The article is devoted to the insufficiently studied and scientifically important problem of the creation the first regular police agencies on the Petersburg islands and Moscow settlements. The author outlines and analyzes the problem of recruitment of staff members resulting from the unwillingness to relocate, inadequate funding of the police officers and the absence of educational institutions. The conclusion is made that the educational level of higher and lower ranks of police officers was law; it forced the country’s leadership to find new forms of advanced education. One of such forms was systematically researching the existing legislation. The need to create specialized police educational institutions was highlighted by the end of the 19th — beginning of the 20th centuries in connection with the development of the education system in Russia, increasing the level of political and legal culture of the population. In the period under study there was no system of professional training so the number of the police officers with legal education was not sufficient. It certainly affected the quality of the police work in ensuring the rule of law and strengthening the rule of law in the Russian Empire.