Commissioners of Police (also known as Police Commissioners) in India are IPS officers who head the police force in a police commissionerate. A police commissionerate can combine several adjoining districts under it. A Police Commissioner holds higher executive powers than those available to a Superintendent of Police (SP) or Senior SP (SSP) as in-charge of the police force of a district. Commissioner of Police (CP) is a post that can be held by an IPS officer of the rank SP and above, depending upon the sanction provided by the respective state government (or in case of Delhi, by the Government of India).