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| '''POLICE CONSTABLE''' | |||
| {{Law enforcement in the United Kingdom}} | |||
| Most of the ] use a standardised set of ranks, with a slight variation in the most senior ranks for the ] and ].<ref name="met-ranks">{{cite web | url=http://www.met.police.uk/about/ranks.htm | title=Badges of Rank | publisher=] | accessdate=December 1, 2011 | deadurl=yes | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718172407/http://www.met.police.uk/about/ranks.htm | archivedate=July 18, 2006 | df= }}</ref><ref name="tv-ranks"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122100327/http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/news_info/info/recognising/recog1.htm |date=2007-11-22 }}</ref> Most of the British police ranks that exist today were chosen by ] ], the founder of the Metropolitan Police, enacted under the ]. The ranks at that time were deliberately chosen so that they did not correspond with military ranking (with the exception of Sergeant), because of fears of a ] force. | |||
| In short, the ranks are from bottom to top: | |||
| * ] and ] | |||
| * ] and ] | |||
| * ] and ] | |||
| * ], ] and ] (outside London only). | |||
| See the ] section below for the ranks in London, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. | |||
| ==Rank insignia== | |||
| Badges of rank are usually worn on the ]s. However, when in formal uniform sergeants wear their ] on their upper sleeves.<ref name="met-ranks"/><ref name="tv-ranks"/> When police tunics had closed collars (not open collars as worn with ties), ]s and ]s did not wear epaulettes but had their divisional call number on their collar (whence they are still often referred to as ]s). Sergeants wore their stripes on their upper sleeve. ]s and more senior ranks wore epaulettes at 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. | |||
| {{UK police 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, a silver (gold in the City of London Police) band for superintendents and chief superintendents, and a row of silver (gold in the City of London Police) oakleaves 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, 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 ] on the collars of their tunics. The gorget patches are patterned after those worn by general officers of the ] and ]; 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 above ranks are used by all ] in the ], and the ] national forces: the ], ], and ].<ref>CNC ranks listed {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805230746/http://www.cnc.police.uk/choose-your-career/police-officers/a-job-for-life/career-path |date=2011-08-05 }} on their website.</ref> Other specialist forces, and those outside of the United Kingdom (including the ], the ] and ]) use the same general system, but often have fewer senior ranks. | |||
| ] 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 ]s. Ranks above ] 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, a "senior police officer" being their immediate deputy.<ref>Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011</ref> The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police is often considered to be the highest police rank within the United Kingdom,<ref>, ]</ref> although in reality every Chief Constable and the two Commissioners are supreme over their own forces and are not answerable to any other officer;{{cn|date=July 2014}} there is also the matter that (in the absence of mutual aid arrangements and similar) a police officer of any rank only holds the office of constable in any of the three UK national jurisdiction(s) in which he/she has been attested thus implicitly limiting any general comparison or ranking to a chief police officer's home jurisdiction.{{cn|date=July 2014}} | |||
| Epaulettes are normally black with white sewn on or silver metal insignia, although ] uniforms are often yellow with black insignia. | |||
| ===Uniform insignia=== | |||
| The rank of an officer can be found in varying details of the uniform such as headgear, sleeve patches and tunic collar details, although these details do not vary for every rank. | |||
| <div style="overflow:auto;"> | |||
| {{Police uniform rank insignia}} | |||
| {{Police headgear rank insignia}} | |||
| </div> | |||
| ==Examples of variations== | |||
| ===City of London Police=== | |||
| The ] has different ranks above Chief Superintendent: | |||
| *] (Cmdr) | |||
| *] (AC) | |||
| *] | |||
| City of London Police insignia is gold where that of other forces is silver. For example, rank insignia and collar numbers on epaulettes are gold, as are the bands and oakleaves on the caps of senior officers, and officers of or above 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 number. Acting inspectors were denoted by a crown in the place of their divisional letters, whilst keeping their collar number and chevrons. | |||
| {{City of London rank insignia}} | |||
| ===Royal Ulster Constabulary/Police Service of Northern Ireland=== | |||
| The ] was headed by an ] and had a different rank structure until 1 June 1970, when it fully adopted the rank system used elsewhere in the United Kingdom. The RUC has now been succeeded by the ], which uses the same ranks, but has a different version of the rank insignia, with the star from the PSNI badge replacing the crown.<ref name="psni-ranks"></ref> 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.<br /> | |||
| ] | |||
| ===Isle of Man Constabulary=== | |||
| The ] has fewer ranks above Superintendent: | |||
| *] (DCC) | |||
| *] | |||
| <!--{{IOM Police rank insignia}}--> | |||
| ===Miscellaneous constabularies=== | |||
| {{details|List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom#Miscellaneous constabularies}} | |||
| 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 the Home Office police forces, they are usually much smaller in terms of personnel, and therefore utilise fewer of the 'standard' ranks. <!--One example is shown below, being the rank structure of the ], in Kent. | |||
| {{POD Police rank insignia}}--> | |||
| ==History of police ranks== | |||
| All police forces have used a wide variety of ranks to meet their organisational needs, especially the ]. Ranks have been created, abolished, amalgamated and sometimes revived during the history of British policing. "MET only" means they are specific for the Metropolitan Police. | |||
| {{UK police rank history}} | |||
| ===Defunct rank insignia=== | |||
| <div style="overflow:auto;"> | |||
| {{UK police historic ranks}} | |||
| </div> | |||
| ==Powers== | |||
| In law, every member of a police force is a ] whatever their actual rank, in the sense that, despite being a low-ranking or high-ranking officer, all 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 the powers to: | |||
| * authorise the continued detention of up to 24 hours of a person arrested for an offence and brought to a ] (granted to sergeants and above at designated police stations), | |||
