Chief inspector

Chief inspector (Ch Insp) is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model.

[1] In the Hong Kong Police Force, a chief inspector is normally the second-in-command of a headquarters unit or a division.

In some forces such as Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary and Sussex Police, the chief inspector is the senior officer in command of a district (usually consisting of one or more local authority areas).

Detective chief inspector (DCI) is usually the minimum rank held by a senior investigating officer (SIO), who heads major investigations (e.g. murder), and a pool of these officers usually works out of force headquarters or major police stations.

The senior Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer in each BCU usually also holds this rank.

The rank badge of a chief inspector is three Bath stars ("pips") worn on the epaulettes.

Chief inspector was one of the ranks proposed for abolition in the 1994 Sheehy Report, but in the end it was retained.

A number of city and burgh police forces in Scotland used the rank of lieutenant until 1948, when it was replaced by chief inspector.

[2] The rank was introduced into the Metropolitan Police in 1868 and was first used by Adolphus Williamson, the first head of the Detective Branch (later the Criminal Investigation Department).