Superintendent of police (SP) is a senior rank in the

Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj. Along with the Indian Administrative Service ( ...

(IPS). They wear a star and an Ashoka emblem on their epaulettes with 'IPS' below. The larger and more important districts in India are headed by a senior superintendent of police (SSP), while smaller district are headed by a superintendent of police (SP). Below SP, there are additional superintendent of police (Additional SP) and deputy superintendent of police (DySP/DSP). A DySP who is in-charge of a sub-division is also called Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO). In the state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

, superintendents of police in charge of police districts are called District Police Chiefs.

Commissionerate system

{{See also, Commissioner of Police (India), Deputy commissioner of police (India) Many important cities in India have the commissionerate system of police rather than an SP-led police system. In this system, the head of the police department is called the commissioner of police (CP). While the superintendent of police (SP) is called a deputy commissioner of police (DCP).