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76-674: Chief Constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police , as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police , Ministry of Defence Police , and Civil Nuclear Constabulary . The title is also held by the chief officers of

152-643: A head constable , although this rank was superseded by chief constable in most forces in the later 19th century and early 20th century and was almost completely abolished by the Police Act 1919 . Liverpool City Police was the only large force to retain it until then. The first woman to hold the rank of chief constable was Pauline Clare , appointed Chief Constable of the Lancashire Constabulary on 14 June 1995. The population of areas for which chief constables are responsible varies from under

228-425: A velcro tab on their stab vest or on a badge attached to their shirt or tunic. Officers in all forces of the rank of inspector or above do not usually wear their numbers. In most forces these identification numbers are simple numbers, with one to five digits. The Metropolitan Police and Police Scotland , as well as a few other forces, use a letter and number system: Metropolitan Police: Police Scotland: In

304-446: A " watch committee " and thus appoint constables to "preserve the peace". Before the advent of police authorities, the regulatory bodies for police forces confined to a single borough were these watch committees, whilst those for counties from 1889 had been "standing joint committees" (after 1889 some control passed to the elected county council ; the joint committee also had magistrates). The Police Act 1964 introduced major reforms to

380-609: A "senior police officer" being their immediate deputy. The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police is often considered to be the highest police rank within the United Kingdom, although in reality every chief constable and the two commissioners are supreme over their own forces and are not answerable to any other officer. Epaulettes are normally black with white sewn on or silver metal insignia, although high-visibility uniforms are often yellow with black insignia. The rank of an officer can be found in varying details of

456-430: A black, this is to match their green uniforms. Headgear rank marking is the same as for England and Wales. Police Scotland headwear is slightly different for the following ranks: City of London Police insignia are gold where that of other forces is silver. For example, rank insignia and collar numbers on epaulettes are gold, as are the bands and oak leaves on the caps of senior officers, and officers of or above

532-703: A crown in the place of their divisional letters, whilst keeping their collar number and chevrons. The City of London Police use a different colour scheme for their police headwear. Instead of the black and white sillitoe tartan they use red and white. The assistant commissioner and commander wear a single row of oak leaves on their hats, and only the commissioner wears two rows. Inspectors and chief inspectors in Merseyside Police wear silver instead of black lace on their hats, as did Liverpool City Police before them. The Metropolitan Police uses different ranks above chief superintendent. The fabric used in

608-517: A hundred thousand to two or three million, and it is commonplace for chief constables for larger force areas to be drawn from the chief constables of smaller forces. A chief constable has no senior officer. Prior to 2012, a chief constable was responsible to a police authority . In England and Wales , the chief constable is now appointed by and accountable to the Police and Crime Commissioner of their service, or to an elected mayor , who may also dismiss

684-619: A joint board: The various special police forces in the United Kingdom each have different oversight arrangements. The British Transport Police , a privately funded police force responsible for policing the railways of Great Britain , is overseen by the British Transport Police Authority . The Authority was created in 2004 by the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 and is made up of approximately 12-15 members, each of whom represents groups concerned with

760-436: A much earlier stage, although they once wore their rank insignia on their collars. Most forces no longer use divisional call numbers, and retain only the collar number and rank insignia. Senior officers usually wear distinguishing marks around the outer edge of the peaks of their caps (or under the capbadge for female officers, who do not wear peaked caps). Normally this is a raised black band for inspectors and chief inspectors,

836-524: A silver (gold in the City of London Police) band for superintendents and chief superintendents, and a row of silver oak leaves for chief officers. Chief constables, the Commissioner of the City of London Police, and all commissioner ranks of the Metropolitan Police wear oakleaves on both the outer and inner edges of their peaks (or a double row beneath the capbadge for female officers). In Scotland, however,

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912-505: A single force, overseen by an independent "police authority". The new police authorities would consist of two-thirds elected members of county or borough councils, and one-third magistrates. Under the Local Government Act 1972 the remaining borough police forces were abolished, and police authorities consisted of county councillors and magistrates in a ratio of two to one. The Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994 altered

988-674: A value for money statement and to outline planned efficiency savings. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Audit Commission (or the Welsh Audit Commission in Wales) began a programme of inspection for police authorities in September 2009. Inspection scores four areas of police authority capability: Each theme was scored from one to four: The police authority was also given an overall score using

