Commissioner of Police (India) explained

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).

History and description

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]

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

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]

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):-

Andhra Pradesh Police

See also: Vijayawada City Police and Visakhapatnam City Police.

Post	Rank	Reference
Commissioner of Police, Visakhapatnam	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[10]
Commissioner of Police, Vijayawada	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[11]

Delhi Police

See main article: Police Commissioner of Delhi.

Gujarat Police

See also: Ahmedabad City Police.

Post	Rank	Reference
Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[14]
Commissioner of Police, Surat	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[15]
Commissioner of Police, Rajkot	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[16]
Commissioner of Police, Vadodara	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[17]

Haryana Police

Post	Rank	Reference
Commissioner of Police, Gurugram	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[18]
Commissioner of Police, Faridabad	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[19]
Commissioner of Police, Panchkula	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[20]

Karnataka Police

See also: Police Commissioner of Bangalore.

Post	Rank	Reference
Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[21] ^[22]
Commissioner of Police, Belagavi	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[23]
Commissioner of Police, Hubballi-Dharwad	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[24]
Commissioner of Police, Kalaburagi	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[25]
Commissioner of Police, Mangaluru	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[26]
Commissioner of Police, Mysuru	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[27]

Kerala Police

See also: Kochi City Police, Thiruvananthapuram City Police, Thrissur City Police and Kollam City Police.

Post	Rank	Reference
Commissioner of Police, Thiruvananthapuram	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[28]
Commissioner of Police, Kochi	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[29]
Commissioner of Police, Kozhikode	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[30]
Commissioner of Police, Kollam City	Superintendent of Police (SP)	^[31]
Commissioner of Police, Thrissur City	Superintendent of Police (SP)	^[32]
Commissioner of Police, Kannur City	Superintendent of Police (SP)	^[33]

Madhya Pradesh Police

Post	Rank	Reference
Commissioner of Police, Bhopal	Inspector General of Police (IGP)	^[34]
Commissioner of Police, Indore	Inspector General of Police (IGP)

Maharashtra Police

See also: Mumbai Police, Nagpur Police and Pune Police.

Post	Rank	Reference
Commissioner of Police, Mumbai	Director General of Police (DG)	^[35]
Commissioner of Police, Pune	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[36]
Commissioner of Police, Nagpur	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[37]
Commissioner of Police, Thane	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[38]
Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[39]
Commissioner of Police, Nashik	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[40]
Commissioner of Police, Aurangabad	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[41]
Commissioner of Police, Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar (MBVV)	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[42]
Commissioner of Police, Pimpri-Chinchwad	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[43]
Commissioner of Police, Solapur	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[44]
Commissioner of Police, Amravati	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[45]
Commissioner of Police, Railways, Mumbai	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[46]

Odisha Police

See main article: Bhubaneswar–Cuttack Police Commissionerate.

Punjab Police

Post	Rank	Reference
Commissioner of Police, Amritsar	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[49]
Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[50]
Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[51]

Rajasthan Police

Post	Rank	Reference
Commissioner of Police, Jaipur	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[52]
Commissioner of Police, Jodhpur	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[53]

Tamil Nadu Police

See also: Greater Chennai Police and Coimbatore City Police.

Post	Rank	Reference
Commissioner of Police, Chennai	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[54]
Commissioner of Police, Coimbatore	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[55]
Commissioner of Police, Madurai	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[56]
Commissioner of Police, Salem	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[57]
Commissioner of Police, Tiruppur	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[58]
Commissioner of Police, Tirunelveli	Inspector General of Police (IG)
Commissioner of Police, Tiruchirappalli	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[59]
Commissioner of Police, Avadi	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[60]
Commissioner of Police, Tambaram	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)

Telangana Police

See also: Cyberabad Metropolitan Police, Hyderabad City Police, Karimnagar Police Commissionerate, Nizamabad Police, Rachakonda commissionerate, Ramagundam Police Commissionerate, Siddipet Police Commissionerate and Warangal Police Commissionerate.

Post	Rank	Reference
Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[61]
Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[62]
Commissioner of Police, Karimnagar	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[63]
Commissioner of Police, Nizamabad	Superintendent of Police (SP)	^[64]
Commissioner of Police, Khammam	Superintendent of Police (SP)	^[65]
Commissioner of Police, Rachakonda	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[66]
Commissioner of Police, Ramagundam	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[67]
Commissioner of Police, Siddipet	Superintendent of Police (SP)	^[68]
Commissioner of Police, Warangal	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[69]

Uttar Pradesh Police

See also: Lucknow Police, Kanpur Nagar Police Commissionerate, Varanasi Police Commissionerate, Gautam Buddh Nagar Police Commissionerate, Ghaziabad Police Commissionerate and Agra Police Commissionerate.

