Station sergeant

Station sergeant (also known as crown sergeant, senior sergeant or staff sergeant) is a police rank senior to sergeant and junior to inspector in some British and Commonwealth police forces. The rank insignia is usually a sergeant's three chevrons surmounted by a crown, or sometimes four chevrons. The Metropolitan Police (of London), which was the first force to introduce the rank, originally used four chevrons, but later changed to a crown over three chevrons, which was identical to the insignia worn by a staff sergeant in the British Army. A police officer holding the rank is usually the senior sergeant in a police station, or in some cases the commander of a smaller sub-divisional police establishment. The rank is used in the Hong Kong Police Force (station sergeant), the Barbados Police Service (station sergeant), the Port of Felixstowe Police (station sergeant), the Royal Gibraltar Police (crown sergeant) and most Canadian police forces (staff sergeant). It was historically used in the London Metropolitan Police (station sergeant) and the Royal Parks Constabulary (crown sergeant). The rank is also used, though with a different operational role, in the Australian Federal Police.