Commissioners of Police (also known as Police Commissioners) 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 (or in case of Delhi, by the Government of India).
Traditionally at the district level, the Superintendent of Police (SP) or Senior SP (SSP) maintains law and order by working with the District Magistrate (DM). Under the Commissioners of Police (CP) system, the state governments may or may not grant certain powers of the executive magistrate to the commissioner, contrary to the Superintendent of Police or Senior SP of a police district who depends on the district magistrate. For large metropolitan cities, the CP system is generally considered more suitable policing system. The commissioner is assisted by special commissioner, joint commissioner, additional commissioner, deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner of police.[1]
The Commissionerates present in New Delhi, Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, and Kolkata can be considered true Commissionerates as they exercise the powers of the District Magistrate and the Executive Magistrate. The organisational structure of the police commissionerates varies state to state. For instance, the Police Commissioners of Delhi and Mumbai report directly to the state government and not to the DGP. Similarly, in Kerala, the Commissioner of Police does not have magisterial powers.[2]
Commissionerates
A Police Commissionerate's jurisdiction can consist of several adjoining districts. The Hyderabad City Police commissionerate since 1847 AD, established in the erstwhile Hyderabad State by the Nizams is the oldest police commissionerate in India.[3][4] The British India government brought the CP system first to Kolkata and Chennai in 1856, and followed it in Mumbai in 1864.[5][6][7]
Organisational structure
The police commissionerate is headed by a Commissioner of Police (CP). The post of Commissioner of Police can be held by an IPS officer of the rank SP and above, depending upon the sanction provided by the respective state government (or, in the case of Delhi, by the Government of India). The commissioner of police is assisted by special, joint, additional, deputy, and assistant commissioners of police, sanctioned by the respective state government.[8] The organisation consists units like law and order, crimes, administration, armed reserve police, traffic police, special branch, security, etc. For the maintenance of law and order, there are police zones, divisions and sub divisions. Typically divisions are headed by deputy commissioners of police (DCPs), and sub divisions are headed by assistant commissioners of police (ACPs).
Hierarchy
Commissioner of Police (CP)
Special Commissioner of Police (Spl.CP)
Joint Commissioner of Police (Jt. CP)
Additional Commissioner of Police (Addl.CP)
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Selection Grade)
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP)
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Addl.DCP)
Assistant commissioner of police (ACP)
The subordinate police officers' hierarchy in the commissionerate is the same as the state police, including ranks such as police inspector, sub-inspector, assistant sub-inspector, head constable, and constable.[9]
List of commissioners of police
Following is the list of commissioners of police (CP) in India, along with their respective ranks (these ranks can vary from time to time):-
