The Coimbatore City Police was formed in 1972 after the bifurcation of the existing Coimbatore Police Force into the Coimbatore Urban Police and the Coimbatore Rural Police. In 1982-1983, the Police Commissionerate of Coimbatore city was mooted in order to help combat crime. A law was enacted in 1987 to empower the commissionerate with the same powers as the Madras Police. Coimbatore was fully upgraded into a police commissionerate in 1990.
Jurisdiction
The jurisdiction of the Commissionerate of Police extends to the jurisdictional limits of the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation. In 2011, when the limits of the Municipal Corporation were increased, the jurisdiction of the police was also increased to include newly added areas. The police issues arms licences to residents of the city. These licences expire at the end of the Calendar year and must be renewed.
Infrastructure
In 2010, all the police stations across the city were given an advanced scientific investigation kit to help collect medical and forensic evidence without disturbing evidence. The Coimbatore City Traffic Police is one of the many police divisions in India that uses handheld GPRS-enabled devices to catch offenders and criminals. Coimbatore is the second city in Tamil Nadu after Chennai to be link to the State Government's Crime and Criminal Tracking Networking System. Coimbatore, along with Chennai and Madurai are the police forces under the Tamil Nadu police that have replaced the existing VHF-based communication with Terrestrial Trunked Radio. There are 18 police stations in Coimbatore City, numbered B-1 to B-15 along with three "All-Women" Police stations. Currently, the following units are functioning under the administrative/operation control of the Coimbatore City commissioner of police: city police office, intelligence section, sub-division offices, police stations, all women police stations, traffic police stations, armed reserve, armed reserve motor transport, armoury, city crime records bureau, city crime branch, social justice and human rights unit, police radio branch, prohibition enforcement wing, detective dog squad, mobile forensic science lab, police photo section, short hand beaureu, home guard, traffic wardens, friends of police, and city vigilance committee.