Originally, head constable was the normal title for the chief officer of a borough police force in England and Wales.
However, Winchester City Police appears to have retained the title until 1943, when it was amalgamated with Hampshire Constabulary.
Head constables wear three point-down chevrons on their sleeves or three bars on their epaulettes.
[2] In the Royal Irish Constabulary, Royal Ulster Constabulary (until its reorganisation in 1970), and some colonial forces such as the Palestine Police, head constable was a rank between the sergeant and inspector grades, roughly equivalent to a warrant officer in the Army.
Some colonial forces also had a higher rank of head constable major.