A Chief of Police (also known as Police Chief or sometimes shortened to just Chief) is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable. In contrast to a US Sheriff, who is generally elected by the voters of a county, except in the states of Rhode Island and Hawaii,[1] a Chief of Police is usually a municipal employee who owes his or her allegiance to a city or town. Some states have both an appointed and an elected Chief of Police (Louisiana). In some jurisdictions, the head of the police commission is the leader of the police and holds a position analogous or similar to the one described here, in this case, he or she is referred to as Commissioner. The New York City Police Department has both a Police Commissioner and a Chief, formerly called the Chief Inspector, now called the Chief of Department. In Louisiana, a Chief of Police may serve as the Chief of Police, Marshal, and Constable for a city. The fraternal organization International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is an organization often associated with many Chiefs of Police.
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Municipal ordinances dictate the scope of authority a chief possesses and limits them in the abilities of commanding. The following list is a general sense of the actions and responsibilities held by any chief of police.
In the province of Ontario, Canada a Chief of Police must be a sworn police officer and therefore have completed training at the Ontario Police College or have served a probationary period with another recognized police force (such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Academy known as "Depot"). This requirement is legislated in the Police Services Act of Ontario. The legislation states in Section 2 that a Chief of Police is a Police Officer. Section 44.2 of the PSA defines the training requirements. There was a case of the Guelph, Ontario Police Department where a human resources manager was promoted to the position of Deputy Chief, but was required to complete training at the OPC. The candidate is selected by a Police Services Board.
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". In this case, a decision must be made about how to divide the powers between the county sheriff and the city's chief of police. The usual compromise allows the chief of police to exercise law enforcement jurisdiction and to give the sheriff and his or her deputies authority over jails and the serving of civil papers. An alternative and lesser-used solution is to make the office of sheriff a purely ceremonial one. 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 of the county.
The police chief of a small town may be the only paid employee of the police department and have a staff consisting only of volunteers when available. Conversely the police chief of a major city may have thousands or in the case of very large cities such as New York, tens of thousands of sworn officers. Further than that they will have thousands more civilian employees under his or her command including operators, secretaries, and unsworn peace officers. It is obvious that the qualifications and skills required to be a police chief vary widely. Another important consideration is how overtly a police department is influenced by politics which varies greatly from one jurisdiction to another. 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.