I just received a very interesting question from a reader:
Here's a vaguely related question that you might have come across the answer to -- who, if anyone, sets standards for which departments have captains and which only have sergeants? Or equivalently, what's a sergeant's responsibility and what needs a lieutenant? I assume that each department makes its own decisions, but there seems to be more consistency to it than I would expect without some agreed-to criteria. If you don't know, who would you ask?
My response:
The one thing I learned was that police departments vary incredibly. Each department has the legal right to set itself up as needed. There are no national standards. Everything is a state standard, sometimes superseded by local municipalities.
Matucket has 196 total officers. There are three ranks - patrolman, senior patrolman, and sergeant - and then lieutenant, captain, and chief. The LAPD currently has about 8,800 officers, 3 types of police officer (patrolman/senior patrolman in Matucket), 2 types of sergeant, 3 types of detective, 2 types of lieutenant, 3 types of captain, and then 4 more upper ranks!
Who does what? In terms of routine duties, sergeants run things. Command types run departments, deal with policy, reporters, and budgets. Forget what you see on television and movies. Lieutenants and captains and police commissioners are not going out and solving crimes and arresting people. That is done by patrol and detectives with a sergeant supervising.
I hope this helps.
As for the latest chapter, it’s time for a little excitement in Grim’s life. Just like soldiers hate excitement on the job, so do police officers. Enjoy!