1064-579: A wide variety of ranks to meet their organisational needs, especially the Metropolitan Police Service . Ranks have been created, abolished, amalgamated and sometimes revived during the history of British policing. In the following table, "MET only" means those ranks are specific for the Metropolitan Police. The following table presents defunct rank insignia of the Metropolitan Police. Police authority Until 2012/13, individual police authorities were maintained for each of

1140-526: Is a requirement under the College of Policing Public Order Manual that all officers, regardless of rank, display an identifying number on their epaulettes. Therefore, ranks such as inspector have collar/warrant numbers displayed on their public order colour-coded epaulettes that they might not have as part of their normal uniform. Police community support officers bear epaulettes with the words "Police community support officer" and their shoulder number, or, in

1216-412: Is carried out by police officers serving in regional police services known as territorial police forces , some variations in rank organisation, insignia and responsibilities may occur within the United Kingdom. An example of this are the slight variations in the most senior ranks of the Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police . Parallel to the regional services are UK-wide agencies, such as

1292-661: Is overseen by the Northern Ireland Policing Board , and two of the three UK-wide special police forces continue to be overseen by individual police authorities. The oversight of the two police forces serving London continues to be implemented via unique arrangements. The introduction of police forces on a national scale in England and Wales began with the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 , which required each borough to establish

1368-734: Is overseen by the Scottish Police Authority , an independent public body that reports to the Scottish Parliament . The SPA also incorporated the Scottish Police Services Authority , which was the police authority for the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (itself merged into Police Scotland). The following police forces were supervised by one single local authority: The following police forces were supervised by

1444-600: Is still in the hands of the Home Secretary (and constitutionally made by the Monarch), although they must "have regard to any recommendations made" by the Mayor of London since the introduction of that position in 2000. The City of London Corporation has been the police authority for the City of London Police since their formal establishment in 1839. Despite the introduction of police and crime commissioners in 2012,

1520-422: Is the title of the head of each United Kingdom territorial police force except the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police, which are headed by commissioners . Ranks above chief superintendent are usually non-operational management roles, and are often referred to as "chief officer" ranks, but the longer phrase "chief police officer" or similar in legislation is specifically a commissioner or chief constable,

1596-590: The British Army and Royal Marines ; the police versions, however, are of silver on black (gold on black in the City of London Police) rather than gold on red, in keeping with the police uniform colours. The ranks below are used by all territorial forces in the United Kingdom , and the specialist national forces: the British Transport Police , Ministry of Defence Police , and Civil Nuclear Constabulary . Other specialist forces, and those outside of

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1672-578: The British Transport Police and the national specialist units of certain territorial police forces, with a possibility of further variations. Due to policing in many countries developing from military organisations and operations, police ranks in many countries follow a logic similar to that of military ranks . Most of the British police ranks that exist today were, however, deliberately chosen by Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel so that they did not correspond with military ranking. They were enacted under

1748-579: The Home Office in the form of an annual grant (calculated on a proportionate basis by the Home Office to take into account the differences between the 43 forces in England and Wales, which vary significantly in terms of population, geographical size and crime levels and trends), though police authorities could also set a precept on the Council Tax to raise additional funds. The Home Office had

1824-533: The Metropolitan Police Act 1829 . In law, every attested police officer is a constable whatever their actual rank, in the sense that officers of any rank have the same powers of arrest. The basic police powers of arrest and search of an ordinary constable are identical to those of a superintendent or chief constable; however certain higher ranks are given administrative powers to authorise certain police actions. In England and Wales, these include

1900-489: The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 police authorities were abolished and replaced with directly elected police and crime commissioners on 22 November 2012. Many of the outgoing members of police authorities stood for the role of PCC, highlighting their successive experience in the field, and many were elected. The Metropolitan Police and City of London Police have historically been exceptions to

1976-675: The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (England and Wales only), sergeants and chief inspectors may be designated (by an officer of at least the rank of superintendent) to exercise the powers of an inspector or a superintendent respectively. Such a designation will generally accompany such an officer being given an acting rank, so for most operational purposes there is no difference between substantive, temporary and acting ranks at Inspector and above (although there may be differences as to pay, pensions and insignia). However, under section 36 of that act, only substantive sergeants may be appointed custody officers . Traffic wardens were administered by

