The post of Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), the number two post in the Mumbai Police Crime Branch, has been stripped of several powers, reducing it to an administrative post. Senior police officials confirmed that operational personnel would no longer report to ACP (Crime).
According to police sources, the post was known as ACP (Administration), Crime Branch, when it was conceived. The person holding the post would take care of administrative duties such as sanctioning leaves and maintaining performance reports of Crime Branch personnel. Meanwhile, the DCP (Detection) and the DCP (Enforcement) reported to the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), the head of the Crime Branch.
A senior officer said, “Over the years, the DCPs began reporting to the ACP (Crime). Certain officers lobbied for these changes. We have now reverted to the earlier system.”
The decision has not gone down well with the Indian Police Service lobby. An IPS officer serving in Mumbai said, “ It doesn’t make sense to have an ACP level officer to be signing paperwork in an important department like the Crime Branch.”