| * authorise section 18 (1) ] house searches (granted to inspectors and above), or | |||
| * extend the length of prisoner detention to 36 hours (granted to Superintendents). | |||
| Some authorities are matters of force or national or force policy and not subject to law, such as authorising the use of ]s, and authorising the use of safe controlled crashes of pursued vehicles, by trained ]. | |||
| In relation to ]s of the ] or ]s 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 the police forces of Scotland and Northern Ireland and non-territorial ]s have different jurisdictions. See ] for a fuller description of jurisdictions. | |||
| == Detectives == | |||
| Officers holding ranks up to and including Chief Superintendent who are members of the ] (CID) or ] (and certain other units) have the prefix "]" 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. | |||
| It is a misconception often portrayed by the media that detective ranks are superior to those of uniformed officers{{fact|date=March 2015}}. In the United Kingdom, this is not the case, and a detective sergeant has the same powers and authority as a uniformed sergeant. The "Detective" prefix designates that the officer has a proven investigative ability and has received suitable training and passed related examinations, to conduct all manner of criminal investigations. <ref>Mental Health Cop — {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213104829/https://mentalhealthcop.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/police-rank-and-roles-explained/ |date=13 February 2018 }}</ref> | |||
| ==Trainee, temporary and acting ranks== | |||
| Constables who are training to become ]s sometimes bear 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 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 the ] (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). On the other hand, under section 36 of that Act, only substantive Sergeants may be appointed ]s. | |||
| ==Identification numbers== | |||
| 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 ] 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 a ] 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 1 to 5 digits. | |||
| The Metropolitan Police, being a much bigger force, uses a different system: | |||
| * Sergeant - borough code and 1, 2 or 3 digits | |||
| * Constable - borough code and 3 or 4 digits | |||
| * ] - borough code and 4 digits, usually beginning with the number 5 (8 for Traffic/Transport or 9 for specialist units) | |||
| * PCSO - borough code and 4 digits, the first digit being a 7 | |||
| The borough code is a two-letter code which follows the digits (but displayed above them on epaulettes). | |||
| Before the reorganisation into boroughs, each ] had a different code, with sergeants having two-digit numbers and constables having three-digit numbers. A few other forces still use divisional codes. | |||
| ==Special constables== | |||
| ]s are volunteer police officers who have exactly the same powers as a regular officer, and (with minor exceptions) wear the same uniform and are issued the same equipment. The roles of "specials" can vary greatly from force to force, though normally include working with local regular officers to provide an additional and heightened police presence on the streets and in the local community. They may also be requested to police particular events such as football matches and community events. | |||
| In virtually all police forces (except Police Scotland), 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 the purposes of the law (for example, authorisations to order the ] or to ]). 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, recent national practice has been for most special constabularies to revert to the regular ranks (with the prefix "Special"), although only Merseyside Police, Durham constabulary and ] 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. | |||
| Special constabulary epaulettes frequently bear the letters "SC" (with or without a crown above) to differentiate them from regular officers. Senior special constables wear the same markings on their hats as equivalent regular ranks. | |||
| ===Forces using regular rank insignia=== | |||
| 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, only ], later followed by ] and the ] have reverted to regular rank insignia. ] will move to the same rank insignia as of 1 January 2017, with the SC crown worn by officers of the rank of sergeant and above only. | |||
| <!-- {{SC Police rank insignia}}--> | |||
| {{SC police NPIA ranks used}} | |||
| ===Forces using "bars" rank insignia=== | |||
| Other special constabularies use combinations of bars, half bars, pips, crowns, laurel wreaths, collar numbers, force crests and the SC identity (with or without a crown) to distinguish ranks (and/or role). | |||
| <div style="overflow:auto;"> | |||
| {{SC police bars ranks used }} | |||
| </div> | |||
| ==Police Community Support Officers (PCSO)== | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ]s in general do not have a rank system: their epaulettes simply bear the words "POLICE COMMUNITY SUPPORT OFFICER" and their shoulder number, or, in the Metropolitan Police, a borough identification code and shoulder number. | |||
| ] and ] have PCSO Supervisors. In South Yorkshire they wear a bar above the words "Police Community Support Officer Supervisor" and the shoulder number. PCSO are not used in Scotland. | |||
| ==Traffic wardens== | |||
| ]s were administered by the police and exercised some police powers to control traffic or issue ]s for traffic offences. Very few police Traffic Wardens now exist with a legacy of only 10 police traffic wardens remaining in England & Wales.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-30-september-2017|title=Police workforce, England and Wales: 30 September 2017|work=GOV.UK|access-date=2018-06-17|language=en}}</ref> Section 46 of the ] has in effect abolished police traffic wardens allowing police to focus on their core duties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/3/section/46|title=Policing and Crime Act 2017|website=www.legislation.gov.uk|language=en|others=Expert Participation|access-date=2018-06-17}}</ref> The duties of traffic wardens have been passed to local authority ]s (formerly ]s) who, under ], have powers to issue penalty charge notices for breaches of parking laws on highways or in local authority car parks and compel the production of a ] (blue badge) for inspection. | |||
| A similar situation has developed in Scotland with the functions of Traffic Wardens been taken over by local councils. In many areas parking legislation has been decriminalised and is enforced solely by council employed parking attendants. | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{Reflist}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
Revision as of 21:02, 24 July 2018
POLICE CONSTABLE