ABSTRACT
The Indian police organization emerged from the colonial administrative system where, for a long period of time, the policing functions were controlled by the officers of the Indian Civil Service (ICS). The Act of 1861 changed the system by creating a new cadre of senior officers to administer the police department. Nevertheless, the control by the ICS continued in two ways. At the district level, the district magistrate, who would be an ICS officer, retained the control and supervision of police within the district jurisdiction. Secondly, the home ministry that controlled the entire police organization was run by a senior ICS officer functioning as the home secretary. Over the years, revenue commissioners and subdivisional officers (again, reserved for ICS) also exercised control over the police within their jurisdictions. Furthermore, for a long period of time, officers selected to serve as superintendents of police were brought in from the army. All of these early decisions affected the Indian police, which emerged as a system of armed policing with a military-like operational ethos. This hierarchical system of authority emphasized a strict protocol where seniority and service affiliation determined levers of power, and these decision-making rights cast the police organization in a rigid structure. Years in service mattered more than competency, and promotions became time bound rather than based on performance.
