were voluntary detachments for maintaining public order in the Soviet Union similar to neighborhood watch.

[1] The system of VPDs was introduced according to the joint resolution of the CPSU Central Committee and USSR Council of Ministers of March 2, 1959 On the Participation of the Workers in the Maintenance of Public Order, which formalized and widely propagated the 1958 Leningrad invention of the Voluntary People's Druzhina formally independent of militsiya.

The patrolling druzhinas themselves were often accompanied by police officers (militsioners), for general guidance and official support.

Although druzhinas were informal, they could perform citizen arrests of various petty offenders: drunkards, hooligans, etc.

[citation needed] As of the beginning of 2009, more than 34,000 public law enforcement formations were active in Russia, in which more than 363,000 people were members.