A Captain is a police rank.
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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 ranks was formerly known as inspecteur principal for plain-cloth officers, and officier de la paix principal if uniformed.
In the United Kingdom, the approximate equivalent rank of a Police Captain is that of chief inspector.
In most U.S. police departments, the rank of Captain is immediately above lieutenant. A Police Captain is often the officer in charge of a precinct. In the New York City Police Department, the rank of Captain is below deputy inspector. Unlike the military version, where the rank of Captain may be held by junior officers with 4 to 6 years of service, Police and Fire Captains are usually veterans with extensive experience. In some smaller U.S. police departments, a person holding the rank of Police Captain may be in charge of a division (Patrol Division, Detective Division, etc.) within that department. In larger police departments however, 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. Nevertheless, the rank of Police Captain is separated from the ranks of Police Lieutenant and Police Sergeant, in the fact that a Police Captain is considered upper-level management in most large urban police departments; therefore, the rank carries much more than lower police ranks in terms of prestige and influence.