Police Ranks And Insignia Of India
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Gazetted officers include all 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 (IAS ...
officers which are Class I officers of the cadre and all
State Police Services The State Police Services (SPS), also simply known as State Police, are the police services under the control of respective state governments of the States and union territories of India. Recruitment The recruitment to this service is done by the ...
officers of and above the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police. All are arranged in a hierarchical order.


Ranks of law enforcement in India

The ranks, posts and designations of all police officers vary from state to state as law and order is a state matter. But, generally the following pattern is observed: ;Gazetted Officers ;Non-gazetted officers


Organisational structure and roles


Overview

Law enforcement in India is a state matter. Hence, policing structure varies from state to state. But there is a general structure observed.


Ministry of Home Affairs

The
Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
is in overall charge of internal as well as external security and policing and is the controlling authority for 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 (IAS ...
(IPS). Home Secretary, the administrative head of MHA is an
IAS officer The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...
in the rank of
Secretary to Government of India Secretary to the Government of India, often abbreviated as Secretary, GoI, or simply as Secretary, is a post and a rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of the Government of India. The authority for the creation of this post solely rests with ...
. The ministry has jurisdiction over the Seven
Central Armed Police Forces Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) is the collective name of central police organisations in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). These are technically paramilitary forces formerly known as Central Para-Military Forces (CPMF). Since ...
. The state home ministry gets the charge of the IPS officers in their state. The Indian Police Service is not a law enforcement organization, but a professional body of police officers. Police officers may enter the IPS by two different routes: * Regular recruits: IPS candidates may apply at the central level by taking the national exam administered by the
Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission (ISO: ), commonly abbreviated as UPSC, is India's premier central recruitment agency for recruitment of all the Group 'A' officers under Government of India. It is responsible for appointments to and exami ...
; if successful, they are given the probationary rank of
assistant superintendent Assistant superintendent, or assistant superintendent of police (ASP), is a rank that was used by police forces in the British Empire and is still used in many police forces in the Commonwealth. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held ...
and receive further training at the
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) is the civil service training institution in India. The institute trains Indian Police Service (IPS) officers before they are sent to their respective state cadres to carry out their dut ...
. After completion of their trainings, officers still hold the rank of
assistant superintendent Assistant superintendent, or assistant superintendent of police (ASP), is a rank that was used by police forces in the British Empire and is still used in many police forces in the Commonwealth. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held ...
and wear three silver stars as insignia for a year and then they get promoted to the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police and are sent to the cadre which is allotted to them after training in the academy. * State-level selection: Candidates may take a state-level examination for State Police Service (SPS) gazetted officers; examinations are administered by the individual State Public Service Commissions. Successful candidates are gazetted with the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police and become members of their state police cadre. After a period of satisfactory service, state police service officers may be nominated to join the IPS at this rank or, if they receive further promotions, at the rank of Superintendent of Police. When State Police Service officers get promoted to IPS, their rank does not change. Generally, State Police Officers are paid more at the same rank when compared to their IPS counterparts but IPS officers get promoted in less amount of time when compared to their SPS counterparts. When a SPS officer gets promoted to an IPS officer, his salary normally decreases as the IPS counterpart holding a rank like SP normally gets less salary than his/her SPS counterpart.