2052-432: The United Kingdom , concerned fears that the new forces might become paramilitary agents of central government control. To this day other British police ranks , such as inspector and superintendent , are determinedly non-paramilitary – only police sergeants hold a quasi-military rank and even then the term sergeant had long existed as a non-military officer of subordinate rank. The County Police Act 1839 gave

2128-529: The West Midlands and Greater Manchester , down to £127,017 in Central Scotland . The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and their deputy are paid significantly more than any chief constable, partly because the Metropolitan Police has national anti-terrorism and security duties that overlap with other local forces, but also because the Metropolitan Police is by far the largest force in

2204-412: The divisional superintendents and the two assistant commissioners . These officers were to be generally military officers, civil servants or lawyers who were directly appointed to the rank. This caused a certain amount of concern, since some saw it as the creation of an "officer class" for the police, which had always been resisted. Their rank badge consisted of crossed tipstaves in a wreath. In 1886,

2280-501: The "chief officers" of a force. The salaries of chief constables vary from force to force, primarily on the basis of the population of their force's territory, but the amounts are fixed centrally. As of 2022, the highest paid is the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland , on £230,000, in recognition of the unique security challenges and political sensitivity of that office. Other salaries range from £181,455 in

2356-740: The 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales , and for the 8 territorial police forces in Scotland . Police authorities in England and Wales were abolished in November 2012, and replaced with directly elected police and crime commissioners , and those in Scotland were merged in April 2013 to form the Scottish Police Authority as part of the creation of Police Scotland , the single police force for Scotland. The Police Service of Northern Ireland

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2432-476: The Home Office police forces, they are usually much smaller in terms of personnel, and therefore utilise fewer of the 'standard' ranks. Officers taking part in public order and public safety (POPS) events and incidents wear colour-coded rank slides to denote command and support roles. Bronze commanders can be of varying ranks and not just chief inspectors as shown below. Tactical advisers can also be of differing ranks, but are most commonly constables or sergeants. It

2508-446: The Metropolitan Police, a borough identification code and shoulder number. South Yorkshire Police PCSO supervisors wear a bar above the words "Police community support officer supervisor" and the shoulder number. The following table serves as an example of ranks within volunteer police cadet schemes, which vary considerably. Cadets appointed "mayor's cadets" are given a special badge or epaulettes to wear. All police forces have used

2584-797: The Metropolitan Police, the borough code is a two-letter code which follows the digits (but displayed above them on epaulettes). Before the reorganisation into boroughs, each division had a different code, with sergeants having two-digit numbers and constables having three-digit numbers. Badges of rank are usually worn on the epaulettes . However, when in their formal uniform sergeants wear their rank insignia on their upper sleeves. When police tunics had closed collars (not open collars as worn with ties), constables and sergeants did not wear epaulettes but had their divisional call number on their collar (hence they are still often referred to as collar numbers ). Sergeants wore their stripes on their upper sleeve. Inspectors and more senior ranks wore epaulettes at

2660-555: The SC identity (with or without a crown) to distinguish ranks (and/or role). There are, in the United Kingdom, a number of miscellaneous constabularies. These are not operated, regulated or funded by the Home Office, although they are fully authorised (by Act of Parliament) establishments. In general, they provide the policing for ports, docks, tunnels, or other particular institutions. Although these forces tend to require high standards of training and accountability, which closely mirror those of

2736-640: The United Kingdom (including British Overseas Territories such as Bermuda and Gibraltar , which are parts of the British sovereign territory in most of which internal competencies of governance are mostly delegated to local governments, and the Crown Dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man , which are not parts of the British sovereign territory) use the same general system, but often have fewer senior ranks. Chief constable

2812-513: The bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms. Most of the police forces of the United Kingdom (including those of the British Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies ) use a standardised set of ranks. However, as law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in the three jurisdictions of England and Wales , Northern Ireland , and Scotland , and as most law enforcement

2888-562: The chief constable. The chief constable's badge of rank, worn on the epaulettes , consists of crossed tipstaffs in a laurel wreath , surmounted by a crown. This is similar to the insignia of a lieutenant-general in the British Army, and is also worn by an assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police . The chief constable is assisted by a deputy chief constable (DCC) and one or more assistant chief constables (ACC). The chief constable, DCC and ACCs are collectively known as

