Constable

Police constable (abbreviated PC) is the lowest police rank in India, below head constable. General law and order being a state subject in India, each state government recruits police constables. A police constable has no shoulder insignia, while a head constable has one or more stripes or chevrons, depending on the state. Since each state has its own police force, the uniforms and insignia of the police vary, though the rank structure is the same. In the Kerala Police, the designations for personnel in the ranks of constable and head constable are Civil Police Officer (CPO) and Senior Civil Police Officer (SCPO), respectively. In 2011, during the tenure of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan as the Home Minister of Kerala, the government began adopting the designations Civil Police Officer and Senior Civil Police Officer for personnel holding the ranks of constable and head constable, respectively. It was part of a broader initiative to modernize and professionalize the police force in Kerala. Both CPO and SCPO belongs to the Kerala Civil Police Subordinate Service (KCP) and typically work in local police. A civil police officer may serve in any of these branches, including the Local Police (District Police), State Special Branch, Crime Branch, Coastal Police, Headquarters, State Crime Records Bureau, Training Division and others; they serve in other departments on deputation basis, including Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) and others. After joining as a CPO, personnel may be promoted to Senior Civil Police Officer (SCPO), Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police (ASI), Sub-Inspector of Police (SI), and beyond, based on their seniority, performance, and educational qualifications. When grade designations are conferred to officials, they would be entitled to receive the salaries of the concerned ranks, but they would serve in those designations only when the vacancies become available.

The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), under the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India, also maintain the same ranks as state police even though their jurisdiction varies considerably, with the constables recruited to the CAPF having to do duty all over India. They perform duties such as maintaining internal security, border guarding, and counter-insurgency operations and riot control. Nearly all the police constables wear khaki-coloured uniforms, which indicate that they are police personnel.

Generally there are three types of constables in India, depending upon the unit, wing, branch or section they are attached to. Civil police constables are attached to a police station, traffic police constables control road traffic, telecommunication constables manage communications, whereas armed police constables are attached to armed police units. The types of constables are based on nature of their duties. The Indian police constables do a wide range of duties like patrol, beat system, crime detection, escorting of prisoners and VIPs, guarding vital offices and installations, vehicle traffic control on roads, riot control, assisting civil administration during disasters, epidemics and elections. Generally a police constable does his duty in his jurisdiction area, but can be assigned anywhere by his superiors depending on the situation or need. The duty hours of Indian police constables are erratic, many times without weekly time off or leave.

Police recruitment is based on a written test, plus physical and medical tests. After appointment all police constables have to undergo compulsory training; the duration of training may vary from nine months to one year depending on state. The training and duty of police is physically and mentally strenuous in India. Provided by Wikipedia