The ranks of the Police department or the organizational structure of the UK Police slightly varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. However, the functional structure means; the levels of the officers, according to the job roles remain the same in the police organizations. The titles may changes but the responsibilities remain the same. Each and every organization has a basic structure, which consists of some basic officers starting the UK police hierarchy. Above them are supervisors who supervise their work. The next higher level is of the commanders who manage the work of supervisors and finally a leader or head who leads the entire police force.
The above is a basic structure that we have discussed. We will now discuss each and every level or rank of the UK police hierarchy in details. The different ranks are denoted by the epaulettes worn on the police uniforms. In addition, each and every officer is designated with a unique number at the time of joining the police force. Here are the detailed police ranks and their job functions, staring from the lower grades.
Police Officer: This post is the beginning of the law enforcement career. The duties of a police officer includes:
- Regular patrolling.
- Interviewing the witnesses or suspects.
- Booking suspects and transporting them to the respective UK courts.
- Responding to the radio calls.
Police Detective: The detectives work for specialized divisions such as narcotics ad burglary. The duties of the detectives include:
- Visiting the crime locations and conducting investigations.
- Writing investigative reports.
- Establishing informants.
Police Sergeant: The police sergeants are assigned work in different geographical patrol divisions, by the higher authorities. The main job duties of sergeants are:
- They provide training to the probationary officers.
- They inspect the equipment and uniforms at regular intervals of time.
- They review all relevant reports and submit the updated reports to the higher authorities.
Police Lieutenant: The lieutenants perform various administrative tasks and also assist the detective divisions. The detailed job responsibilities of a lieutenant are:
- Managing the sergeants and the police officers.
- Responding to the crime scenes that concerned with an officer involved shooting.
- Supervising the daily activities, crime and accident reports.
Police captain: The police captains work in specialized divisions. The main responsibilities includes:
- Inspecting the work of the employees.
- Interviewing candidates for employment within the organization.
- Teaching in the police academy classes.
Police Commander: The main activities of a police commander are:
- Managing the activities of patrol officers.
- Coordinating the various investigations in compliance with the departmental policies and procedures.
Police Deputy Chief: This is the second highest position in the UK police hierarchy.
- They work as commanding officers for different bureaus such as detective bureau, human resource bureau and geographic operations bureau.
- They oversee all the functions of the officers of the bureau and the patrolling officers also.
Chief of Police: This is the highest rank of the police department.
- The chief manages all the operational and administrative aspects of the city’s police department.
- The chief develops and implements new rules and regulations.
- The chief responds to the complaints made by the citizen.
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