Editing Chief constable (section)

==Characteristics of office==
[[File:Chief Constable Insignia (Tudor Crown).svg|Chief Constable|right|100px]]
The population of areas for which chief constables are responsible varies from under a hundred thousand to two or three million, and it is commonplace for chief constables for larger force areas to be drawn from the chief constables of smaller forces. A chief constable has no senior officer. Prior to 2012, a chief constable was responsible to a [[police authority]]. In [[England and Wales]], the chief constable is now appointed by and accountable to the [[Police and Crime Commissioner]] of their service, or to an [[Directly elected mayors in England and Wales|elected mayor]], who may also dismiss the chief constable.

The chief constable's badge of rank, worn on the [[epaulettes]], consists of crossed [[tipstaff]]s in a [[laurel wreath]], surmounted by a crown.<ref>[http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/information/students_researchers/ranks.aspx Police Ranks and Epaulette] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927021524/http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/information/students_researchers/ranks.aspx |date=27 September 2007 }}, Avon and Somerset Constabulary website</ref> This is similar to the insignia of a [[lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|lieutenant-general]] in the British Army, and is also worn by an [[Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis|assistant commissioner]] in the [[Metropolitan Police]].

The chief constable is assisted by a [[deputy chief constable]] (DCC) and one or more [[assistant chief constable]]s (ACC). The chief constable, DCC and ACCs are collectively known as the "chief officers" of a force.