What is the designation of the person in-charge of a police station?

In India's police administration system — governed by the criminal-procedure law (the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure with effect from 1 July 2024) together with the State Police Acts and Police Manuals — the police station (thana) is the basic unit of law-and-order administration. Each police station has one designated officer who commands it, responsible for registering FIRs, supervising investigations, and maintaining law and order within that station's jurisdiction.

This officer-in-charge of a police station holds the designation Station House Officer (SHO), typically an Inspector or Sub-Inspector posted to head that specific station, with authority over all staff and cases registered there.

• Police Superintendent (SP) heads the police force of an entire district, many police stations together, not a single police station.

• Officer on Special Duty (OSD) is a temporary, task-specific assignment given to an officer, unrelated to permanent command of a police station.

• Home Inspector is not a police designation; it resembles municipal or civic inspection titles and plays no role in police-station command.

Therefore, among the four designations offered, the officer in-charge of a police station is designated the Station House Officer.