Metropolitan Police In the
Metropolitan Police, the station sergeant, or
station police sergeant (
SPS), was the senior
sergeant in a
police station. Station sergeants either acted as a station
inspector's deputy or commanded smaller police stations that had no inspectors. When introduced, the rank insignia consisted of four
chevrons. From 1921, this arrangement was replaced by a crown over three chevrons - the same insignia as a
staff sergeant in the
British Army. The rank of station sergeant was officially introduced to uniform grades in 1871. In 1890, a station sergeant's pay started at 45
shillings a week (a sergeant's maximum pay was 40 shillings a week), rising by an annual increment of 1 shilling a week to 48 shillings a week. The
Criminal Investigation Department equivalent was the
first class detective sergeant, who was in charge of the allocation of cases to the
detectives in each
division. Originally, station sergeant was a mandatory step between sergeant and inspector, but later it became common to miss out the rank entirely and it became more of a reward for long-serving sergeants who did not wish to be promoted to inspector. The rank was never available to women officers. No further promotions to the ranks of station sergeant and first-class detective sergeant were made after 1973. The last officer to hold the rank was Station Sergeant William Palmer, who retired in 1980. The last officer to be promoted to the rank was Station Sergeant Kenneth Humm, who retired in 1983 following promotion to inspector in 1980. However, the term continued to be used to denote the longest-serving sergeant in a station, although it was no longer a separate rank with its own insignia. Possibly the most famous fictional station sergeant was George Dixon in the long-running television series
Dixon of Dock Green. An equivalent rank was
clerk sergeant, or
clerk police sergeant (
CPS), held by the officer responsible for all administration in a division. Clerk sergeants were regraded as inspectors in January 1954.
City of London Police The insignia commonly associated with the rank of station sergeant is still used within the
City of London Police for those officers in an acting inspector role.
Port of Felixstowe Police The
Port of Felixstowe Police, a small British specialised police force responsible for policing the
Port of Felixstowe, had one officer of the rank of station sergeant until 2015, and held the distinction of being the final British police force to employ this historic rank. In 2015, on the retirement of Inspector M. Hayward, the last station sergeant, Station Sergeant A. Miaoulis, was promoted to inspector, and the rank of station sergeant was abolished.
Royal Gibraltar Police The
Royal Gibraltar Police, the principal law enforcement agency in the overseas territory of
Gibraltar has the concept of crown sergeants in their force. However, unlike other police forces with similar concepts, crown sergeant in the Royal Gibraltar Police is an appointment (role) not a rank. It is an appointment given to the response team leaders of the operational division to symbolise their seniority. The appointment was initially introduced in 2018 with the name of senior sergeant, which was later at some point changed to the present name of crown sergeant. Crown sergeants wear the insignia of a sergeant with a crown on the chevrons' top, the same insignia station sergeants and crown sergeants wear in other police forces.
Royal Parks Constabulary The
Royal Parks Constabulary used the station sergeant rank (known as crown sergeant) until 1989, when the last incumbent, Sergeant Robert Parker was appointed to the rank. The Constabulary was disbanded in May 2006 with its functions transferred to the
Royal Parks Operational Command Unit in the
Metropolitan Police. ==Footnotes==