Law enforcement in India

India has a multitude of Law Enforcement agencies. At the Union (federal, central) level, the agencies are part of the Ministry of Home Affairs, and support the states in their duties. The bulk of the police lies at the state level, with each state with their own police force. All senior police officers are members of the Indian Police Service

Police
The police comes under the jurisdiction of individual states. The police reports to the respective states' home department.

State Police
Each state has a state police force, headed by the DGP (Director General of Police). The state police is responsible for maintaining law and order in townships of the state and the rural areas. Top police officers are the Directors General, Inspectors General of Police (IGP) who look after various departments of the police, such as law and order, training, intelligence, technical services, etc., report to the DGP.
 * Some state forces are organized into Police Ranges, headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police, which controls several Police Districts.
 * The Police District is the fulcrum of State Police activity and each Police district of the state is headed by a Superintendent of Police.
 * The Police District is divided into Police Sub-Divisions and will be under the command of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy.SP a state police officer) or Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP an Indian Police Service Officer).
 * The Police Sub Division would be having one or more Police Circles, and would be under the command of an Inspector of Police often referred to as the Circle Inspector (CI).
 * Under the Police Circles are the police stations, generally under the control of a Sub-Inspector or SI. As per the various Indian laws, Sub Inspector (and above) are the only officers who can file a charge sheet in the court. Officers below this rank, do not have very much authority.

Each state police force also maintains its own Armed Police force which is responsible for emergencies and crowd control issues. The Provincial Armed Constabulary (Pradeshik) is an armed reserve maintained at key locations in some states and active only on orders from the deputy inspector general and higher-level authorities. Armed constabulary are not usually in contact with the public until they are assigned to VIP duty or assigned to maintain order during fairs, festivals, athletic events, elections, and natural disasters. They may also be sent to quell outbreaks of student or labor unrest, organized crime, and communal riots; to maintain key guard posts; and to participate in antiterrorist operations. Depending on the type of assignment, the Provincial Armed Constabulary may carry only lathis.

Metropolitan Police
In addition to the state police, major cities have their own police forces. The chief of Metropolitan Police is the Police Commissioner. Reporting to the Police Commissioner are the Joint Police Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner of Police. According to laws in individual states the metropolitan police may or may not be subordinate to the state police

Central Bureau of Investigations
The Central Bureau of Investigation is the prime investigating agency of India. It is India’s official Interpol unit. The CBI draws its officers from the best IPS officers around the country. It is responsible for various crimes and national security. The agency specialises in investigating crimes involving high ranking government officials and politicians.

Criminal Investigations Department
The CID mainly handles crime like murders and such heinous acts, which the local police may not have the expertise to handle.

Home Guards
The Indian Home Guard are an auxiliary police force. They assist the police and the public by maintaining law and order in times of natural and man-made catastrophes.

Railway Protection Force
The RPF is used to guard the Indian Railways. They maintain discipline on platforms as well as travel inside trains to keep passengers secure. Railway accidents are also handled by them.

Central Reserve Police Force
Central Reserve Police Force or CRPF, headed by a Director General is one of the largest and most elite paramilitary organisations in the world. Its main objective is to assist and help state and union territories' law enforcement agencies in maintaining law and order and to contain insurgency. It is also deployed as anti terrorist unit in various parts.

Central Industrial Security Force
The CISF are used to guard industrial installations around the country owned by the Central government. Sea ports and Air port security is manned by them.

National Security Guards
The National Security Guards (NSG) is a commando unit originally created for counter-terrorism and hostage rescue missions. Raised in 1986, it is popularly known as the Black Cats for the uniform worn by its operators. Like most military and elite security units in India, it is rather media-shy and the general Indian public is largely unaware of its capabilities and operational details.

The NSG draws its members from the Indian Army and various central police units. It is India's premier counter-terror outfit and is typically deployed in situations that would be beyond the capabilities of regular police units. An NSG team with a dedicated transport aircraft is always stationed at Palam airport in New Delhi, ready to deploy in 30 minutes.

The NSG has also been increasingly tasked with protection of VIP's. This role has expanded in recent years, as several politicians have come to view NSG protection as a status symbol. This has caused some concern among senior NSG officers and Home Ministry officials.

The NSG is reported to have deployed in the insurgency in the state of Jammu & Kashmir and previously in Punjab. The NSG also provides security consulting in India and abroad.

Defense Security Force
Responsible for security of defence establishments.

Narcotics Control Bureau
The NCB is responsible for anti narcotic operations all over the country. It checks the spread of the contraband as well as the cultivation of drugs.

Selection and Training
The recruitment process for various levels of the police force differ. The education requirements increase with recruitments for higher posts. The Superintendents of Police (SP) are recruited every year by the UPSC (a wing of the central government) by an extremely competitive exam and are appointed into the Indian Police Service (IPS). The IPS officers are then assigned to a state force. Superintendents of Police undergo a rigorous training for 44 weeks. The training is for brawn and brain, and the training programme also involves external invitees such as eminent lawyers and management consultants. At the end of probation, they undergo an orientation training of few weeks at the assigned state's police academy.

The other levels of police force is selected by state or the central government and are trained ate Police Recruit Schools. The duration for inspectors is roughly a year, and for constables is nearly 9 months. The training staff for these schools is drawn from the police department itself.

Police transport
Unlike in many other countries, the various state police forces in India extensively use SUVs. The Mahindra Legend Jeep vehicle used to be the most common police car in India. In recent years, other similar vehicles such as the Maruti Gypsy, various models of Mahindra and Mahindra(which look similar to the original Jeep), Tata Sumo, Tata Safari and Toyota Qualis have also come into police use. SUVs are known for their capabilities to move around in any sort of terrain.

Depending upon the state, the police vehicles may have individual revolving lights (strobes) or light bars, sirens etc. An extensive modernisation drive has ensured that these vehicles are equipped with wireless sets in communication with a central control room. Highway Police vehicles generally also have equipment like speed radars, breath analysers and emergency first aid kits.

For traffic regulation and patrolling in cities, motorcycles are also used. Most of them are the Indian version of Royal Enfield Bullet. Of late, other motorcycles like the Bajaj Pulsar have also started being used by the police forces. This is because of increasing congestion in cities where the heavier Bullets would prove to be unwieldy when compared to the nimbler handling the newer bikes were capable of. The bikes are provided with two-way radios, strobes and sirens & are generally painted white.

Some cities make use of sedans like the Maruti Esteem or the Hyundai Accent as patrol cars or high speed 'interceptors' on highways. Of late, the various state police forces are on a modernisation drive, upgrading and revampig their fleet with new vehicles. This includes the Chennai City Police's ultra modern Hyundai Accent patrols, highway interceptor vans and the Yellow Brigade mobikes.

Color schemes of police vehicles vary according to the state they belong to.

Weapons and equipment
The weapons and equipments issued vary from state to state and agency to agency. The standard equipment for a constable on his beat is the lathi (baton) which is generally made of bamboo. This is also his device for personal safety. Indian police officers generally do not carry fire-arm when on regular duty. However arms are always available at police stations. These include .303 Lee Enfield rifles and Self Loading Rifles. Some special units in the state police force may also have additional automatic weapons like AK 47 Assault Rifles. Officers of and above the rank of Sub-Inspector are authorised to carry a small arm, generally a 9mm Browning Pistol.

See also: Paramilitary forces of India