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 SP 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, Mumbai and Kolkata report directly to the state government and not to the DGP. Similarly, in Kerala, the Commissioner of Police does not have magisterial powers.[2]
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]
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).
The hierarchy of posts in Police Commissionerate system of Delhi is as given below, Police Commissionerate system in other cities may not have one or more of these posts:-
Commissioner of Police (CP) i.e. DGP equivalent
Special Commissioner of Police (Spl.CP) i.e. ADG equivalent
Joint Commissioner of Police (Jt. CP) i.e. IG equivalent
Additional Commissioner of Police (Addl.CP) i.e. DIG equivalent
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) i.e. SSP or SP equivalent
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Addl.DCP) i.e. Addl. SP equivalent
Assistant commissioner of police (ACP) i.e. DSP equivalent
The subordinate police officers' hierarchy in the Police Commissionerate system is the same as in a district police headed by a Senior SP/SP, including ranks such as police inspector, sub-inspector, assistant sub-inspector, head constable, and constable.[9]
^The Delhi Police Commissioner, a Director General (DGP) rank officer, is the head of Delhi Police. This is the only case in India where a CP (Commissioner of Police) heads the police force of the whole state/UT.
^The posts of Commissioner of Police (CP) of Mumbai and DGP (Director general of police i.e. state police chief) of Maharashtra are held by two different officers, both of whom are of Director General (DGP) rank. The Mumbai CP is one of the few CPs in the country who does not report to the state DGP. Both Mumbai CP and Maharashtra DGP report to ACS (Additional Chief Secretary) of Home Department of Maharashtra, who is a senior IAS officer.[35][36]
