What is the police hierarchy?

Police technician. This bottom-level position helps sworn personnel in follow-up investigations of specific assigned cases. Police technicians may also be responsible for enforcing parking laws and giving parking citations, as well as directing traffic at intersections, accidents, or crime scenes, and a whole host of other assistance duties.

Police officer/patrol officer. These police officials respond to emergency scenarios and patrol different areas of a community. They can make traffic stops and stop to inquire about individuals exhibiting suspicious behavior.

They are often the first responders to emergency situations where the police have been contacted. They may drive, ride a bike, or walk when on duty. They can also be asked to give testimony in criminal trials.

Police detective. A police detective is a mid-level official. They are tasked with solving crimes, such as burglary, arson, murder, and many other felonies.

Police detectives are mostly assigned to cases after a crime has been committed and the offender is either unknown or can not be found. They may also give expert witness testimony at criminal trials.

Police corporal. Police corporals play a supervisory role in police departments. They tend to oversee and evaluate commanders and smaller teams of policemen. They hold authority over all previously mentioned police officials.

This role is granted to police officers and detectives that have exhibited strong leadership qualities and years of dedicated service to the police force.

Police sergeant. A sergeant's role can vary depending on the size of the police department; however, most are required to interpret and assign ordinances to a wide variety of police situations.

They manage and train subordinate personnel and assist in developing new effective policies. Often, they act as a liaison between the upper management of a police department and its lower-level personnel.

Police lieutenant. The police lieutenant position can be viewed as a middle-management role in most police departments. They take general direction from upper management and turn it into specific plans of action that can then be given to lower-level police officials.

They also often are in charge of hiring police officials, promotions, internal disciplinary actions, scheduling, and performance reviews. In many cases, they also act as a public face for a police department in civic meetings, schools, and other local community events.

Police captain. Police captains are high up in the hierarchy of a police department and typically report directly to police chiefs. They also take part in developing wide-ranging initiatives for a department and can be involved in budgetary matters.

Along with lieutenants, they participate in hiring, promotions, and training. Police captains also request data from subordinates on crime statistics and then write up reports on this information to give to police chiefs or other public officials.

Deputy police chief. This position is one rung from the top and is usually only found in large police departments of cities or highly populated towns.

Deputy police chiefs are responsible for the effective administration of a specific bureau or division of police and technical staff personnel. They have many of the same duties as a police captain, but in addition, they also must be ready to assume control of the divisions as acting police chiefs in the event this is necessary.

Chief of police. The chief of police is at the very top of a police department hierarchy. They oversee all operational aspects of the police department, as well as develop programs and initiatives to better the effectiveness of the department.

They are typically the ones in charge of assigning officers, detectives, and other police officials to special criminal investigations. Most police chiefs are given the role of elected officials. As the head of law enforcement in a community, they work closely with other top public officials, such as mayors, district attorneys, and others.

They also sign off or participate in budgetary matters concerning the police department. Chiefs of police account for any and all actions taken by a department. Because of this, they often face criticism from community members and sometimes public officials.