The article examines the unenviable fate of the ranks of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes in the Grand Duchy of Finland. Few in number and without any administrative support in the region, the ranks of the Finnish Gendarme Administration became the bogeyman of the Finnish intelligentsia and people; subjected to attacks, they had no opportunity to defend their interests in court. Moreover, they often did not find support even among the ranks of the Russian administration and military officials. All this not only made it extremely difficult to carry out service, the results of which were very contradictory, but also served as a demonstration of the weakness of the Russian government.