FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF PREPARING FILLERS IN THE SYSTEM OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN IMPERIUM (EARLY XX CENTURY)

Abstract

Introduction. The article is devoted to the study of the institution of professional training of surveillance agents (filers) as an independent element of personnel policy within the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire in the early twentieth century. Particular attention is paid to the organizational principles underlying the formation of the surveillance service, the mechanisms of departmental instruction, and the structure of professional skills ensuring the effectiveness of covert observation. Methods. The empirical basis of the research is formed by regulatory and official materials of the pre-revolutionary period, including departmental training programs and documents reflecting the practice of organizing surveillance activities. The examination of these sources makes it possible to identify the patterns governing the development of professional requirements imposed on surveillance personnel and to reconstruct the institutional logic of departmental pedagogy. Results. The study establishes that the training of surveillance agents constituted a systematically organized and multi-stage process aimed at the formation of stable cognitive and behavioral competencies. The instructional model emphasized the development of visual memory, the standardization of descriptive procedures, the acquisition of skills related to the recognition of identifying features, and the mastery of tactically adaptive and covert modes of professional conduct. Discussion. The findings allow professional training to be interpreted not merely as a practical component of police activity but also as a mechanism for structuring professional perception and analytical thinking within the surveillance service.