The State Police Services (SPS), also simply known as State Police, are the police services under the control of respective state governments of the States and union territories of India.

Recruitment

The recruitment to this service is done by the respective

State Governments A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, o ...

, usually through State Public Service Commissions. Some of the posts are recruit by the Staff Selection Commission, the staff conducted the exam all over India and recruit according to eligibility. The recruitment to SPS is also on the same pattern as that for IPS. The only difference is that the recruitment of SPS officers is made by the State Public Service Commission concerned through usually a combined competitive examination for State Civil Services which in the case of IPS is through the All-India Civil Services Examination conducted by

Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission ( ISO: ), commonly abbreviated as UPSC, is India's premier central recruitment agency for recruitment of all the Group 'A' officers under Government of India. It is responsible for appointments to and exam ...

. However, in case of Union Territory, recruitment to SPS is also made by

through the Civil Services Examination as one of the Group-A (Junior Branch) Services. State police requirement in large States like

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital city, capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar, and Rewa, India, Rewa being the othe ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

, Maharashtra and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

is greater as compared to the smaller States like

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peak ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligu ...

and north-eastern States. After selection, which again is based upon the choice of service and merit of a candidate, selected candidates are required to undergo vigorous probationary training before getting posted as Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) or Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP). States with large number of population are arranging a specific recruitment program for specific recruitment. In June 2017, The Madhya Pradesh state arranged the examination o
police constable recruitment
through the professional examination board of

Ranks and insignia of SPS officers

Ranks of Gazetted officers

Gazetted officers include all the

Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became Partition of India, independent from the British Raj. Along with the Indian Administ ...

officers and all state police service officers. *

National Emblem A national emblem is an emblem or seal that is reserved for use by a nation state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to h ...

above two

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make ...

(same insignia and pay band as a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

in the Indian Army) ::*

Superintendent of police Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territorie ...

(selection grade) ::*Other officers above selection grade *National Emblem above one Star (same insignia and pay band as a

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the Indian Army) ::*

::*Commandant of

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

*National Emblem (same insignia and pay band as a major in the Indian Army) ::* Additional superintendent of police *Three Stars (same insignia as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the Indian Army; pay band of a Lieutenant) ::* Assistant Commissioner of Police or Deputy Superintendent of Police ::* Circle Officer (CO) in the states of

and

::*

Sub-Divisional Police Officer A Circle Officer (CO) or Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) is a police officer of the rank of deputy superintendent of police (DSP) or assistant commissioner of police (ACP) heading an independent police sub-division in the various states ...

(SDPO)

List of state police

* Andhra Pradesh Police * Arunachal Pradesh Police *

Assam Police The Assam Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Assam in India. A regular police force was initiated in Assam by the British after the Treaty of Yandaboo to maintain the law and order. It functions under the Department of Home ...

Bihar Police The Bihar Police Department is the law enforcement agency for the state of Bihar, India, with its headquarters in Patna. It has a sanctioned strength of 111,000 personnel, and as of 2017, employs 77,000 personnel. The annual Budgeted Estimate ...

* Chhattisgarh Police *

Goa Police The Goa Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Goa in India. Organisational structure The Goa Police operates under direct control of the Department of Home Affairs, Government of Goa. It is headed by the Director General of P ...

Gujarat Police The ' is the law enforcement agency for the state of Gujarat in India. The Gujarat Police has its headquarters in Gandhinagar, the state capital, and Ahmedabad. The Gujarat Police Department came into existence after Gujarat's separation ...

* Haryana Police * Himachal Pradesh Police * Jharkhand Police *

Karnataka Police The Karnataka State Police Department is the law enforcement agency for the Indian state of Karnataka. The department is headed by the Director General and Inspector General of Police. Organization The District Police administration is headed ...

Kerala Police The Kerala Police is the law enforcement agency for the Indian state of Kerala. Kerala Police has its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. The motto of the force is "Mridhu Bhave Dhrida Kruthye" which means "Soft in Temperamen ...

Madhya Pradesh Police The Madhya Pradesh Police Department is the law enforcement agency for the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. Organizational structure Hierarchy The Madhya Pradesh Police uses the following ranks: Officers * Director General of Police (DGP ...

Maharashtra Police Maharashtra Police ( IAST: ''Mahārāṣṭra Polīs Sēvā'', formerly ''Bombay State Police'') is the law enforcement agency responsible for the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is headed by Director General of Police, Rajnish Seth (IPS), and ...

* Manipur Police *

Meghalaya Police The Meghalaya Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Meghalaya in India. It was part of the Assam Police until 1972 when the separate State of Meghalaya was created. Organizational structure The Meghalaya Police is headed by the ...

Mizoram Police The Mizoram Police Force is the law enforcing agency of the state of Mizoram, India. Administration The administrative control of Mizoram Police vests with the Home Minister of Mizoram who holds the portfolio of Home Minister. The supervisio ...

* Nagaland Police * Odisha Police * Punjab Police * Rajasthan Police * Sikkim Police *

Tamil Nadu Police Tamil Nadu Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is over 150 years old and is the fifth largest state police force in India.

* Telangana Police * Tripura Police *

Uttar Pradesh Police The Uttar Pradesh Police (UP Police), ( IAST: ), is the primary law enforcement agency within the Uttar Pradesh state of India. Established in 1863 as the Office of the Inspector General of Police, United Provinces under the ''Police Act, 1861' ...

* Uttarakhand Police *

West Bengal Police The West Bengal Police is one of the two police forces of the Indian state of West Bengal. The other being the Kolkata Police, which has a separate jurisdiction across Kolkata. The West Bengal Police was reorganized under provisions of the Poli ...

Andaman and Nicobar Police The Andaman and Nicobar Police is the law enforcement agency for the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India. History of Andaman and Nicobar Police History of Andaman and Nicobar Police dates back to raising of ‘Sebundy Corp ...

Chandigarh Police The Chandigarh Police is the law enforcement agency for the Union Territory of Chandigarh in India. Chandigarh Police has its headquarters in sector 9 D, Chandigarh. The head of the state police is the Director General of Police of Chandigarh. ...

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Police The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Police is the law enforcement agency for the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in India. History Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Police was created on 26 January ...

Delhi Police The Delhi Police (DP) is the law enforcement agency for the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). Delhi Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India. In 2015, sanctioned strength of Delhi ...

Jammu and Kashmir Police The Jammu and Kashmir Police or JKP is the law enforcement agency of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory). JKP was established in 1873 and has primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within Jammu and Kashmir in India. His ...

* Ladakh Police * Lakshadweep Police *

Puducherry Police The Puducherry Police (French: ''Police de Pondichéry'') is the law enforcement agency for the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. Origins The Puducherry Police date back to the period of French colonial rule prior to 1954. Separate Arm ...

Notes

References