State police forces and their structure

Each State Government's Home Department is responsible for its State Police force. Generally the administrative head of the Home Department of a state is an
IAS officer The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...
in the rank of
Additional Chief Secretary The Chief Secretary is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the state government. The Chief Secretary is the ''ex-officio'' head of the state Civil Services Board, the State Secretariat, the state cadre Indian Admin ...
or Principal Secretary to State government. However, in many states IPS officers are appointed Home Secretaries. Each state police ''force'' is headed by an IPS officer in the rank of
Director General of Police Director general of police (DGP) is a rank in the Indian Police Service, held by the highest ranking police officer in a State or a Union Territory of India, typically heading the state or the UT police force. The DGP is appointed by the cabin ...
. The head of a state police force has the designation of
Director General of Police Director general of police (DGP) is a rank in the Indian Police Service, held by the highest ranking police officer in a State or a Union Territory of India, typically heading the state or the UT police force. The DGP is appointed by the cabin ...
, and is assisted by one to several Additional or Special DGPs. Each Additional/Special DGP is responsible for a bureau within the state police (Law & Order, Crime, etc.).Tamil Nadu Police
/ref>Bihar State Police
/ref> Some large state police forces, such as the
Maharashtra Police Maharashtra Police (IAST: ''Mahārāṣṭra Polīs Sēvā'', formerly ''Bombay State Police'') is the law enforcement agency responsible for the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is headed by Director General of Police, Rajnish Seth (IPS), and h ...
,
Tamil Nadu Police Tamil Nadu Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is over 150 years old and is the fifth largest state police force in India.
and
Uttar Pradesh Police The Uttar Pradesh Police (UP Police), (IAST: ), is the primary law enforcement agency within the Uttar Pradesh state of India. Established in 1863 as the Office of the Inspector General of Police, United Provinces under the ''Police Act, 1861'' ...
are generally divided into zones, ranges and commissionerates. However, even some large police forces such as
Bihar Police The Bihar Police Department is the law enforcement agency for the state of Bihar, India, with its headquarters in Patna. It has a sanctioned strength of 111,000 personnel, and as of 2017, employs 77,000 personnel. The annual Budgeted Estimate ...
don't have Police Commissionerates. Smaller state police forces, such as the
Andaman and Nicobar Police The Andaman and Nicobar Police is the law enforcement agency for the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India. History of Andaman and Nicobar Police History of Andaman and Nicobar Police dates back to raising of ‘Sebundy Corps ...
or the
Arunachal Pradesh Police The Arunachal Pradesh Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the Republic of India after all it is a law enforcement agency but it also is involved in anti insurgency operations in the state of Arunachal Prad ...
, are typically only divided into ranges; however, this system of divisions can vary from force to force. Each range or zone is headed by an officer in the rank of Additional DGP or
Inspector General of Police An Inspector General of Police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most se ...
. Commissionerates generally encompass major cities that are so designated, such as
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
,
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
,
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
,
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
,
Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
,
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
,
Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...
etc. Each commissionerate has its own individual police force headed by an IPS officer with the designation of Commissioner of Police (CP). The Commissioner of Police may be of the rank of Additional DGP, ADGP or IGP but can also be in the rank of DIGP. The Commissioner of Police is empowered with the powers of an executive magistrate and functions as such. The Commissioner of Police is assisted by one to several Joint Commissioners of Police, who usually hold the rank of IGP (or Deputy IGP). Each is in charge of a bureau (Law and Order, Crime, etc.), mirroring the organisation of the state police as a whole. Below the JCPs, the organisation is typically as follows: * Region: Headed by an IPS Additional Commissioner of Police (Addl. CP) in the rank of DIGP. Gazetted officers below the rank of DIGP may either be IPS or SPS officers. * Zone: Each region is divided into a number of zones, each headed by an Additional Director General of Police (ADG) or Inspector General of Police (IG) * Division: A zone usually contains one to two divisions, each headed by Inspector General of Police or DIGP. The general organisation outside commissionerates is as follows: * Zone: Headed by an IPS officer in the rank of ADG or IG * Range: Headed by an IPS officer in the rank of IG or DIG * District: Headed by a Senior Superintendent or a Superintendent of Police. * Area: Headed by a Superintendent of Police, generally having a lower grade pay than the district head if the district head is an SSP. * Sub Division: A sub division is headed by an officer of the rank of DSP or ASP. Which is called as SDPO (Sub Divisional Police Officer). In some states, there are a few circles under the Sub division. In some states a DSP, and in some states like Assam, an Inspector takes the charge of the Circle. * Police station: Commanded by a non-gazetted police officer. In a city, an
Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...
or
Sub-inspector Sub-inspector (SI), or sub-inspector of police, is a rank used extensively in South Asia: in the police forces of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, which is primarily based on the British model. It was formerly used in most British col ...
may be in charge of one police station. They are posted as Station House Officer and Station Officer respectively. The Inspector or sub-inspector commands several sub-inspectors (SI) or assistant sub-inspector and other low-ranked officials. However, District Superintendents or Senior Superintendents of Police are not empowered with the powers of an executive magistrate, in Districts these powers, like promulgating Section 144, granting arms licenses, are exercised by the
District Magistrate A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an All India Service officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ''canal reven ...
, who is an
IAS officer The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...
. Sub-inspectors (PSIs), the first police officers who may file a charge sheet, often command police stations in rural districts or police outposts or substations; in cities, they operate out of a police station and administer beats (''chowkies''). Sub-inspectors are assisted by assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs), who may also be in charge of ''chowkies'', under them are head constables (senior constables), who lead teams of constables.


See also

* Central Armed Police Forces ranks and insignia of India * Paramilitary forces ranks and insignia of India *
Army ranks and insignia of India Indian Army Ranks can be broadly classified into three categories: Commissioned Officers, Junior Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks. These ranks generally correspond with those of the British Indian Army. Traditional names for ranks are st ...
*
Air Force ranks and insignia of India The Indian Air Force's rank structure is based on that of the Royal Air Force. The highest rank attainable in the Indian Air Force is Marshal of the Indian Air Force, conferred by the President of India after exceptional service during wartime. ...
*
Naval ranks and insignia of India The following graphs presents the officer ranks of the Indian Navy. These ranks generally correspond with those of Western militaries, and reflect those of the British military ranks. Officer ranks While the provision for the rank of Admira ...
* Coast Guard ranks and insignia of India * Border Roads Organisation ranks and insignia of India


Notes


References

{{Reflist Police ranks of India India government-related lists Law enforcement-related lists