POLICE CHAIN OF COMMAND - PERSONNEL BRANCH

POLICE CHAIN OF COMMAND -

The United States police rank model is generally quasimilitary in structure.

Chief of police/police commissioner/ sheriff

The actual title varies between the small towns and large metropolitan areas to counties . This individual is most often appointed by a mayor or city council.

Assistant Chief/Assistant Commissioner/ Assistant Sheriff

This position is usually only found within highly populated cities and/or counties.

Deputy Chief/Deputy Commissioner/Deputy Superintendent/Chief Deputy/undersheriff:

This rank serves as the first lieutenant to the Chief of Police or County Sheriff, often serving as a warden within a county jail.

Inspector/commander:

An inspector is another investigative officer, but outranks a captain. Most often the inspector oversees entire divisions of lower ranking detectives and officers within a precinct, district or borough.

Colonel:

The rank of colonel is most often used within state police agencies as their highest executive ranking officer .

Major/deputy inspector

The rank of major or deputy inspector is not present in all cities and departments. In cities where they do exist, they manage police stations.

Captain:

a captain may in charge of an entire division or an entire precinct. It is considered an upper level management position .

Lieutenant:

Managing several sergeants and their squads, lieutenants often oversee entire division within a department such as Homicide or Domestic Violence or lower divisions within larger cities.

Sergeant:

A sergeant is the first line of supervising ranks within a police department. He or she oversees a watch shift, a squad or area of a precinct. s.

Detective/Inspector/Investigator

The second lowest in police department ranking is the detective, which is an investigative specialist who visits crime scenes and interviews suspects and witnesses as well as testify in courts of law .