Chief constable

[1] It was also the title of the chief officer of the Royal Parks Constabulary until this agency was disbanded in 2004.

The first county to implement this was Wiltshire Constabulary, which appointed Captain Samuel Meredith RN its first chief constable on 28 November 1839.

[4] Originally, most borough police forces were commanded by a head constable, although this rank was superseded by chief constable in most forces in the later 19th century and early 20th century and was almost completely abolished by the Police Act 1919.

The chief constable's badge of rank, worn on the epaulettes, consists of crossed tipstaffs in a laurel wreath, surmounted by a crown.

[6] This is similar to the insignia of a lieutenant-general in the British Army, and is also worn by an assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police.

As of 2022, the highest paid is the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, on £230,000, in recognition of the unique security challenges and political sensitivity of that office.

Other salaries range from £181,455 in the West Midlands and Greater Manchester, down to £127,017 in Central Scotland.

This caused a certain amount of concern, since some saw it as the creation of an "officer class" for the police, which had always been resisted.