Cops Season 1 Episode 15

Russia 1 Hour Special

The following program was taped over a 16 day period in Leningrad and Moscow by six camera teams - three American, three Russian. Soviet officials allowed the crews unprecedented access to all police operations and permitted all footage to be cleared without censorship or review. There is no Bad Boys Theme/Russian music instead – quick shots of a car pulling away, a woman screaming, a drunk man passed out, a man attacking a cameraman, a dead woman, a fire, a fight, a stalled van, a suspect arrested, a man tied to a chair in a cell, women, children, a man holding his head, a police station, motorcycles, motorcycle cops, police wagons and cops getting ready for work. Tonight, for the first time in history, thanks to the new policy of Glasnost, the world will ride along with the Soviet Militia, Russia’s national police force. An international television event, direct from Moscow and Leningrad. This is the reality of the men and women who protect and serve in the Soviet Union. (Soviet Militia Training Academy 6:30 AM) The commander explains what is needed to get in the academy. You have to be highly educated, knowledgeable in many areas, strong, physically prepared and often recruits don’t realize how difficult their course is and can’t make it through the rigorous training. The alarm goes off, men wake up, go to the bathrooms, wash up, shave and brush their teeth. Outside they run in formation on the grounds, in gray uniforms. (6:55 AM Morning Exercises) They line up in a courtyard and a man at a podium instructs them. (7:30 AM Martial Arts Class) Men spar and are taken down. One man pulls a gun on another and is grabbed and kicked, another grabs a knife and is taken down. Many try the move with the knife. The instructor shows to punch the man with the gun in the face, kick his knee and take him down. (8:25 AM Combat Course) Outside men run up ramps, with fires set around them, bullets are fired, sirens wail, they go through sewers, under barbed wire, up walls, through holes, on balance beams, kick targets, take down opponents one at a time, run to a firing range, grab pistols, load them and shot at distant targets. (9:00 AM Dress Inspection) They are in formation as they march in front of a podium. The commander says in his personal opinion only a real man can become a cop. (7:30 PM Leningrad) Alcoholism is a real problem, especially on national holidays when people want to celebrate. (May Day Celebration) They detain people who are drinking in public. In a park men have fallen over on the ground, they are pulled up and taken into a truck. Their alcoholism is a big problem, their role is to get them treatment for the social evil. The most boisterous of them go into the police van. People march in front of large pictures of Marx and hold up pictures of Lenin. (Drunk Tank Central District) The men are loaded into a cell, the sign above reads “For medical services provided the charge is 25 rubles.” A man is in his underwater tied to a chair and going crazy. Street Patrol Central District (2:00 PM Burglary Call) Cops go up stairs into a small apartment. A woman speaks in English who says they took her jewelry, including a ring her father gave her when she was 16, now she is 30. It can’t be replaced. She wants to buy furniture, what she has is 40 years old. She lifts the mattress to show the bed has holes. She had 800 rubles, they took it all, now she has nothing. There is a small girl playing in the room. The people have nothing and can buy nothing. (7:30 PM Nevsky District) They spot a man wanted by police for smuggling and want to get him outside of his house so he can’t warn his friends. They walk over, grab him and lead him a way. A woman nearby starts screaming, wailing and tries to stop them. They quickly drive away. She wants to know what he did and where are they taking him. (8:45 PM Suspects are Detained at Police Station) An old woman hacks, coughs and her eyes water. A young man with bad teeth laughs. It’s central...