Police captain


A captain is a police rank in some countries, such as the United States and France.

By country

France

France uses the rank of capitaine for management duties in both uniformed and plain-clothed policing. The rank comes senior to lieutenant and junior to commandant.
This rank was previously known as inspecteur principal for plain-clothed officers, and officier de la paix principal for officers in uniform.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the approximate equivalent rank of a police captain is that of chief inspector.

United States

In most US police departments, the rank of captain is immediately above that of lieutenant. A police captain is often the officer in charge of a precinct.
In some smaller police departments, a person holding the rank of police captain may be in charge of a division within that department. In larger police departments, a police captain may command only one section of a precinct which is commanded by either a police major, police inspector, or the next highest rank. A police captain is considered upper-level management in most large urban police departments.

New York

In the New York City Police Department, the rank of captain is immediately below deputy inspector. Captains are usually veterans with extensive experience.