The case of colonel Leding: the police and the Chinese criminal world in Vladivostok at the beginning of the 20th century

The article investigates the story of the service of Colonel Genrich Ivanovich Leding (1864 - 1917), an infantry and cavalry office, the police chief of the Russian fortress of Port Arthur and the city of Vladivostok. The archival documents and newspaper articles trace his military career and show his participation in the Russian-Japanese and the First World Wars. Special attention is paid to the activities of G.I. Leding as the police chief of Vladivostok (1905 - 1914), his contribution to the development of the city police and the improvement of police working methods, to the preservation of cleanliness and order on the streets of the city, and to the fight against illegal Chinese entrepreneurship. By looking into the then high-profile “case on the ranks of the Vladivostok police” (1910) the authors establish the true role of G.I. Leding in the corruption scandal that broke out. The historical investigation conducted by the authors showed that the Vladivostok police chief tried in good faith to combat corruption. However, incorruptible and honest policemen were nowhere to find: being overloaded with duties, in constant risk to their health and life, with a low salary, those willing to serve in the city police were but few. And those who were employed were always tempted to use their official position in order to improve their financial situation. G.I. Leding actively sought to increase the salaries of the police officers, improve the conditions of their life and service, but only partially succeeded in it. Instead, while fighting against abuse and extortion on the part of his subordinates, he made a lot of enemies, which had a detrimental effect on his career.