Constable


A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. Constable is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other people may be granted powers of a constable without holding this title.

Etymology

Etymologically, the word constable is a loan from Old French conestable, itself from Late Latin comes stabuli, and originated from the Roman Empire; originally, the constable was the officer responsible for keeping the horses of a lord or monarch.
The title was imported to the monarchies of medieval Europe, and in many countries developed into a high military rank and great officer of state.
Most constables in modern jurisdictions are law enforcement officers. In the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Nations and some Continental European countries, a constable is the lowest rank of police officer, while in the United States a constable is generally an elected peace officer with lesser jurisdiction than a sheriff; however, in the Channel Islands a constable is an elected office-holder at the parish level.
Historically, a constable could also refer to a castellan, the officer charged with the defence of a castle. Even today, there is a Constable of the Tower of London.
An equivalent position is that of marshal, which is from Old French mareschal, itself from Old Frankish *marskalk, attested by Medieval Latin mariscalcus from a Proto-Germanic *maraχskalkaz, a compound of *maraz "horse" and *skalkaz "servant" and originally meant "stable keeper, horse tender, groom".

Usage by country and region

Australia

In Australia, as in the United Kingdom, constable is the lowest rank in most police services. It is often categorised into the following : probationary constable; constable; constable first class; senior constable; leading senior constable. These variations depend on the individual state or territory police force in question.
Senior constable generally refers to a police officer of the rank above constable, and is denoted by way of two chevrons or stripes.
The New South Wales Police Force has three grades of senior constable, namely senior constable, incremental senior constable, and leading senior constable. A senior constable is senior to a constable but junior to an incremental senior constable. Promotion to senior constable can occur after a minimum of five years' service and then upon passing probity checks and an exam. Incremental senior constable is attained after ten years of service automatically. One is appointed to the rank of leading senior constable on a qualification basis, but must have a minimum of seven years' service amongst other criteria in order to be eligible. Leading senior constable is a specialist position of which there are limited allocated numbers within any section/unit or local area command. If an officer is transferred to another duty type or station, the officer is then relieved of the position of leading senior constable: it is primarily a position for field training officers who oversee the training and development of inexperienced probationary constables or constables.
Within the Victoria Police, senior constable is the rank above constable, while above senior constable is leading senior constable. When first introduced into the Victoria Police, leading senior constable was a classification not a rank, somewhat like "detective"; leading senior constables were appointed specifically to assist in the training and mentoring of more junior members. The last round of wage negotiations, however, saw leading senior constable become a rank in its own right, one that a lot of members pass through on their way from constable to sergeant, though this is not strictly necessary and it is permissible to be promoted to sergeant direct from senior constable. The general form of address for both senior constable and leading senior constable is "senior", and this is acceptable even in courts.
The Queensland Police Service employs a similar rank structure. Recently graduated recruits from the QPS police academy are deemed First Year Constables, a rank they will hold for the duration of their probationary period within the service. Following their year of probation, they are promoted to the rank of constable, followed by another two grades, including the rank of senior constable and leading senior constable. If the officer proves successful in an application for a detective position, they are to be known as a 'detective' constable. The proceeding ranks follow suit, including detective senior constable, detective LSC, detective sergeant, and so on.

Canada

In Canada, as in the United Kingdom, constable is the lowest rank in most law enforcement services, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In Newfoundland the provincial police are the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, whereby all officers are addressed by the term "constable".
In addition, the chief officers of some municipal police services in Canada, notably Vancouver Police Department, carry the title of chief constable.
In Canadian French, constable is translated to agent, except in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police where it is translated as gendarme.
Appointments can further be separated into:
  • Special constables
  • * RCMP special constables are appointed for specific skills, for example aboriginal language skills. They are peace officers under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act.
  • * Outside of the RCMP, special constables are not police officers but are appointed to serve certain law enforcement functions, for example SPCA agents or court/jail officers.
  • Auxiliary constables, or reserve constables, are volunteers with a policing agency. They generally have peace officer status only when engaged in specific authorized tasks.
  • Provincial civil constables deal with matters of a civil nature.

    Denmark

Within the Danish Defence, constables are the lowest rank group. The ranks of Konstabel, Overkonstabel and Overkonstabel af 1. grad are used for professional enlisted soldiers, sailors and airmen. However, Overkonstabel af 1. grad is only used within the army, as both the navy and air force use a specialist rank instead.

Finland

In the Finnish Police, the lowest rank of police officer is called nuorempi konstaapeli, translated into English as constable.
The next rank is vanhempi konstaapeli or senior constable.
The next highest rank is ylikonstaapeli, literally "over-constable".

Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Police Force have two ranks for constables:
  • Senior constable—lead officer in a beat patrol; SPCs wear a single chevron on their shoulder above their unique identification number.
  • Constable—officer in a beat patrol; PCs wear no insignia other than the unique identification number. PC is the lowest rank in the force. Trainees will need to undergo 27 weeks of foundation training and pass the Final Examination to be promoted to constable.
Senior constable is not a rank: it is merely a designation for officers who have served for 18 years.

India

Police constable is the lowest police rank in India, below head constable. General law and order being a state subject in India, each state government recruits police constables. A police constable has no shoulder insignia, while a head constable has one or more stripes or chevrons, depending on the state. Since each state has its own police force, the uniforms and insignia of the police vary, though the rank structure is the same.
In the Kerala State Police, the designation used for personnel holding the rank of constable varies by branch. Constables serving in the Armed Police retain the designation Constable, while those serving in the Civil Police—also known as the Local Police or District Police—are designated as Civil Police Officer . Similarly, personnel of the rank of head constable in the Civil Police are designated as Senior Civil Police Officer .
The Central Armed Police Forces, under the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India, also maintain the same ranks as state police even though their jurisdiction varies considerably, with the constables recruited to the CAPF having to do duty all over India. They perform duties such as maintaining internal security, border guarding, and counter-insurgency operations and riot control. Similarly, the Railway Protection Force maintains the ranks of Constable and Head Constable. However, their duties and jurisdiction are specifically focused on the Indian railway network. RPF personnel are responsible for protecting railway property, preventing accidents, and ensuring passenger safety. Nearly all the police constables wear khaki-coloured uniforms, which indicate that they are police personnel.
Generally there are three types of constables in India, depending upon the unit, wing, branch or section they are attached to. Civil police constables are attached to a police station, traffic police constables control road traffic, telecommunication constables manage communications, whereas armed police constables are attached to armed police units. The types of constables are based on nature of their duties. The Indian police constables do a wide range of duties like patrol, beat system, crime detection, escorting of prisoners and VIPs, guarding vital offices and installations, vehicle traffic control on roads, riot control, assisting civil administration during disasters, epidemics and elections. Generally a police constable does his duty in his jurisdiction area, but can be assigned anywhere by his superiors depending on the situation or need. The duty hours of Indian police constables are erratic, many times without weekly time off or leave.
Police recruitment is based on a written test, plus physical and medical tests. After appointment all police constables have to undergo compulsory training; the duration of training may vary from nine months to one year depending on state. The training and duty of police is physically and mentally strenuous in India.