Editing Commander (section)

==Commander as a non-military rank or title==

===NASA rank===
In NASA spacecraft missions since the beginning of [[Project Gemini]], one crew member on each spacecraft is designated as mission commander.  The commander is the captain of the ship, and makes all real-time critical decisions on behalf of the crew and in coordination with the Mission Control Center (MCC).

=== Use in aviation ===
The title of aircraft commander is used in civil aviation to refer to the [[pilot in command]] (commonly referred to as "captain", which is technically an airline rank and not related to the commander's role on board the aircraft).

===British police rank===
[[File:Met Commander Epaulette.svg|100px|right|thumb|Epaulette of a commander in the Metropolitan Police]]

Within the [[Law enforcement in the United Kingdom|British police]], Commander is a [[Chief police officer|chief officer]] rank in the two police forces responsible for law enforcement within [[London]], the [[Metropolitan Police]] and [[City of London Police]]. In both forces, the rank is senior to [[Chief Superintendent#United Kingdom|chief superintendent]]; in the Metropolitan Police it is junior to [[deputy assistant commissioner]] and in the City of London Police it is junior to [[Assistant Commissioner#United Kingdom|assistant commissioner]]. In forces outside London, the rank equates to [[Assistant Chief Constable|assistant chief constable]] which bears the same insignia.
[[File:COLP Commander SQ.svg|100px|right|thumb|Epaulette of a commander in the City of London Police]]
The Metropolitan Police introduced the rank in 1946, after the rank of deputy assistant commissioner was split in two, with senior DACs keeping that rank and title and junior DACs being regraded as commanders. The Metropolitan Police also used the rank of [[Deputy commander (Metropolitan Police)|deputy commander]], ranking just below that of commander, between 1946 and 1968.

Officers in charge of the twelve geographical [[Basic command unit|Basic Command Units]] are referred to as "BCU commander". However, the officers do not hold the rank of commander but instead hold the rank of chief superintendent. Prior to organisational change merging boroughs in to BCUs, officers in charge of policing each of the [[London borough|London's boroughs]] were given the title "borough commander".  A previous exception to this was the borough commander of [[Westminster]], who held the rank of commander due to the size, complexity, and high-profile nature of the borough.

The Metropolitan Police Service announced that by summer 2018 the rank would be phased out, along with that of [[chief inspector]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://news.met.police.uk/news/met-police-to-modernise-its-rank-structure-191284 |title="Met police to modernise its rank structure", MPS website |access-date=2016-10-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019142734/http://news.met.police.uk/news/met-police-to-modernise-its-rank-structure-191284 |archive-date=2016-10-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, in August 2017 it was announced that the new Commissioner [[Cressida Dick]] had cancelled the plan to phase them out.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.policeoracle.com/news/HR_personnel_and_staff_development/2017/Aug/17/met-cancels-plans-to-abolish-two-ranks_95557.html|title=Met cancels plan to abolish two ranks|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825234448/https://www.policeoracle.com/news/HR_personnel_and_staff_development/2017/Aug/17/met-cancels-plans-to-abolish-two-ranks_95557.html|archive-date=2017-08-25|url-status=live|access-date=2017-08-25}}</ref>

The rank badge worn by a commander or an assistant chief constable consists of crossed [[tipstaff|tipstaves]] within a [[wreath]]. Within the Metropolitan Police Service, the tips of the tipstaves are blue and not red, unlike other forces. Until the abolition of the rank of deputy commander in 1968, however, a commander wore the same badge of rank as a deputy assistant commissioner.

