Chief of police

The rare occasions when police chiefs make arrests have drawn media coverage.

There was a case in the police department of Guelph, Ontario, where a human resource manager was promoted to the position of deputy chief but was required to complete training at the OPC.

The police chief usually conducts strong relations and work together with the Commander of the National Armed Forces.

In line with the general features of unified structure of local governments, all chiefs of the Indonesian police, at district level ("kapolsek", kepala kepolisian sektor"), municipal level ("kapolres", kepala kepolisian resor"), and provincial level ("kapolda", kepala kepolisian daerah) in Indonesia, are subordinates of Kapolri, the national police chief.

In large urban areas, some departments are led by an overseer who is not a sworn officer, usually referred to as a commissioner.

The New York City Police Department is one such case where the commissioner is the head of the NYPD.

Although sheriffs are not usually counted as police chiefs, their agencies usually have the powers and role of a police department (although in some rare cases, the role of a sheriff's agency is limited to non-policing matters such as courtroom security).

The usual difference between a sheriff and a police chief is that sheriffs are elected (except in New York City, Rhode Island and Hawaii) and responsible for a county[22] whereas a police chief manages law enforcement in a city or town and is appointed by its local government.

Many state constitutions require every county to have a sheriff; some make no provision for this position to be eliminated even in the case of the formation of a consolidated city–county or "metropolitan government" because of which a decision on the division the powers between the county sheriff and the city chief of police is made.

The usual compromise allows the chief of police to exercise law enforcement jurisdiction and to give the sheriff and his deputies authority over jails and the serving of civil papers.

One other solution, an example of which is seen in the case of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, is to provide for the sheriff to simultaneously serve as the chief of police, thus remaining as the chief law enforcement officer (CLEO) of the county.

Increasingly, all U.S. law enforcement officers including small-town police chiefs and their charges are being required to meet at least minimum levels of professional training.

Smaller departments and state agencies most often consists of silver or gold eagles similar to colonel in the army; however, several small departments with only a few dozen employees have been known to possess five star rank insignia for the police chief, the same as a General of the Army [1].