The article deals with number and composition of city police of the three provinces of the European North of Russia (Arkhangelsk, Vologda and Olonets) in the last quarter of the XVIII - the first half of the XIX century. The study is based on published normative legal acts and archival documentation. During the examination of city police staff composition a significant amount of formulary lists for the Northern provinces in the 1800s, 1826, 1844 and 1850, stored in the Fund 1349 of the State Archive of the Russian Federation was examined. The materials presented in the article made it possible to reveal that in the last quarter of the XVIII - the first half of the XIX century there was no unified scheme of organization of the city police. The establishment of these institutions was a long and uneven process, influenced on the one hand by the state's desire to organize a police departments that would meet the challenges and needs of urban citizens, and on the other hand it had to be fulfilled by means of resources and capacities of the cities themselves, which often were very limited. When regulating the size and composition of the city police, the government sought to keep balance between bureaucratic interests and needs of urban citizens. Special staff lists for police were developed for cities, the rest communities received unified staff lists. Archival documents reveal that by the end of the 1780s total amount of city police employees was 170 people, but by the beginning of the XIX century it was reduced to an amount of 90 people, which in practice was clearly insufficient for regular functioning. A revision of staff schedules and the increase in state allocations in the second quarter of the nineteenth century allowed to increase slightly a number of employees, which by the middle of the century reached 128 people. The composition of police officials was influenced by the principles of recruitment of the studied institutions and the specifics of the northern Russian provinces. The government preferred to appoint retired militaries on main positions of police departments, and among them there was a high proportion of nobles, although there were police employees who came from different estates, including those who were obliged to pay taxes. At the same time bureaucratic positions were mainly filled in by clergy and "hereditary" officials (children of personal nobles and civil service officials). During the studied period for majority of officials their career prospects were shaped by their origins, experience and personal qualities rather than by the level of education. In the last quarter of XVIII - first quarter of the XIX century city police, like other local institutions of northern Russian provinces, functioned in the conditions of a constant lack of officials. During the second quarter of the XIX century a significant improvement in police staffmg was achieved, but still a scarcity in qualified personnel continued during the mid-XIX century.
