Policing is the responsibility of the Superintendent of Police or SP who is nominally under the District Magistrate but is independent in practice. Each block has one or more police stations headed by an Inspector or Sub Inspector in-charge. After the introduction of the Bhubaneswar–Cuttack Police Commissionerate, Magisterial powers in the urban area covered under it have been vested in the Commissioner of Police who exercises them through deputy and Assistant Commissioners of Police. The SP and senior officers of the Commissionerate are usually from the Indian Police Service.