===Australian police rank===
In Australia, commander is a rank used by the Victorian,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.police.vic.gov.au/retrievemedia.asp?Media_ID=21131 |title=Victoria Police Website |access-date=2009-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090520132311/http://www.police.vic.gov.au/retrievemedia.asp?Media_ID=21131 |archive-date=2009-05-20 |url-status=live }}</ref> Tasmanian, Western Australian,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.police.wa.gov.au/Aboutus/Rankinsignias/tabid/1242/Default.aspx |title=Western Australia Police Website |access-date=2009-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106215520/http://www.police.wa.gov.au/ABOUTUS/RankInsignias/tabid/1242/Default.aspx |archive-date=2008-01-06 |url-status=live }}</ref> South Australian, and [[Australian Federal Police|Australian Federal police]] forces. The insignia consists of a crown over three bath stars in a triangular formation, equivalent to a [[brigadier]] in the army. In all four forces, it is junior to the rank of [[Assistant Commissioner|assistant commissioner]], and senior to the rank of [[Chief Superintendent|chief superintendent]], with the exception of Western Australia and Victoria where it is senior to the rank of [[Superintendent (police)|superintendent]].

In New South Wales the position of commander is instated to officers (usually superintendents) in charge of a command or unit.

===American police rank===
{{main|Police ranks of the United States#Ranks}}
Some large police departments and sheriff's offices in the US have a commander rank. Most commonly, this is the next rank above captain. Examples of this include the [[Chicago Police Department]], [[Los Angeles Police Department]], [[San Francisco Police Department]], [[Portland Police Bureau]] and [[Rochester Police Department]]. In others, such as the [[Phoenix Police Department]] and [[Saint Paul Police Department]], a commander rank is the next rank above lieutenant, and is equivalent to captain. In the Northport, Florida's police department, however, commanders are below captains.

A commander in the LAPD is equivalent to an [[Inspector#United States|inspector]] in other large US departments (such as the [[NYPD]]); the LAPD rank was originally called inspector as well, but was changed in 1974 to commander. The [[Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia]] also uses the rank of commander, which is a grade above inspector and two grades above captain.  In the [[Montgomery County Police Department|Montgomery County, MD police department]] a commander is a [[police captain|captain]] assigned to command a police district. The [[Jacksonville Sheriff's Office]] replaced the Assistant Chief rank with commander.<ref>{{cite web |title=JSO Organizational Chart |url=https://www.jaxsheriff.org/Your-Sheriff-s-Office/docs/JSO-Organizational-Chart.aspx |website=Jaxsheriff.org |publisher=Jacksonville Sheriff Office |access-date=22 January 2025}}</ref>

The insignia worn is commonly every insignia between [[Major (United States)|major]] and major general, depending on the police or sheriff's department. Albuquerque Police Department commanders are captain equivalents, however, with the brass version of the captain's insignia. In some other police or sheriff's departments where the captains have brass insignias instead of silver, such as Florida's Lee County Sheriff's Department, commanders are above captains, and below majors, with the insignia being brass captain's bars with wreathes around. Northport's police commanders have the insignia of second lieutenants. Commander is also used as a title in certain circumstances, such as the commander of a squad of detectives, who would usually be of the rank of lieutenant, and in some police or sheriff's departments where commanders are ranks, officers or deputies of separate ranks are also referred to as commander by title.

===Canadian police rank===
The Montreal police force, [[Service de police de la Ville de Montréal]], uses the rank of commander ''(Commandant)''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spvm.qc.ca/en/carrieres/5_1_1_1_fonctions.asp|title=Positions|work=Service de police de la Ville de Montréal|access-date=30 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100504134724/http://www.spvm.qc.ca/en/carrieres/5_1_1_1_fonctions.asp|archive-date=2010-05-04|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Incident Command System===
In the [[Incident Command System]] the incident commander is in charge of the response to an emergency. The title may pass from person to person as the incident develops.

===Chivalric orders===
{{main|Commander (orders)}}
The title of commander is used in chivalric orders such as the [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta]] for a member senior to a [[knight]].  The title of knight commander is often used to denote an even higher rank.  These conventions are also used by most of the continental orders of chivalry.  The United Kingdom uses different classifications.

In most of the British orders of knighthood, the grade of knight (or dame) commander is the lowest grade of knighthood, but is above the grade of companion (which does not carry a knighthood). In the [[Royal Victorian Order]] and the [[Order of the British Empire]], the grade of commander is senior to the grade of lieutenant or officer, but junior to that of knight or dame commander. In the British [[Venerable Order of Saint John]], a commander ranks below a knight.