Gazetted officers include all the Indian Police Service officers which are Class I officers of the cadre and all State Police Services officers of and above the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police. All are arranged in a hierarchical order.
Gazetted officers include all the Indian Police Service officers which are Class I officers of the cadre and all State Police Services officers of and above the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police. All are arranged in a hierarchical order.
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: [1] [2] [3]
| Insignia |  |  |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Superintendent of Police | Additional Superintendent of Police | Deputy Superintendent of Police | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Abbreviation | SP | Addl.SP | DSP/Dy.SP | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-gazetted officers
| Insignia |  |  |  |  |   |   | No insignia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Inspector | Assistant inspector [lower-alpha 3] | Sub-inspector | Assistant sub-inspector | Head constable [lower-alpha 4] | Police Naik [lower-alpha 5] | Police constable | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abbreviation | INSP/PI | API | SI | ASI | HC | SC | PC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Law enforcement in India is a state matter. Hence, policing structure varies from state to state. But there is a general structure observed.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is in overall charge of internal as well as external security and policing, and is the controlling authority for the Indian Police Service (IPS). The Home Secretary, the administrative head of the MHA, is an IAS officer in the rank of Secretary to Government of India. The ministry has jurisdiction over the seven Central Armed Police Forces. The state home ministry has charge of the IPS officers in its state.
The Indian Police Service is not a law enforcement organisation, but a professional body of police officers. Police officers may enter the IPS by two different routes:
The Home Department of each respective state is primarily tasked with policy and administration related to law and order, police, internal security, prisons, and prosecution, among other responsibilities. The department is headed by an Additional Chief Secretary or Principal Secretary to the Government. It oversees the maintenance of law and order, the prevention and control of crime, the prosecution of criminals, and also deals with fire services and prison administration. The state police forces function under this department, playing a vital role in enforcing laws, ensuring public safety, and maintaining order within the state's jurisdiction.
Each state police force is headed by an IPS officer in the rank of Director General of Police (DGP). The head of a state police force has the designation of Director General of Police, 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, Administration, Intelligence, etc.). [10] [11] [12] Some large state police forces, such as the Maharashtra Police, Tamil Nadu Police and Uttar Pradesh Police are generally divided into zones, ranges and commissionerates. However, even some large police forces such as Bihar Police don't have Police Commissionerates. Smaller state police forces, such as the Andaman and Nicobar Police or the Arunachal Pradesh Police, are typically only divided into ranges; however, this system of divisions can vary from force to force. [10] [11] [12] [13] Each range or zone is headed by an officer in the rank of Additional DGP or Inspector General of Police.
Commissionerates generally encompass major cities that are so designated, such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad 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). [14] [11] 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:
The general organisation outside commissionerates is as follows:
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, who is an IAS officer.
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.
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. Tamil Nadu has a police-population ratio of 1:632. The Director General of the Tamil Nadu police is Shankar Jiwal.
The Greater Chennai Police, a division of the Tamil Nadu Police, is the law enforcement agency for the city of Chennai in India and the surrounding area. The city police force is headed by a Commissioner of Police and the administrative control vests with the Tamil Nadu Home Department. There are four sub-divisions of the Greater Chennai Police, and 104 police stations. The city's traffic is managed by the Greater Chennai Traffic Police. Chennai is the first city in India to introduce e-Beat system used to measure the daily routine and performance of the police personnel.
The Bangalore City Police (BCP), officially Bengaluru City Police, is the law-enforcement agency of the South Indian city of Bangalore. The BCP works under the Karnataka State Police jurisdiction and is headed by the Commissioner of Police, Bangalore City, currently B.Dayananda, IPS is the Police Commissioner.
The Rajasthan Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Rajasthan in India. The Rajasthan Police has its headquarters in the Jaipur, the state capital. The motto of the force is "committed to serve".
The West Bengal Police is one of the two police forces of the Indian state of West Bengal. The other being the Kolkata Police, which has a separate jurisdiction across Kolkata.
The Superintendent of Police (SP) is a rank in Indian police forces held by an officer who serves as the head of a police district primarily in rural areas. Other officers in SP rank may be appointed as the head of specialised wings, units or similar posts. In the commissionerate system in cities, an SP may be appointed as the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) under the Commissioner of Police. Since the district magistrate is the administrative head of a district encompassing the police district, the SP reports directly to the district magistrate, who has general control and direction over police administration in the district. In the organisation, SP sends monthly reports to the Director General of Police (DGP) through the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG).
The Karnataka State Police is the law enforcement agency for the Indian state of Karnataka. It was established in 1965 and is headquartered in Bengaluru, the capital city of Karnataka. The KSP is a state police force that works under the purview of the Department of Home Affairs, Government of Karnataka. The department is headed by the Director General and Inspector General of Police.
The Uttar Pradesh Police, 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. It is headed by Director General of Police (DGP).
Hyderabad City Police is the local law enforcement agency for the city of Hyderabad, Telangana and is headed by the Commissioner of Police. The city police traces its origins to 1847 under Hyderabad State.
Maharashtra Police is the law enforcement agency responsible for the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is headed by Director General of Police, Mrs. Rashmi Shukla (IPS), and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Additional Superintendent of Police or Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, is a rank in Indian police forces. The officer holding this rank can be from the Indian Police Service (IPS) or from respective state police services like the Provincial Police Service (PPS), West Bengal Police Service (W.B.P.S.), Odisha Police Service (O.P.S.), Maharashtra Police Service (M.P.S.), Kerala Police Service (K.P.S.), etc.
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.
The Andhra Pradesh Police is the law enforcement agency of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Public order and police being a state subject in India, the police force is headed by the Director general of police, Kasireddy Rajendranadh Reddy
The Mizoram Police Force is the law enforcing agency of the state of Mizoram, India.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police or JKP is the law enforcement agency of the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir of disputed Kashmir region. JKP was established in 1873 and has primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
The Manipur Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Manipur in India.
The Telangana Police, officially known as the, Telangana State Police Department is the law enforcement agency for the state of Telangana in India. It has jurisdiction concurrent with the 33 revenue districts of the state. The police force was created from the remnants of the Andhra Pradesh Police after Telangana state was formed. It is headed by the Director general of police, Ravi Gupta, and headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana.
The Kerala Police is the law enforcement agency for the Indian state of Kerala. Kerala Police has its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. The motto of the force is "Mridhu Bhave Dhrida Kruthye" which means "Soft in Temperament, Firm in Action" in Sanskrit. It operates under the Department of Home Affairs, Government of Kerala. The force is headed by the State Police Chief, and the incumbent chief is Shaikh Darvesh Sahib, IPS.
Commissioners of Police in India are IPS officers who head the police force in a police commissionerate. A police commissionerate can combine several adjoining districts under it. A Police Commissioner may or may not hold certain powers of the executive magistrate, contrary to the Superintendent of Police (SP) or Senior SP (SSP) in charge of a police district who depends on the district magistrate to issue orders. Commissioner of Police (CP) is a post that can be held by an IPS officer of the rank Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) and above, depending upon the sanction provided by the respective state government.
The Lucknow Police Commissionerate is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is a police unit of Uttar Pradesh Police and has the primary responsibilities of law enforcement and investigation in Lucknow district.