2964-443: The composition of the authorities with independent members being added. Typically, a police authority was made up of seventeen members – nine elected members (who were drawn from the local authority or authorities for the force area, and would be reflective of the political makeup of those authorities). The remaining eight members were called independent members, and were appointed from the local community for fixed terms of four years by

3040-601: The constables and sergeants also have an addition of the Isle of Man Constabulary logo and motto above their collar numbers. Headgear rank marking is the same as for England and Wales. Special constabulary epaulettes frequently bear the letters SC (with or without a crown above) to differentiate them from regular officers. Within the City of London Special Constabulary is the Honourable Artillery Company Specials; members of this unit wear HAC on

3116-654: The control of the Mayor of London , and reporting to the Police and Crime Committee of the London Assembly . Unlike the other police forces in England and Wales, where the chief officer is appointed by the locally elected police and crime commissioner, the national and international importance of the work of the Metropolitan Police means the appointment of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner

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3192-523: The control, operation or use of the railways. They include representatives of the railway operators, railway users (freight and passenger), employees and the appropriate government departments dealing with transport in England, Scotland and Wales. The Civil Nuclear Constabulary , which polices nuclear power-related facilities and shipments in the United Kingdom, is overseen by the Civil Nuclear Police Authority . The Authority

3268-585: The counties of England and Wales the opportunity to establish full-time police forces, headed by a chief constable who was appointed by the justices of the peace of the county. The first county to implement this was Wiltshire Constabulary , which appointed Captain Samuel Meredith RN its first chief constable on 28 November 1839. Other counties followed this pattern; for instance, Essex appointed its first chief constable on 11 February 1840. Originally, most borough police forces were commanded by

3344-542: The country. As of 2011, the commissioner earns an annual salary of £260,088, whilst their deputy earns £214,722. In London , the Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police are led by commissioners rather than chief constables. Chief constable was, however, a lower rank in the Metropolitan Police which existed between 1886 and 1946. In 1869, the divisions of the Metropolitan Police were grouped into four districts, and four new officers called district superintendents were appointed to command them, ranking between

3420-411: The crowns is blue, whereas other police forces use red. Although they rank as deputy chief constables, deputy assistant commissioners wear two rows of oak leaves on their hats. The Isle of Man police ranks follow the structure of other British police rank structures however it is notably missing the chief superintendent and assistant chief constable ranks within their own structure. The epaulettes for

3496-509: The districts in 1933, with the chief constables remaining as their deputies until the latter rank was finally renamed deputy commander in 1946. Police ranks of the United Kingdom Police ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships in police organisations. The rank system defines authority and responsibility in a police organisation, and affects the culture within the police force. Usually, uniforms denote

3572-710: The function of the Corporation as the police authority was retained by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 . This function is currently exercised by the Police Authority Board of the Court of Common Council , the elected body that runs the Corporation. Eleven of the members of the Board — including the chair and their deputy — are elected members of the Common Council, and

3648-532: The lower sleeve in formal uniform. PSNI officers do not wear the custodian helmet and female officers wear a different hat from other forces. The PSNI rank structure and epaulette insignia is the same as the territorial police in Great Britain, except that the crown is replaced with the design from the PSNI badge and sergeants' chevrons are point up. In addition to the epaulettes being a green colour rather than

3724-499: The mark is a silver band for inspectors and chief inspectors, a silver band and silver oakleaves on the outer and inner edges of the peak respectively for superintendents and chief superintendents, and silver oakleaves on the outer and inner edges of the peak for all chief officers. Additionally, officers at or above the rank of commander or assistant chief constable wear gorget patches on the collars of their tunics. The gorget patches are patterned after those worn by general officers of

3800-695: The national rule. The Metropolitan Police were under the direct control of the Home Secretary from their establishment in 1829 until 2000, when the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) was established under the Greater London Authority to oversee the force. The MPA was replaced in January 2012, alongside the introduction of police and crime commissioners, by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime , under

3876-536: The organisation and oversight of the police in England and Wales, following the report of the Royal Commission on the Police in 1962. The 1964 act abolished the old watch committee system which had come under severe criticism following several high-profile corruption scandals. The act introduced police areas , which would be administrative counties, county boroughs or "combined police areas", consisting of combinations of counties and county boroughs, served by

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3952-487: The other three are appointed independent members. The appointment of the Commissioner of the City of London Police is now made by the Common Council (although technically by the Monarch). The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is supervised by the Northern Ireland Policing Board , of which ten are members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and nine are independent. The Board and the PSNI are