Post	Rank	Reference
Commissioner of Police, Lucknow	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[70]
Commissioner of Police, Kanpur	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[71]
Commissioner of Police, Agra	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[72]
Commissioner of Police, Gautam Buddha Nagar	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[73]
Commissioner of Police, Ghaziabad	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[74]
Commissioner of Police, Prayagraj	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[75]
Commissioner of Police, Varanasi	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[76]

West Bengal Police

See also: Kolkata Police.

Post	Rank	Reference
Commissioner of Police, Asansol-Durgapur	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[77]
Commissioner of Police, Siliguri	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[78]
Commissioner of Police, Kolkata	Additional Director General of Police (ADG)	^[79]
Commissioner of Police, Howrah	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[80]
Commissioner of Police, Chandannagar	Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)	^[81]
Commissioner of Police, Bidhannagar	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[82]
Commissioner of Police, Barrackpore	Inspector General of Police (IG)	^[83]

States and UTs without CP

The following police forces in India do not have Police Commissionerate (i.e. Commissioner of Police or CP) system:-

States

• Arunachal Pradesh Police
• Bihar Police
• Chhattisgarh Police
• Goa Police
• Himachal Pradesh Police
• Jharkhand Police
• Manipur Police
• Meghalaya Police
• Mizoram Police
• Sikkim Police
• Tripura Police
• Uttarakhand Police

Among the 10 most populous states of India, only Bihar (3rd most populous) does not have CP system in any of its cities.

Union territories

• • Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Chandigarh Police
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Police
• Jammu and Kashmir Police
• Ladakh Police
• Lakshadweep Police
• Puducherry Police

Largest cities without CP

Among the Indian cities having population above 1.5 million (2011 Census), the only city which does not have CP system is Patna.^[84]

See also

• Director general of police
• District magistrate
• Divisional commissioner
• Law enforcement in India
• Municipal commissioner
• Police forces of India
• Police ranks and insignia of India

