The work is devoted to the methods of political investigation of Russia in the fight against the revolutionary movement in 1904-1914, special attention is paid to the local, provincial specifics of this issue. The methods considered are grouped into three main areas: internal intelligence, external surveillance and correspondence perlustration. Using the analysis of sources, the author reveals some dynamics of the methods of work of the political police in the context of changes in the socio-political situation in Russia. For students, graduate students and teachers of humanitarian faculties of universities and pedagogical institutes.