4028-469: The perceived lack of accountability of police authorities to the communities they served. The Conservatives proposed to replace them with a single elected individual (a 'police and crime commissioner', criticised as a model by some in policing), whilst the Liberal Democrats proposed to introduce direct elections to police authorities, whilst strengthening their powers. Following Royal Assent of

4104-769: The police and exercised some police powers to control traffic or issue fixed penalty notices for traffic offences. As of September 2017 , very few police traffic wardens exist with a legacy of only ten police traffic wardens remaining in England and Wales. Section 46 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 has in effect abolished police traffic wardens allowing police to focus on their core duties. The duties of traffic wardens have been passed to local authority civil enforcement officers (formerly parking attendants ) who, under decriminalised parking enforcement , have powers to issue penalty charge notices for breaches of parking laws on highways or in local authority car parks and compel

4180-590: The police authority itself - a long list, from applications received, was submitted by a committee of elected members and magistrates to the Home Office . That committee then appointed the independent members from a shortlist returned by the Home Office. At least three of the police authority's independent members were magistrates. There was no difference in power or responsibility between the different types of member – there were examples of elected, independent and magistrate members chairing police authorities throughout England and Wales. The bulk of police funding came from

4256-551: The police forces of Scotland and Northern Ireland and non-territorial special police forces have different jurisdictions. See List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories for a fuller description of jurisdictions. Officers holding ranks up to and including chief superintendent who are members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) or Special Branch (and certain other units) have

4332-400: The power to prevent any precept increases deemed to be excessive. It was the police authority's responsibility to set the budget for the force area, which included allocating itself enough money from the overall policing budget to ensure that it can discharge its own functions effectively. In its annual Policing Plan, a police authority was obliged to publish its budget for the year, as well as

4408-557: The powers to: In relation to police officers of the Home Office or territorial police forces of England and Wales, section 30 of the Police Act 1996 states that "a member of a police force shall have all the powers and privileges of a Constable throughout England and Wales and the adjacent United Kingdom waters". Police officers do not need to be on duty to exercise their powers and can act off-duty if circumstances require it (technically placing themselves back on duty). Officers from

4484-403: The prefix " detective " before their rank. Due to the nature of their duties, these officers generally wear plain clothes (except for ceremonial purposes) and so do not wear the corresponding rank insignia; however, they still operate within the same structure as their uniformed counterparts. In the United Kingdom, detective ranks are not superior to those of uniformed officers and a detective has

4560-419: The prefix "special"), only some have reverted to regular rank insignia. Senior special constables have no authority over regular officers, but very experienced officers may occasionally be given administrative supervision of mixed units of regular and special constables for certain events where no regular supervisory officer is available. Constables who are training to become detective constables sometimes bear

4636-764: The principal Crown Dependency police forces (the Isle of Man Constabulary , States of Guernsey Police Service , and States of Jersey Police ) and the Sovereign Base Areas Police in Cyprus. The title was also held, ex officio , by the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers under the Police Reform Act 2002 . It was also the title of the chief officer of the Royal Parks Constabulary until this agency

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4712-561: The production of a disabled parking permit (blue badge) for inspection. All officers have a unique identification number. These are usually referred to as shoulder or collar numbers, referring to the fact that they were once worn on the uniform collar and later on the epaulettes by constables and sergeants. Uniformed officers in many forces still wear them on the epaulettes, but other forces have badges or other ways of displaying their identification numbers. Kent Police, for instance, refers to its numbers as force numbers and officers wear them on

4788-675: The purposes of the law (for example, authorisations to order the removal of disguises or to set up roadblocks ). Originally, specials held the same ranks and used the same rank insignia as regular officers, but there was a general shift to distinct terms such as "area officer" and "divisional officer" in the 1980s. However, since 2000, the National Policing Improvement Agency has encouraged special constabularies to return to rank structures and epaulette insignia identical to their regular counterparts. Although most forces have now reverted to regular rank titles (with

4864-454: The rank of commander wear gold-on-black gorget patches on the collars of their tunics. The City of London Police also previously had variations for some acting ranks such as sergeant and inspector: acting sergeants wore their chevrons above their divisional letters (or later "CP" for all officers, following the abolition of the force's divisions), whereas substantive sergeants wear them below their collar numbers. Acting inspectors were denoted by

