Historically known as the ‘City of neighborhoods’, Baltimore is the largest city; belonging to Maryland state of United States. The city is divided into nine geographical regions such as Northern, Northwestern, Northeastern, Central, Eastern, Western, Southern, Southeastern and Southwestern. The police departments of Baltimore are categorized according to the different geographical regions of the city. Each and every geographical area of the city is governed by the respective police department of the district. The Baltimore Police Hierarchy is more or less equal in all the sub divisions or the geographical areas.
The Baltimore county police department is established by Maryland State Legislature and is accredited by CALEA. The ‘Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies’(CALEA) is a governing body who is responsible for accrediting the public safety agencies, law enforcement agencies and various training and communication center.
Here are the details of the Baltimore Police Hierarchy, starting from the highest rank:
- Police Commissioner: The Police Commissioner is the senior most rank in the Police force. The police commissioner has an insignia of four gold stars. The post designates the head of an entire police force.
- Deputy Police Commissioner: A deputy police commissioner performs various duties such as supervising the police force of the city, relating the police force recommendations with the mayor and other elected officials of the city and implementing the changes in the police force that are implemented by the government officials. The deputy police commissioner has an insignia of three gold stars.
- Chief: The job role of a chief differs according to the location. For example, the police chief of a small town may only be the paid employee of the police department and have staffs consisting of certain volunteers, but in large cities; the job role of a chief is critical and they have to handle a wide range of responsibilities. The Chief holds an insignia of two gold stars.
- Colonel: A colonel is a commander of a brigade in the U.S army. Colonels have a higher profile than the commanders of the regiments. The colonel holds an insignia of a gold eagle.
- Lieutenant Colonel: The insignia for a Lieutenant Colonel is a silver oak leaf. A lieutenant colonel ranks above a Major ad below a colonel. They generally command the battalions of 500-1000 troops in the Army and Marine Corps. They also command the squadrons of aircraft in the Air Force.
- Major: A major holds the rank above a captain and below a Lieutenant colonel. The Insignia of a Major is a golden oak leaf. The Majors command certain areas of the unit, as directed by the Lieutenant colonel. The Majors also serve as staff officers in battle.
- Lieutenant: The Lieutenants are also qualified as first, second and third lieutenants. The insignia for the first lieutenant is the silver bar and for the second lieutenant is the brass bar.
- Sergeant: A Sergeant is the second lowest grade of non-commissioned officers. The Sergeants are also classified as staff sergeant, sergeant first class, master sergeant, first sergeant and sergeant major.
- Police Officer: This is the lowest rank of the police hierarchy and is responsible for investigation of crimes, protection of people and property, VIP protection and child protection etc.