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.

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:^[1][2][3]

Gazetted officers

Indian Police Service gazetted officers rank insignia^[4][5][6]

Insignia

Rank

Director General of Police

Additional Director General of Police[a]

Inspector General of Police

Deputy Inspector General of Police

Senior Superintendent of Police[b]

Superintendent of Police

Additional superintendent of police

Assistant Superintendent of Police

Assistant Superintendent of Police (Probationary for two years)

Assistant Superintendent of Police (Probationary for one year)

Abbreviation

DGP

ADGP

IGP

DIG

SSP

SP

Addl. SP

ASP

ASP

ASP

Note 1: The equivalent rank to the three-star ASP in State Police Services is the deputy superintendent of police (DSP/DySP), which is not a gazetted rank and contains the respective state police service's acronym in insignia, such as OPS for Odisha Police Service. Note 2: Commissioner of police is a post is held by different rank officers in different places. For example, it is held by DG rank officers only in Delhi and Mumbai; by Addl. DG rank officers in Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Varanasi, Guwahati etc; by IG rank officers in Trivandrum, Gurgaon, Kochi, Coimbatore, Ludhiana, Madurai, Mysore etc; by DIG rank officers in Kozhikode, Howrah, Amravati, Mangaluru, Jalandhar, Warangal etc.

Indian State Police Gazetted Officer Rank Insignia^[7]

Insignia

Rank

Superintendent of Police

Additional Superintendent of Police

Deputy Superintendent of Police

Abbreviation

SP

Addl.SP

DSP/Dy.SP

Note: Gazetted officers belonging to Indian State Police Service(s) lie between ranks DSP and SP. Officers usually undergo training at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy are awarded IPS to attain Assistant SP rank (1 year of service) but this varies from state to state.

Non-gazetted officers

Indian Police non-gazetted officers rank insignia^[8][9]

Insignia

No insignia

Rank

Inspector

Assistant inspector[c]

Sub-inspector

Assistant sub-inspector

Head constable[d]

Police Naik[e]

Police constable

Abbreviation

INSP/PI

API

SI

ASI

HC

SC

PC

Note: Colour pattern and size of chevrons may vary according to the different rules of several distinct Indian State Police services.

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.

Flags (top photo) & Stars (bottom photo) on official cars of senior IPS officers, as per their rank.

Ministry of Home Affairs

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:

• Regular recruits. IPS candidates may apply at the central level by taking the national exam administered by the Union Public Service Commission; if successful, they are given the probationary rank of assistant superintendent and receive further training at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy. After completion of their training, officers still hold the rank of assistant superintendent and wear three silver stars as insignia for a year before being promoted to the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police and 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 an SPS officer is promoted to an IPS officer, the salary usually decreases as the IPS counterpart holding a rank like SP normally gets less salary than his/her SPS counterpart.

State's Home Department

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.

State police forces and their structure

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:

• 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.^[15][11]

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 (SP).
• 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 Uttarpradesh and Rajasthan, the officer incharge of a police Sub-division is known as Circle Officer (CO), and who has the rank of deputy superintendent of police (DSP).
  • Police Circle: In some states, such as Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, etc., there are a few circles within the sub-division. A police circle consists of two or more police stations. Typically, an Inspector takes charge of the Circle and is known as the Circle Inspector (CI).
• Police station: Commanded by a non-gazetted police officer. In a city, an Inspector or Sub-inspector 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, 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.