Notes and References

1. News: Explained: What is a police commissionerate system. Indian Express. 15 January 2020. 17 May 2021.
2. Impact of police commissionerates on police effectiveness and policing outcomes. . Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), Government of India.
3. Web site: About us . Hyderabad City Police . 25 May 2022.
4. Web site: Know your police station . The Economic Times. 2 December 2013. 25 May 2022.
5. News: Narayanan . Vivek . 11 October 2013 . From paddy fields to colonial houses . The Hindu . Chennai . 31 May 2021.
6. News: Chaware . Dilip . 24 November 2003 . How the city police slowly lost its glory . . 31 May 2021.
7. Web site: The Empire At Its Zenith . Kolkata Police.
8. Web site: Organizational Structure Pune City Police . 2023-12-09 . admin.punepolice.gov.in.
9. IMPACT OF POLICE COMMISSIONERATES ON POLICE EFFECTIVENESS AND POLICING OUTCOMES ; Bureau of Police Research and Development Government of India.https://www.bprd.nic.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/file/202212280356389608596ImpactofPoliceCPEPO.pdf
10. Web site: Official Website of Visakhapatnam City Police. vizagcitypolice.gov.in.
11. Web site: VijayawadaPolice – Providing Effective & Efficient Police Services.
12. Web site: Commissionerate of Police Guwahati.
13. Web site: Delhi Police.
14. Web site: Police | Ahmedabad District, Government Of Gujarat | India.
15. Web site: Authorities. www.suratmunicipal.gov.in.
16. Web site: Police | District Rajkot, Government of Gujarat | India.
17. Web site: પોલીસ કમિશનરશ્રીની કચેરી,વડોદરા. cpvadodara.gujarat.gov.in.
18. Web site: Gurugram Police, Government of Haryana. gurgaon.haryanapolice.gov.in.
19. Web site: Faridabad Police, Government of Haryana. faridabad.haryanapolice.gov.in.
20. Web site: Panchkula Police, Government of Haryana. panchkula.haryanapolice.gov.in.
21. Web site: Bangalore Commissionerate of Police. 2021-05-16. 2018-02-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20180202232017/http://www.bcp.gov.in/. dead.
22. Web site: Bangalore Commissionerate of Police. live. Indian Express. https://web.archive.org/web/20210603080742/https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2021/apr/30/bengaluru-police-chief-promoted-to-dgp-rank-2296625.html . 2021-06-03 .
23. Web site: Police | District Belagavi, Government of Karnataka | India.
24. Web site: Dharwad district website. dharwad.nic.in.
25. Web site: Who's Who | Kalaburagi District | Government of Karnataka | India.
26. Web site: Mangalore City Police.
27. Web site: COMMISSIONER OF POLICE | District Mysuru, Government of Karnataka | Heritage city | India.
28. Web site: Thiruvananthapuram City Police.
29. Web site: Kochi City Police.
30. Web site: Kozhikode City Police.
31. Web site: Kollam City Police.
32. Web site: Thrissur City Police.
33. Web site: Kannur City Police.
34. Web site: Madhya Pradesh: Commissionerate system notified for Bhopal, Indore. Times of India.
35. Web site: Mumbai City Police. mumbaipolice.gov.in.
36. Web site: Pune City Police. www.punepolice.gov.in.
37. Web site: Nagpur Police. nagpurpolice.gov.in.
38. Web site: मुख पृष्ठ | ठाणे शहर पोलीस. www.thanepolice.gov.in.
39. Web site: Senior Police Officers | Navi Mumbai Police. www.navimumbaipolice.gov.in.
40. Web site: Nashik City Police.
41. Web site: Aurangabad City Police.
42. Web site: Senior Police Officers | Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar Police. www.mbvv.mahapolice.gov.in.
43. Web site: Senior Police Officers | Pimpri Chinchwad Police. pcpc.gov.in.
44. Web site: Solapur City Police.
45. Web site: Amravati City Police. www.amravaticitypolice.gov.in.
46. Web site: Organizational Structure. mumbairlypolice.gov.in.
47. Web site: NAGALAND POLICE. police.nagaland.gov.in.
48. Web site: Police Commissionerate – We Care – We Dare.
49. Web site: Amritsar Police, Punjab Police Amritsar. amritsarcitypolice.gov.in.
50. Web site: Welcome To Ludhiana Police Official Website. ludhianapolice.in.
51. Web site: Jalandhar Police.
52. Web site: Jaipur Police.
53. Web site: Jodhpur City Police.
54. Web site: Who's Who; Chennai District; India.
55. Web site: Contact Directory; Coimbatore District, Government of Tamil Nadu.
56. Web site: Tamil Nadu Police Citizen Portal.
57. Web site: Directory | Salem District, Government of Tamil Nadu.
58. News: New Tirupur commissioner of police says he will ensure people friendly policing. The Times of India. 3 July 2020 .
59. Web site: Who's Who | TIRUCHIRAPPALLI DISTRICT, Govt. of Tamil Nadu.
60. News: Tambaram, Avadi police commissioner police commissionerates get new officers in latest reshuffle. . 30 January 2022 .
61. Web site: Official Website of Hyderabad City Police. hyderabadpolice.gov.in.
62. Web site: Cyberabad Metropolitan Police. www.cyberabadpolice.gov.in.
63. Web site: Karimnagar Police Commissionerate. www.karimnagarpolice.in.
64. Web site: Official website of Nizamabad Police. www.nizamabadpolice.in.
65. Web site: Khammam City.
66. Web site: Rachakonda Police Commissionerate. rachakondapolice.telangana.gov.in.
67. Web site: Official Website of Ramagundam Police. ramagundampolice.in.
68. Web site: Siddipet Police Commissionerate. siddipetpolice.telangana.gov.in.
69. Web site: Warangal Rural District.
70. Web site: Uttar Pradesh Police | Police Units | Police Commissionerate Lucknow. uppolice.gov.in.
71. Web site: Uttar Pradesh Police | Police Units | Police Commissionerate Kanpur | Officials. uppolice.gov.in.
72. Web site: Yogi Adityanath's BIG STEP - UP's Agra, Ghaziabad, Prayagraj are commissionerate now . 2022-11-27 . MSN . en-IN.
73. Web site: Uttar Pradesh Police | Police Units | Police Commissionerate G.B. Nagar | Officials. uppolice.gov.in.
74. Web site: Govt order issued to introduce police commissionerate in Agra, Ghaziabad & Prayagraj . 2022-11-27 . MSN . en-IN.
75. Web site: 2022-11-26 . Police commissionerate system in Agra, Ghaziabad & Prayagraj . 2022-11-27 . The Indian Express . en.
76. Web site: Uttar Pradesh Police | Police Units | Police Commissionerate Varanasi | Officials. uppolice.gov.in.
77. Web site: ASANSOL-DURGAPUR POLICE COMMISSIONERATE.
78. Web site: Siliguri Metropolitan Police. siliguripc.wbpolice.gov.in.
79. Web site: Kolkata Police. www.kolkatapolice.gov.in.
80. Web site: Home. howrahcitypolice.in.
81. Web site: Chandannagar Police Commissionerate. chandannagarpolice.wb.gov.in.
82. Web site: Welcome to Bidhannagar City Police. bidhannagarcitypolice.gov.in.
83. Web site: Barrackpore City Police. barrackporecitypolice.in.
84. Web site: Provisional Census data . . https://web.archive.org/web/20120507135928/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/paper2/data_files/India2/Table_2_PR_Cities_1Lakh_and_Above.pdf . dead . 7 May 2012.