Kolkata Police
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Kolkata Police Force কলকাতা পুলিশ |
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| Common name | Kolkata Police |
| Abbreviation | KP |
Logo of the Kolkata Police Force
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| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1856 |
| Employees | 29,973 |
| Annual budget | ₹898 crore (US$130 million) |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | Police area of Kolkata, India |
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| Map of Kolkata Police Force's jurisdiction. | |
| Size | 243 sq km |
| Population | 45,80,544 (within 200.71 km**) |
| General nature |
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| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | 18, Lalbazar Street, Kolkata 700 001 |
| Elected officer responsible | Rajeev Kumar, Commissioner |
| Parent agency | Ministry of Home Affairs (West Bengal) |
| Facilities | |
| Stations | 77 |
| Website | |
| www.kolkatapolice.gov.in | |
| Footnotes | |
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* Police area agency: Prescribed geographic area in the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. Note: * As per 2001 Census **As per Penguin India Reference Yearbook 2007 edition |
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The Kolkata Police Force is one of the three police forces of the Indian state of West Bengal. Kolkata Police has the task of policing the metropolitan area of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India, as defined under the Calcutta Police Act, 1866 and the Calcutta Suburban Police Act,1866. The primary functions of the forces are maintaining law and order in the city, traffic management, prevention and detection of crime and co-ordinating various citizen-centric services for the people of Kolkata. As of 2014, Kolkata Police has 8 divisions covering 69 Police Stations. It has a strength of approximately 27,000 and a territorial jurisdiction of 243 km2 (approx). There are 8 battalions of armed forces as well as specialised branches. The force also uses various modern technologies for effective handling of unconventional crimes, terrorism and related activities.
The history of the present structure of policing in Kolkata goes back to colonial times, when the city was known as "Calcutta", and was an early settlement of the English East India Company. Calcutta was founded on the eastern banks of the Hooghly by an Englishman, Job Charnock in 1690. Policing in Calcutta's earliest days was confined to the Mughal administration and their local representatives. Bengal was still technically a part of the Mughal Empire, but the Nawabs of Bengal, based in Murshidabad in North Bengal, were its effective rulers. The Watch and Ward functions were entrusted to a Kotwal or town prefect who had 45 peons under him, armed with traditional weapons like staves and spears, to deal with miscreants.
In 1720, the East India Company formally appointed an officer to be in charge of civil and criminal administration. He was assisted by an Indian functionary commonly known as black deputy or black zamindar. Under him were three naib-dewans, one of whom was in charge of the police. The settlement was divided into "thanas" (Police stations) under "thanadars" who had in turn contingents of "naiks" and "paiks". A small contingent of river police was also formed. A statute passed in the year 1778 raised the strength of the police in Calcutta to 700 paiks, 31 thanadars and 34 naibs under a superintendent. In 1785 commissioners of conservancy were appointed for the town who also ooked after watch and ward. Policing was still very loosely organised. In 1794, justices of peace were appointed for the municipal administration of Calcutta and its suburbs, under a chief magistrate who was directly in charge of the Police. In 1806 justices of peace were constituted as magistrates of 24 Parganas and parts of the adjacent districts within a 20-mile radius of the town.
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Wikipedia