4940-438: The rank of district superintendent was renamed chief constable, as it was decided that it could be confused with the divisional superintendents. Unlike their superiors, chief constables were actually sworn into the office of constable , hence the name. A fifth chief constable was later created in the Criminal Investigation Department . In 1919 the rank became junior to the new rank of deputy assistant commissioners , who took over

5016-442: The role of a higher rank than the one actually held (sometimes informally termed "acting up"). Temporary ranks are often used for set periods (e.g. a six-month appointment to a particular role), whereas acting ranks, although sometimes held for extended periods, are often used for a very short time (e.g. a single shift when additional supervisory officers are required, or to replace an officer on short-term leave). Under section 107 of

5092-751: The same 1-4 system. Ten inspection reports were published, with the majority of inspected authorities scoring 2. The inspectorates published "Learning Lessons: An overview of the first ten joint inspections of police authorities by HMIC and the Audit Commission", outlining their findings from the first ten inspections, in March 2010. In the 2010 British general election campaign , both the Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats ' manifestos outlined plans, respectively, to replace or reform police authorities, both parties raising concerns about

5168-444: The same powers and authority as a uniformed officer of the same rank. The "detective" prefix designates that the officer has received suitable training and passed related examinations to conduct serious or complex criminal investigations. There are various grades of special constable which assist in the tasking and management of the constabulary. The ranks are management grades; those holding them are not "sergeants" or "inspectors" for

5244-458: The same rank system as elsewhere in the United Kingdom on 1 June 1970, but has a different version of the rank insignia, with the star from the PSNI badge replacing the crown. Unusually, the star is worn below the pip by chief superintendents and by the chief constable, who wears both symbols above his tipstaves. The PSNI has retained the RUC's distinctive inverted (point-up) sergeants' chevrons, worn on

5320-649: The shoulders in addition to other insignia. Senior special constables wear the same markings on their hats as equivalent regular ranks. There is a large variation in the design of epaulettes used across Great Britain for specials. This has been recognised at national level and as part of the Special Constabulary National Strategy 2018–2023 the structure and insignia is under review with the intention to standardise. Other special constabularies use combinations of bars, half bars, pips, crowns, laurel wreaths, collar numbers, force crests and

5396-648: The successors to the Police Authority for Northern Ireland and Royal Ulster Constabulary respectively, who they replaced on 4 November 2001. In Scotland , supervision of the police was historically the responsibility of the elected local authority which either directly supervised the local police force where its border was conterminous with the force, or through joint boards with neighbouring local authorities where one forces covered more than one council area. The eight territorial police forces in Scotland were replaced in April 2013 by Police Scotland , which

5472-517: The title of chief constable. The title is derived from the original local parish constables of the 18th century and earlier. Constable and constabulary were terms adopted in an attempt to provide a historical link with the older forces - the term is derived from the Latin comes stabuli (keeper of the stables) - and to emphasise local control. Much of the debate about policing in the early 19th century, when modern police forces were introduced in

5548-411: The title trainee investigator (T/I) or trainee detective constable (T/DC). The prefix "temporary" before a rank (e.g. temporary detective sergeant, abbreviated T/DS) denotes an officer who has been temporarily promoted to a rank (and so who does actually hold that rank, albeit on a temporary basis), whilst the prefix "acting" (e.g. acting inspector, abbreviated A/Insp) denotes an officer who is performing

5624-559: The uniform such as headgear, sleeve patches and tunic collar details. Insignia on hats and uniforms can vary between forces within the UK and the following tables below will not accurately represent all constabularies within the UK. As a variation to the standard set, the deputy chief constable of the British Transport Police wears two rows of oak leaves on their hat. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) adopted

5700-644: Was created in 2004 by the Energy Act 2004 ; it is made up of eight members; four are nominated by the nuclear industry, while the remaining four include the Chairman. The Ministry of Defence Police does not have a police authority; however, the Ministry of Defence Police Committee , established by the Ministry of Defence Police Act 1987 , advises the Secretary of State for Defence on matters concerning

5776-569: Was disbanded in 2004. Throughout the United Kingdom and Crown Dependencies there are currently fifty chief constables. These consist of the chief officers of 37 English territorial forces outside London, four Welsh territorial forces, the Police Service of Scotland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland , three special national forces and three Crown Dependency constabularies. The chief officers of some police departments in Canada also hold

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