Commissioners of Police in India are IPS officers who head the police force in a police commissionerate. A police commissionerate can combine several adjoining districts under it. A Police Commissioner may or may not hold certain powers of the executive magistrate, contrary to the Superintendent of Police (SP) or Senior SP (SSP) in charge of a police district who depends on the district magistrate to issue orders. Commissioner of Police (CP) is a post that can be held by an IPS officer of the rank Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) and above, depending upon the sanction provided by the respective state government.

The Indian Police Service is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Empire.