(A) The police department, shall, within the city, preserve peace; prevent offenses; detect and arrest criminals; suppress riots, mobs, and insurrections; disperse unlawful and dangerous assemblages, and assemblages which obstruct the free passage of public streets, sidewalks, parks, and places; protect the rights of persons and property; guard the public health; preserve order at elections and public meetings; direct the movement of vehicles in public ways or public places; remove all nuisances in public parks or public ways; provide proper police assistance at fires; assist, advise, and protect strangers and travelers in public ways or at transportation facilities; carefully observe and inspect all places of business under license, or required to have the same, and enforce and prevent the violation of all ordinances and laws in force in the city.
(B) The Chief of Police and each Captain in his precinct or district shall possess the power of supervision and inspection over all pawnbrokers, vendors, junk shop keepers, cartmen, expressmen, dealers in secondhand merchandise, intelligence offices, architectural salvage material dealers (as defined in I.C. 24-4-16-3), and auctions Any member of the force may be authorized by the Chief in writing to exercise the same powers.
(IC 36-8-3-10)