Law enforcement in India is taken care by a number of law enforcement agencies. The nature of constitution of India has made law and order as a compulsory subject of the state like many federal structures. Therefore, the bulk of policing lies with the appropriate territories and states in India. At the federal level, many agencies are portion of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and these agencies offer support to the law enforcement agencies in the state.

Bigger metropolitan cities in India like Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai have their own metropolitan police forces for ensuring law and order and they are operating under the control of the appropriate state governments. In the state police forces, all senior officers are members of the Indian Revenue Service and Indian Police Service. The names of different law enforcement agencies functioning at the state and central level in India are given below:

Central Agencies:

The central government of India controls the federal police and most of the federal law enforcement agencies are controlled by the Home Affairs ministry of the government of India. These federal law enforcement agencies are always headed by an Indian Revenue Service Officer of Indian Police Service Officer. The names of central agencies functioning in India under law enforcement sector are given below:

• Narcotics Control Bureau

• Seema Suraksha Bal

• Special Protection Group

• Railway Protection Force

• National Security Guards

• National Investigating Agency

• Indo-Tibetan Border Police

• Directorate of Revenue Intelligence

• Central Reserve Police Force

• Central Industrial Security Force

• Indian Income-Tax Department

• Central Bureau of Investigations

• Border Security Force

Central Police Organizations:

Central Police Organizations are the National Police Organizations that offer support to the state and federal police forces in maintaining law and order in the country. The names of the organizations working under this category are given below:

• National Institute of Forensic Sciences

• Central Forensic Science Laboratory

• National Crime Record Bureau

• Bureau of Police Research & Development

State Police:

Each Union Territory and State in India has a police force and these police forces are headed by the Director General of Police or Commissioner of Police. Each state/union territory police force is controlled by the home minister or Chief Minister of the appropriate State/ UT. Kerala Police Force holds the pride of being the first police force in the South Asia to adopt community policing for pro-pubic friendly action and initiatives. The State Police Force of the state of Tamil Nadu is at the forefront in offering the best training to police personnel through the Tamil Nadu Police Academy, which is presently seeking university status.

Recruitment of candidates:

Recruitment of candidates in the law enforcement sector differs according to the level of the position and direct recruitment is also done. The educational qualification requirement differs according to the level of position. Superintendents of Police are recruited by the Union Public Service Commission and this is an extremely competitive examination to get into Indian Police Service. Non-managerial and lower positions in the law enforcement sector are filled by the central or state government and the selected candidates are offered training in police recruitment schools.