What is the full form of ASP in Police

ASP: Assistant Superintendent of Police

ASP stands for "assistant superintendent" or "additional superintendent of police" and is a part of the Indian Police Service of the civil services exams conducted by UPSC (Union Public Service Commission). Civil services have been very popular in India as a career and the first choice among youths. The legacy of these services has their roots intact since ancient times, which traces back to Chandra Gupta Mauryan's times which had an autocracy but an intact civil service system. It helped the Mauryan Empire to set an example of how much value a properly managed civil service adds to the efficiency of governance and the betterment of the common people.

A civil servant is not just an employee of the government but also works as a cogwheel for the proper functionality of the government body. Once a person steps into the job of a civil servant, he is believed to have a high level of intelligence. His skills are assumed to be perfect as the person deals with multidimensional functions and domains throughout their career.

With time these services got distinguishment based on the necessity of times. In the same way, the Indian police service was introduced in independent India after one year of independence by replacing the old Indian Imperial Police. The ranks are the same in structure in the British police system, which includes similar rules and regulations. IPS (Indian police service) is now recognized as a grade "A" central government service under all Indian services under Article 312 of the constitution of India. On August 17, 1865, the first Indian police commission was appointed, and the importance of law enforcement, law, and order situations. This service in India is divided into twenty-six state cadres, revised every five years.

Every state follows the same order of posts and ranks; every state government notifies about the ranks of police. In the places where the Commissionerate system is followed, the executive power and authority over districts differ, but the hierarchical system does not change. The police service is divided into different ranks based on various parameters, and the same is depicted in the following picture: -

The ASP post comes below the superintendent of police (SP), which has a state emblem and a star as insignia and above the Deputy Superintendent of police, which has three stars as insignia. The salary for the ASP post is sixty-seven thousand and seven hundred with additional allowances. This rank below the superintendents of police is meant to assist them and work under their guidelines, but in some cases, orders of the director general of police with the approval from the state government define the role and duties of the assistant superintendent of police.

History:

During British rule in India, the Empire created this rank in the police forces in commonwealth countries; it was the lowest rank to be assigned to an officer. This rank was later opened to many people who were not Britishers in many territories they owned.

Contemporary Relevance

The rank of ASP (assistant superintendent of police) still exists in the police service of India, which had an origin in the British Empire. The post is offered by the Indian police service through UPSC examinations to people in India. This rank is given to the newly commissioned personnel in the Indian Police service. It is considered a probationary period for them and lasts till the second year of their IPS career. At the same time, they get their training at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, a training institution in Hyderabad and headquartered in the ministry of home affairs in the capital city of New Delhi; after the training period, the personnel starts their career as assistant superintendent of police.

At the same time, the personnel from the state cadre are assigned as Deputy superintendents of police and not the assistant superintendent of police. However, both ranks are equivalent in nature.

Usually, a division, smaller than a district, is headed by an ASP under supervision or to assist SP in heading a whole district, assigned with responsibility regarding enforcement of law and the safety of the citizens. The post is considered equal to the assistant commandant of CAPF and is a gazetted post that is merely held by young trainee officers during their initial days of joining the service. Many times, to avoid confusion Deputy Superintendent of Police and Assistant Superintendent of Police are collectively called ACPs.

Selection Procedure and Appointments

The aspirant must take the CSE examination conducted by a union public service commission (UPSC) every year; the examinations are conducted to recruit personnel for defense services and civil services. After a long preparation, a candidate fills up the form for the examination by visiting the official website of UPSC (upsconline.nic.in), which is released in the form of an examination calendar in February every year. The preparation journey is self-introspecting and brings out the best versions of a person.

The CSE examination consists of mainly three stages - the preliminary examination, the mains examination, and the final interview.

The first stage, the preliminary examination, is designed to evaluate the candidate's general aptitude, so from the very beginning are supposed to work on their personalities and GK (general knowledge). This is a one-day objective type exam divided into two parts: GS paper 1 and CSAT (qualifying nature) consisting of negative marks deduction for each wrong answer marked by the candidate, and the maximum marks for the examination are 200 each. The marks of the first paper are considered for evaluating ranks and not that of CSAT as it is a qualifying exam, but if a candidate fails in CSAT, he cannot appear for the next round.

The next stage, the mains examination, consists of nine subjective-type papers conducted in about five to seven days. These papers are designed to assess the deep knowledge of the candidate on different subjects. This paper is of seventeen hundred and fifty marks in total and includes an essay, language, General Studies papers, and two optional papers.

The third and final round for selecting a candidate is the interview round. The candidate qualified for the round is interviewed by a five-membered panel headed by a chairperson. These interviews of the candidates are conducted in the union public service commission office at Dholpur house in New Delhi. The panel consists of highly experienced members who are civil servants themselves, academicians, and legal persons. This round is generally not a test of the candidate's knowledge; their personality is assessed in the interview. A candidate can get about 275 marks from this round which is added to the final merit list.

After the candidate clears all rounds and gets into the final merit list, they are supposed to stand the physical standard for getting into the Indian police service. The eligibility criterion includes physical fitness with other requirements, age, the number of attempts and eligibility for the IPS exam.

The various physical requirements for becoming an IPS officer include:

• A height of 165cm and 150cm for female and male candidates respectively (except for ST candidates, which is 160cm and 145cm in males and females respectively.),
• Chest size minimum of 84cm and minimum of 79cm for men and females respectively with an expansion of 5cm.
• 6/6 or 6/9 distant vision for good eyes in males and 6/12 or 6/9 for good eyes in females, near vision J1 for good eyes and J2 for worst eyes in females.

Personnel should also be medically fit with blood pressure at a normal rate, and a standard for the same is published with accepted high blood pressure levels for different age groups. One must have good listening and a normal ear cavity and must not stutter while speaking.

There is a restriction about being pregnant during medical tests, there must not be an inherent night blindness, and vision should be stereoscopic as there is a high standard for colorblind tests.

After getting selected for the Indian police service by clearings all standards and tests, the candidates receive their initial training in LBSNAA (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration), Mussoorie, for a foundation course. Phase-I training, a basic course that lasts for 11 months, takes place in Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA), Hyderabad. Their after-training takes place at the respective cadre, called district practical training, for six months. The training of phase II for one month takes place at SVPNPA, Hyderabad.

After a successful training period, young Indian police service officers are finally posted in their respective country areas and serve the nation.