Project:Sandbox

The Bihar Police Department is the law and order and law enforcement agency for the state of Bihar, India.

Policing in Bihar is more than 3000 years old. In fact, there are documented historical references to policing practices adopted by the Magadh Empire.

Policing in the Modern era in Bihar began in the year 1862 with the introduction of the Indian Police Act of 1861. Following the creation of the province of Bihar in 1912, the basic structure of police as it exists today in the whole of India was laid. There have been several officers of the Bihar province in pre-independence India who have made pioneering contributions to policing in India. To name a few; Mr. Walter Swain of Swain Beat system fame, Shri AK Sinha, the first Indian to become an IGP of any province, Shri BN Mullick, the founder of the Intelligence Bureau and Deputy Superintendent of Police, Khan Bahadur Azizul Haque, credited with the primary development of the fingerprint classification system, the famous ‘1024 pigeon holes’ cabinet system eventually named after his supervisor, Sir Edward Richard Henry leaps readily to the mind.

Post-independence, Bihar Police holds the legacy of a rich tradition with the introduction of innovative policing and welfare practices such as creation of a Police Welfare fund, Police Hospitals and Police Information Room (PIR) in 1952. A Police Commission was also set up in 1958, whose mandate was to bring the police closer to the people. The Bihar Policemen’s Association which came into existence in 1967 was the first of its kind to look after the interests of the policemen. Today, Bihar police, with the cooperation of the people that it is mandated to serve and its rich traditions of excellence is firmly committed to confront and surmount the numerous challenges it faces.

Organizational structure
Bihar Police comes under direct control of Department of Home Affairs, Government of Bihar. The Bihar Police is headed by a Director General of Police (DGP; three-star rank). The state is divided into four zones (Patna, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga and Bhagalpur), each commanded by an Additional Director General (Addl. DGP; three-star rank) or an Inspector-General (IGP; two-star rank). Each zone is divided into two to three ranges, each commanded by a Deputy Inspector-General (DIGP; one-star rank). Within each range are anywhere from three to six districts, each under a Superintendent of Police. Patna is under a Senior Superintendent of Police.

Ladli Cops
An initiative in Community Policing for safety of Women. The CID Branch of Bihar Police under the Leadership of Sri Alok Raj IPS ADG (CID) in association with Mr. Roushan Kumar and Dr. Suman Lal founders Ladli Foundation came up with the concept of having Women Community Police to provide a safe and secure atmosphere to the inhabitants. Also to make women become familiar with Police and deeply understand the police system to invoke their taboo to interact with police station/ policemen. For this initiative, volunteer from girls studying in different colleges of Patna were identified and trained. Each of these girls were provided with ID Cards authorised by Bihar Police and are called Ladli Cops.

Equipment
All the equipment of the Bihar Police are manufactured indigenously by the Indian Ordnance Factories controlled by the Ordnance Factories Board, Ministry of Defence, Government of India.
 * Wooden Baton
 * Pistol Auto 9mm 1A
 * 9mm SAF Carbine 1A1
 * 7.62 mm Ishapore 2A1 Rifle
 * RFI L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle
 * AK 47/ AKM
 * INSAS Rifle
 * Heckler and Koch MP5 (CM Security)