I didn't manage to get a photo that adequately illustrates the number of police on the streets of Moscow. There were plenty though. Even more around the Godzillas Hostel because a central headquarters was opposite... which would normally make you feel safer, but the Russian police's reputation is not entirely positive... for example, in the Tall Ship Races hand book issued in St Petersburg, a special phone number was provided specifically for dealing with cases of police corruption, harrassment, blackmail etc! At least someone recognises there's a problem which the beginnings of solving it... meanwhile, back in Moscow, there was a couple of times I crossed the road, regardless of whether I needed to, simply to avoid some bored looking policemen.
Some places in the metro, as above, there were groups of police just hanging around, I don't know if they were transport or standard police. At other stations, other isolated officers gave themselves something to do by telling me to stop taking photos. There was also a uniformed official in a little booth at the bottom of each escalator – I don't know if that was to stop crime or running – which I suppose is a crime – but it seemed to be employing someone... even if sometimes that someone was asleep.
In addition to the uniformed police and quasi-police, who knows how many plain clothes officers there might be? There were also plenty of military personel, seemingly off duty, but significantly more than I would expect to see around London – the next biggest European city. All in all Moscow has plenty of authority figures kicking about...
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