The fight of internal affairs bodies against crime in the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic during the new economic policy under mass unemployment

Introduction: the article discusses one of the most important areas of activity of the internal affairs bodies of the Republic of Tatarstan - combating crime in the 1920s in conditions of mass unemployment caused by the new economic policy. The reasons for the deterioration of the criminogenic situation in the republic and their consequences are presented. Materials and Methods: the authors studied and analyzed published normative legal materials and unpublished documents of the State Archive of the Republic of Tatarstan, scientific research revealing the features of crime during the years of the NEP. When preparing a scientific article, both general and special methods of historical cognition were used: comparative-historical, problem-chronological and others. Results: the new economic policy, along with the restoration of the country's economy, the revival of commodity-money relations and the development of entrepreneurship, the restoration of the labor market, has seriously aggravated the situation with unemployment. Unemployment in the 1920s acquired a protracted, chronic character, which led to a sharp surge in criminal offenses: banditry, embezzlement, prostitution, gambling, and homelessness. Archival documents testify to the frequent facts of robberies, thefts, robberies and murders, which have become a characteristic feature of everyday life. Measures to counteract such deviations were ineffective and could not stop their growth. Discussion and Conclusions: the authors of the article come to the conclusion that unemployment in the 1920s contributed to an increase in property offenses and crimes against the person. In conditions of acute shortage of personnel, poor logistical support, the internal affairs bodies carried out a lot of work to overcome and prevent crime in the republic.