Police Commissioner

Police commissioner (also known as the commissioner of police) is a senior rank in many police forces.

The holder is usually an experienced police officer, though some are politically appointed and may or may not actually be a professional officer. In such a case, there is usually a professional chief of police in charge of day-to-day operations. In either event, the commissioner is the designated head of the organization.

In police services of the UK, Commonwealth and USA, the title of commissioner typically designates the head of an entire police force.

A police commissioner should not be confused with a police commissary. In France, Spain and some Latin American countries "commissary" denotes the head of a single police station (analogous to a chief superintendent in UK and Commonwealth countries). However titles such as commissaire in French and comisario in Spanish can mean either commissioner or commissary in English, depending on the context.

The Australian Federal Police and the autonomous Australian state and territory police forces are each presided over by a commissioner, who is accountable to constituents through a minister of state. The state of Victoria at one time (during the 19th-century Gold Rush) appointed commissioners for both the metropolitan area and the goldfields. Outranking both was a "chief commissioner"—a title which has survived the disappearance of the earlier junior commissioners. In Victoria, as elsewhere, the second-highest rank is deputy commissioner.

The insignia of rank worn by a commissioner in the Australian Federal Police and the New South Wales Police Force is a crown over a star and crossed and wreathed tipstaves, similar to the insignia of a military full general. In all other civilian forces, the insignia is a crown over crossed and wreathed tipstaves, similar to the insignia of a military lieutenant-general.

In Canada, the highest-ranking officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and of the Ontario Provincial Police holds the rank of commissioner. In the province of Alberta, the Police Act requires the municipality to appoint police commissioners that are required to provide public oversight of the police. In Alberta's capital city, Edmonton, there are nine commissioners, including two city councillors and seven city-appointed members, the object being to "provide civilian oversight for the police service". The commissioners appoint and oversee a chief of police, to whom is delegated the day-to-day management of the force.

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