Dictionary Definition
inspector
Noun
1 a high ranking police officer
2 an investigator who observes carefully; "the
examiner searched for clues" [syn: examiner]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Noun
inspector (inspectors)- a person employed to inspect something
- a police officer ranking below superintendent
Translations
a person employed to inspect something
- Finnish: tarkastaja, valvoja
a police officer ranking below superintendent
Related terms
Spanish
Noun
- inspector (male).
Related terms
Extensive Definition
- This is about the police rank/position. For the use in graphical user interfaces, see Inspector window.
Inspector is both a police rank and an
administrative position, both used in a number of contexts.
Police
Inspector is a rank in many police forces. However, it is not the same (equivalent) rank in each.Australia
In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the next senior rank from Senior Sergeant and is less senior than a superintendent. Members holding the rank usually wear an epaulette featuring three silver pips. In addition to the general rank of inspector, some police forces use other ranks such as Detective Inspector, District Inspector and Chief Inspector (though this rank is seldom used).Canada
In most Canadian police services the rank of Inspector is the first above the sergeant ranks. It is usually immediately below the rank of Superintendent.Senior Inspector
Senior Inspectors are higher raining
administrative rank on Canada police forces.
France
In the French National Police, Inspecteur is a former rank of members of the Command and Management Corps. There were several grades of Inspecteur, with senior detectives holding the various grades of Commissaire. See French National Police for current ranks.Hong Kong
In Royal Hong Kong Police Force(now called Hong Kong Police Force), Inspector (including Probationary Inspector and Senior Inspector) is the rank senior to Station Sergeant and junior to Chief Inspector ,a inspector is a leader of a team,a shift,or a police station.---Rank badges of Inspectors
The rank badge of Probation Inspector is one
silver star on his/her shoulder pad.
The rank badge of Inspector is two
silver star on his/her shoulder pad.
The rank badge of Senior Inspector is two
silver star above a silver horrizonly bar on his/her shoulder
badge.
The rank badge of Chief
Inspector is three silver star on his/her shoulder pad.
In the
Hong Kong Customs and Excise Services ,they also have Inspector rank
such likes Hong
Kong Police Force,and the rank badge is similar to HKP,but
their stars and bar are bronze.
India
In the police forces of India, an Inspector is a non-commissioned police officer ranking above a Sub-Inspector and below a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP). Inspectors generally (but not always) have jurisdictions over more than one police station (generally under a Sub-Inspector of Police). How ever in many cities, Inspectors would be the Station House Officer (SHO) at every police station.The rank insignia for a Police Inspector is three
stars, and a red and blue striped ribbon at the outer edge of the
shoulder straps.
In states where an Inspector is in-charge of a
"Police Circle" (consisting more than one police station) he is
also referred to as "Circle Inspector" (CI) or "Circle Officer"
(CO).
Republic of Ireland
In the Garda Síochána, Inspector is senior to Sergeant and junior to Superintendent. Inspectors can be either detectives or in uniform.Malaysia
In Malaysia's police force, the rank Inspector is one step above the Sub-Inspector and one step under Assistant Superintendent. There are three stages:- Probation inspector (3 years probation)
- Inspector
- Chief inspector
Romania
In the Romanian Police, Inspector is a rank senior to Subinspector and junior to Inspector principal and corresponds to the former rank of Police Lieutenant (see Romanian Police Ranks).United Kingdom
In British police forces, Inspector is the rank senior to Sergeant and junior to Chief Inspector. Contrary to popular belief, inspectors are not all detectives; in fact, the majority of inspectors are uniformed. Criminal Investigation Department (CID) inspectors are known as Detective Inspectors (DI).Many Commonwealth
police forces also use the rank. The rank has existed since the
foundation of the Metropolitan
Police in 1829, when it ranked directly below Superintendent.
The rank insignia of an Inspector is two silver
pips, the same insignia as a Lieutenant in the British
Army.
Police Constables and Sergeants often refer to,
and sometimes (especially in the CID) address, Inspectors as
"Gaffer" (generally North and Midlands), "Guv" (generally South) or
"Boss".
United States
In the United States, the term inspector can have
very different meanings depending on the law enforcement agency.
For example, in the
San Francisco Police Department, Inspector is the normal title
for a detective, and the investigative branch of the SFPD is called
the Bureau of Inspectors.
In the Berkeley,
California,
Police Department, Inspector was once the title used for an
investigative supervisor, who commanded a specific specialized
detail, like Homicide, Robbery, or Property Crimes, within the
department's Detective Division. They ranked between sergeants and
lieutenants and, on the comparatively rare occasions when they wore
uniforms, their rank insignia was identical to that worn by
warrant
officers in the US Armed
Forces. The title has since been phased out, and the duties
once performed by inspectors are now performed by detective
sergeants.
In the Hayward, California Police Department, the
rank of inspector is a civil service rank above a detective and
below that of a sergeant.
In the
New York City Police Department, Inspector is a high-ranking
executive position, two grades above a Captain, and one
grade above a Deputy Inspector.
In the LAPD, the rank of
Inspector, one grade above captain, was changed to
Commander in 1974, because LAPD
senior officers preferred the more military-sounding title.
In the FBI, an Inspector is a
special
agent whose main duty is inspecting local Field Offices and
Resident Agencies to make sure they are operating efficiently.
Since FBI Inspectors are not tied to any particular Field Office,
they have, in the past, also been used as trouble-shooting
investigators on major cases. (Such as the fictional character
Inspector Lew Erskine, played by Efrem
Zimbalist Jr. in the 1965-1974
ABC TV series The
FBI.) The
United States Marshals Service employs a similar
position.
In the Postal
Inspection Service, Inspector is the name given to 1811
Criminal Investigators, better known as special
agents in most other Federal Law Enforcement Agencies.
Administration
In Germany, Inspektor is a civil service rank. It is the lowest and therefore the entry rank of the gehobener Dienst ("upper service") requiring a degree from a three-year administrative college. The rank is not used in the German police services; there, the equivalent of Inspektor is Kommissar.In American administrative
law, an inspector is an official charged with the duty to issue
permits, such as a building
inspector or sanitation inspector, and to
enforce the relevant regulations and laws. An agency may have an
Inspector
General responsible for preventing internal fraud, waste, abuse and other
agency deficiencies.
inspector in German: Inspektor
inspector in Esperanto: Inspektoro
inspector in French: Inspecteur
inspector in Italian: Ispettore
inspector in Japanese: 警部
inspector in Chinese: 警部
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Big Brother, G-man, MP, auditor, bailiff, beadle, beagle, boatswain, boss, bound bailiff, captain, catchpole, chief, chief of police, commissioner, comptroller, constable, controller, deputy, deputy sheriff, detective, examinant, examiner, fed, federal, flic, floor manager, floorman, floorwalker, foreman, gaffer, ganger, gendarme, government man,
head, headman, investigator, lictor, lieutenant, mace-bearer,
marshal, monitor, mounted policeman,
narc, noncommissioned
officer, observer,
officer, overman, overseer, patrolman, peace officer,
police captain, police commissioner, police constable, police
inspector, police matron, police officer, police sergeant, policeman, policewoman, portreeve, proctor, reeve, roundsman, scrutineer, sergeant, sergeant at arms,
sheriff, sirdar, slave driver, straw boss,
subforeman, super, superintendent, supervisor, surveyor, taskmaster, tester, tipstaff, tipstaves, trooper, visitator, visitor