State Police refers to the police which is recruited by and works in a particular state and union territories (UTs). They are under the control of the respective State Governements and UTs. In normal parlance, State Police Service refers to directly recruited Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) and Additional Superintendents of Police (on being promoted from DSP rank). But State Police includes all police personnel right from the rank of Additional Superintendent of Police to the rank of Constables.
The State Police consists of personnel of the following ranks:
- Constable or Lady Constable
- Head-Constable
- Assistant Sub-Inspector
- Sub-Inspector or Lady Sub-Inspector
- Inspector
- Deputy Superintendent of Police
- Additional Superintendent of Police
The recruitment generally happens at one of the following ranks in most of the states:
- Constable or Lady Constable
- Sub-Inspector or Lady Sub-Inspector
- Deputy Superintendent of Police
For the recruitment at the above levels, there is generally a written examination followed by an interview. A physical examination is also generally a part of the recruitment process. The recuruitment of DSPs is usually done by the State Public Service Commission where the examination process is generally similar to the examination process for the recruitment of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers. For other ranks, the selection process varies from state to state.
It is to be noted that investigative powers are generally not available to constables and lady constables or head constables. Police personnel get promoted after a few years to the next rank till their retirement. Police personnel from a state cannot get transferred to another state but are able to work at Union Level through deputation process for a fixed number of years.
The websites of various State and UT Police can be found here.
For Wikipedia entry on State Police Service, click here.
For more articles in Policepedia, click here.