And how will your kids feel if you're convicted?
[ Aleksandr ] What were your dreams for life as a child? [ Detainee ] It doesn't matter.
[ Aleksandr ]His belongings are being inspected.
[ Aleksandr ]The officers are going through his things, making an inventory…
looking for contraband…
stuff that's illegal to possess.
[ Aleksandr ]It's light now… we arrived at night.
[ Aleksandr ]The suspect was detained
[ Aleksandr ]He admitted nothing. Said he remembered nothing.
[ Aleksandr ]Strange how amnesia develops!
[ Aleksandr ]They all say they live off their friends, aren't doing anything shady…
[ Aleksandr ]Sad thing is, this man has a wife and kids.
[ Aleksandr ]I feel bad for the kids, they'll feel ashamed.
[ Aleksandr ]The guys did their job.
[ Aleksandr ]Suspect's being taken to the station.
[ Aleksandr ]All in all... a neat and tidy job, a slick operation well completed!
CITY POLICE
[ Aleksandr ]What was the operation about? What was the crime?
[ Officer ]The suspect stole money from people's personal bank accounts.
[ Officer ]We're establishing his guilt on 7 counts of criminal behaviour.
[ Officer ]One of the perps would call a victim, pretending to be a bank clerk and say...
[ Officer ]'Some criminals are trying to withdraw money from your account!
[ Officer ]To prevent this from happening, you'll need to read us a text message.
[ Officer ]It will help us stop this fraudulent
transaction from going through'.
[ Aleksandr ] How many in the gang? - Six in all!
[ Officer ]There were two making the calls.
[ Officer ]And three who withdrew the cash Another
one was the fence, distributing their illegal hauls
[ Aleksandr ]These perps... Did they have any priors, criminal records?
[ Aleksandr ]Were they clean because they're a new type of
conmen, who run their scams in a sophisticated way?
[ Officer ]Some of the perps had priors and
had already shown off their high-tech skills
and considerable knowledge.
[ Aleksandr ] Are you satisfied with the operation? [ Officer ] Yes, I am!
[ Aleksandr ] Congratulations! [ Officer ] Thanks!
CITY POLICE
[ VO ]Let’s go back in time again. The Moscow Criminal Investigation
Department’s Museum is full of very peculiar secrets.
[ Aleksandr ]An amazing MCID officer training manual.
[ Aleksandr ]It's a compendium of the how, what, who, and why of things.
[ Aleksandr ]With what? A monkey wrench! Come on, I'm planning a job with the boys!
[ Aleksandr ]Which boys?
[ Aleksandr ]The ones with a drill and chisel...
[ Aleksandr ]A serious set of cool tools for thieving.
[ Aleksandr ]Here are wrenches.
[ Aleksandr ]Here are chisels and drills
[ Aleksandr ]And here's stuff for picking locks.
[ Aleksandr ]But it's a mystery why operatives wear the number 27.
[ Aleksandr ]I suppose it takes a great detective to catch a professional villain,
who has the advantage of being one step ahead?
[ ALEKSANDR SUDAKOV MEMBER, MCID VETERANS COUNCIL ]Well,
great detectives are well trained in all forensic methods.
[ Aleksandr ]That's what we're taught. We work hard to maintain standards.
[ Aleksandr ]The long arm of the law will always catch up with criminals in the end.
[ Aleksandr ]Take Vladimir Ionesyan... In 1964, he was a serial
killer in Moscow. He went around masquerading as
a gas worker and killed a lot of people. However,
culprits eventually make mistakes. One fine day, he
left a piece of paper at a crime scene with a
fingerprint on it that we ran through our files. Then
someone remembered what he looked like. All this
evidence helped us paint a picture. Have a look here!
[ Aleksandr ]I always tell students here that's how forensic experts worked on identikits.
[ Aleksandr ]So, on the right there's an identikit and on the left you see his photo.
[ Aleksandr ]Almost identical!
[ Aleksandr ]His mistress was caught, and then he was too!
[ Aleksandr ]He'd seemed uncatchable
[ Aleksandr ]He never went out, never flashed money, he was a saver.
[ Aleksandr ]He was careful and cautious but still got caught!
[ VO ]I could’ve spent an entire week at this museum, looking at all the exhibits. We’ll definitely visit again.
[ Aleksandr ]We spent time with the traffic police, rode with the motosquad.
[ Aleksandr ]We rode on a police speed boat.
[ Aleksandr ]We saw how police officers are trained.
[ Aleksandr ]We joined the GROM Special Forces Unit, a real SWAT team.
[ Aleksandr ]And today… we're here at Petrovka 38.
[ Aleksandr ]We've learned a lot working closely with the legendary MCID.
[ Aleksandr ]So, keep the peace and stay safe!
[ Aleksandr ]This was City Police! See you next season…
for new adventures!