Chief superintendent is a senior rank inpolice forces, especially in those organised on theBritish model.

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  South Australia Police
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  Royal Canadian Mounted Police
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  Portuguese Public Security Police
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  UK police chief superintendent epaulette
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  Cyprus Police

In Australia, a chief superintendent is senior to the rank ofsuperintendent in all the Australian police forces excepting theWestern Australia Police. It is junior to the rank ofcommander (Victoria Police, South Australia Police) and the rank ofassistant commissioner (New South Wales Police, Queensland Police). Officers wear the insignia of a crown over two Bath stars (or in the case of the New South Wales Police, a crown over two stars) the same as acolonel in the army.

In theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police and theOntario Provincial Police, a chief superintendent wears two Bath stars (or pips) below a crown, equivalent to a colonel. In the RCMP, the rank falls between superintendent and assistant commissioner. The OPP rank is between superintendent and deputy commissioner or provincial commander.

In theHong Kong Police Force, a chief superintendent of police (CSP) ranks between a senior superintendent (SSP) and an assistant commissioner of police (ACP). A CSP is usually a district commander (DC) or a branch or bureau commander (e.g. Narcotics Bureau). Thecommandant of the police tactical unit is also a CSP.

In theGarda Síochána, the Republic of Ireland's national police force, the rank of chief superintendent is betweensuperintendent andassistant commissioner. Chief superintendents usually command divisions, while detective chief superintendents head the various investigative branches. The rank marking is two red and gold pips over a red and gold bar.

The JapanesePrefectural police forces formerly used this rank. It has now been replaced by the rank of commissioner.^[1] A chief superintendent was chief of a prefectural police force and equivalent in rank to aJapanese armymajor general.

In theRoyal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, a chief superintendent is normally a metropolitan superintendent or the director of a police division. The rank is betweensuperintendent andassistant commissioner.

In the Philippines, chief superintendent is a rank in theBureau of Jail Management and Penology and theBureau of Fire Protection. It is abovesenior superintendent and below bureau director and is regarded as the equivalent ofbrigadier general in thePhilippine Army. It was formerly used by thePhilippine National Police.

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  Chief Superintendent in the Philippines

Chief superintendent (Portuguese:superintendente-chefe) is the highest officer rank in thePublic Security Police (PSP) of Portugal. It is senior to the police rank of superintendent, being roughly equivalent to ageneral officer in the armed forces.

Chiefs superintendents can exercise the roles of national director, deputy national directors, inspector general of the PSP and commanding officers of major police commands.

The basic rank insignia of a chief superintendent consists of dark blueepaulets bordered with silver leaves of oak and with two PSP stars (six points silver stars with theSP monogram in the center) in the middle. If exercising the role of national director or deputy national director / inspector general, the chief superintendents use instead, respectively, four and three PSP stars.

In theBritish police, a chief superintendent (Ch Supt; or colloquially "chief super") is senior to asuperintendent and junior to anassistant chief constable (or acommander in theMetropolitan Police orCity of London Police).

The rank of chief superintendent was first introduced into the Metropolitan Police in 1949, when superintendents were regraded to the new rank, and has since been adopted in all British police forces. However, the rank had been used previously to this in some forces in certain circumstances. For example, in 1920 the deputy head ofShropshire Constabulary bore the official title of "chief superintendent and deputy chief constable"^[2] and in 1927,Lancashire Constabulary had two chief superintendents who were junior to the assistant chief constable.^[3]

Between 1949 and 1968, chief superintendent was junior todeputy commander in the Metropolitan Police, and between 1953 and 1974 it was immediately senior to superintendent grade I.

Traditionally, chief superintendents have commandeddivisions, but since widespread reorganisation in the 1990s many forces have abandoned divisions for different forms of organisation and the areas commanded by chief superintendents vary widely from force to force. In most forces, however, they still command the largest territorial subdivisions, often known generally asbasic command units (BCUs). The rank of chief superintendent was abolished on 1 April 1995 following recommendations made in theSheehy Report, later confirmed by thePolice Act 1996, although officers already holding the rank could continue to hold it. TheHome Office officially reintroduced the rank of chief superintendent on 1 January 2002, under the terms of theCriminal Justice and Police Act 2001.

The seniordetective and commander of thecriminal investigation department in most forces is a detective chief superintendent (DCS or Det Ch Supt) (although in the Metropolitan Police, a DCS may only command a branch of the CID and the head of CID in each district was formerly also a DCS) and the rank of chief superintendent may also be used by the commanders of other headquarters departments.

The rank badge, worn on the epaulettes, is abath star ("pip") below a crown, the same rank badge worn by alieutenant-colonel in theBritish Army. Metropolitan Police chief superintendents wore a crown over two stars until the abolition of the rank of superintendent grade I in 1974, after which they changed to the latter's rank badge, which was already worn by chief superintendents elsewhere in the country.