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I was stopped by the police on Thursday. I've been made well aware that this was a possibility, so I was prepared. Police controls happen for no apparent reason, depending solely on the whims of the particular officer. As is to be expected, Russian police officers have discovered the joys of racial profiling; foreigners and Caucasians tend to be stopped the most.
I'm not saying this is necessarily wrong. While stopping foreigners is a holdover from the Soviet days, stopping Caucasians has a basis in the current political reality. There have been a number of terrorist attacks in Moscow recently by Chechens, an ethnic group located in the Caucasus. Add that to good old fashioned racism, and the extra attention is inevitable.
In any case, it was bound to happen to me. I was just getting off the escalator, about to leave the Metro station when the police officer stopped me and an Australian friend I was talking with. The rest of our group (3 others) all stepped on past, anxious to get away. In this situation, you're supposed to provide the officer with your documents. A native Russian would provide their internal passport (they have two, one to move around Russia, and one to travel to other countries), and a foreigner would show their passport. Since I reregistered for classes, I will be without my passport for three weeks. As a substitute, I was given a "certificate" (справка) that my passport was taken for registration.
Being a student, I can either show my passport or my student ID card. Since the ID card was easier, I showed it to the police officer, and he returned it without any trouble. Will, however, wasn't carrying either his certificate or his student card, so he was a bit concerned. I started to explain that he left his student card at home, when the officer asked "Is he a student also," to which we both responded "Da." He waved us away and said "Good Luck" in English.
It's nice being a first-class foreigner. One of my Chinese classmates was detained at the police station for several hours because he didn't have his documents on him. I don't assume that I'll always get off as easily, but as long as I have my stuff in order, it's no big hassle.
Posted by Owen at January 17, 2004 11:00 PM | TrackBack