Page "Chief of police" Paragraph 15

The police chief of a small town may be the only paid employee of the police department and have a staff consisting only of volunteers when available.

Conversely the police chief of a major city may have thousands or in the case of very large cities such as New York, tens of thousands of sworn officers.

Further than that they will have thousands more civilian employees under his or her command including operators, secretaries, and unsworn peace officers.

It is obvious that the qualifications and skills required to be a police chief vary widely.

Another important consideration is how overtly a police department is influenced by politics which varies greatly from one jurisdiction to another.

Increasingly, all U. S. law enforcement officers including small-town police chiefs and their charges are being required to meet at least minimum levels of professional training.