The full form of UPP is "Uttar Pradesh Police." It is a state government agency that performs functions relating to law enforcement. UPP was established in 1861 and is headquartered at Gomti Nagar Extension, Lucknow. Additionally, it is counted among the oldest police departments in India.
The highest-ranking officer in UPP is the DGP. The state government appoints DGP from the IPS officer of the UP state cadre. Furthermore, the whole UP Police department is headed by the DGP.
UPP has the largest police force in the world because it needs to manage nearly 68 district police departments. For smooth functioning, the UPP employs around 2,31,443 non-gazetted and 1,368 gazetted uniformed officers. Additionally, UPP is the first police agency in India that has a highway patrol unit known as UPHP or UP Highway Police.
The police system followed in India was primarily created by the recommendations offered by the Police Commission in 1860 under the supervision of Mr H.M. Court. This led to ratifying the Police Act of 1861, which is still followed in the country.
Further, Mr. Court was posted as the prime Inspector General of Police or IGP of the North-Western Province and Avadh during the time. Back then, this region included the present UP state, and the police structure included the following organisations:
Post-independence, the Civil Police continued to grow. Moreover, Mr B.N. Lahiri was appointed as the prime IGP of Uttar Pradesh. Subsequently, under his guidance, the state police succeeded in maintaining law and order. Additionally, the crime rate also reduced, which was highly appreciated throughout the country. Subsequently, UPP became the first police agency of independent India to get awarded the President’s Color in 1952 by then Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. Afterwards, multiple specialised departments came into existence within UPP to combat terrorism, economic offences, organised crimes, etc.
As mentioned above, a DGP serves as the highest authority of state police. Additionally, DGP is assisted by several police officers to maintain law and order in the state.
Although the UPP is headquartered in Lucknow, the state includes 8 police zones for smooth and efficient operations. Additionally, each zone is led by the Additional Director General Police, who is also an IPS officer.
Furthermore, in each zone, there are around 2-3 police ranges, which amounts to a total of 18 ranges across the state. Moreover, the ranges are headed by either an Inspector General or a Deputy Inspector General. Each range constitutes nearly 2-4 districts.
The following table provides the names of all 8 zones and their respective ranges and districts.
Zone | Range | District |
Agra | Aligarh |
|
Agra |
|
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Allahabad | Chitrakoot Dham |
|
Allahabad |
|
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Bareilly | Bareilly |
|
Moradabad |
|
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Gorakhpur | Gorakhpur |
|
Devipatan |
|
|
Basti |
|
|
Kanpur | Jhansi |
|
Kanpur |
|
|
Lucknow | Faizabad |
|
Lucknow |
|
|
Meerut | Saharanpur |
|
Meerut |
|
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Varanasi | Azamgarh |
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Mirzapur |
|
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Varanasi |
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Under the commissionerates system, CP or Commissioner of Police is a rank given to the Inspector General of Police or Additional General of Police. Moreover, CP is one of the highest posts in UP Police and is heading and instructing the district police department.
Presently there are seven police commissionerates under the UP Police. They are as follows:
UP Commissionerate | CP | Rank of CP |
Varanasi Police Commissionerate | IPS Mutha Ashok Jain | ADGP |
Lucknow Police Commissionerate | IPS SB Shirodkar | ADGP |
Agra Police Commissionerate | IPS Dr Preetendar Singh | IGP |
Prayagraj Police Commissionerate | IPS Ramit Sharma | IGP |
Ghaziabad Police Commissionerate | IPS Ajay Mishra | IGP |
Gautam Buddha Nagar Police Commissionerate | IPS Laxmi Singh | IGP |
Kanpur Nagar Police Commissionerate | IPS B P Jogdand | ADGP |
The state government has established the Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment and Promotion Board or UPPRPB. Moreover, the primary function of this board is to implement all the procedures for the direct recruitment and promotion of police officials under the limits of state legislation.
Additionally, the UPPRPB conducts recruitment exams for the following posts:
The UPP is one of the most reputed police departments in the country. In addition to having a large officer base, it has advanced technical methods to combat criminal activities. These include ‘Trinetra’, a face recognition system with a database of 5,00,000 criminals. Additionally, the department regularly monitors social media trends to determine and prevent the chances of communal outrage.
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