A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other people may be granted powers of a constable without holding this title.
General Sir Richard Dannatt, dressed in the formal attire of the Constable of the Tower, speaking at the Ceremony of the Constable's Dues, June 2010
A constable of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in full dress. Constables are typically the lowest rank in Canadian police services.
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, protect public order, and the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers encompass arrest and the use of force legitimized by the state via the monopoly on violence. The term is most commonly associated with the police forces of a sovereign state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of responsibility. Police forces are often defined as being separate from the military and other organizations involved in the defense of the state against foreign aggressors; however, gendarmerie are military units charged with civil policing. Police forces are usually public sector services, funded through taxes.
German State Police officer in Hamburg, with the rank of Polizeihauptmeister mit Zulage ("police chief master with upgraded pay")
The Santas Hermandades of medieval Spain were formed to protect pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago.
Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie, founder of the Prefecture of Police, the first uniformed police force in the world
Patrick Colquhoun, founder of the Thames River Police