Editing Inspector (section)

== United States ==
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In the United States, the term inspector can have very different meanings depending on the law enforcement agency.

=== Municipal police ===
{{See also|Police ranks of the United States}}

An inspector in a US municipal police department is more likely to be a senior executive officer, analogous to a [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] police [[Superintendent (police)|superintendent]] or [[chief superintendent]]. It may also be a title held by a supervisor of detectives.

In the [[New York City Police Department]], a deputy inspector is one grade above captain, wearing the insignia of a military major, and an inspector is another grade higher, wearing the insignia of a military colonel. In the [[Philadelphia Police Department]], a staff inspector is a grade above captain and an inspector is another grade higher, with the insignia of a lieutenant colonel. An inspector is also two grades above a captain in the [[Baltimore Police Department]], [[Nassau County Police Department]] and [[Suffolk County Police Department]].

Inspector is more rarely used as a rank that is one grade above [[Police captain|captain]], such as in the [[Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia]]. This is equivalent to a major or [[Commander#American police rank|commander]] in other departments. The [[Los Angeles Police Department]] formerly had a rank of inspector for this purpose. It was changed to commander in 1974.

In the police departments of [[Hayward, California|Hayward]], California, [[Oklahoma City]] and formerly in [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]], California, inspector was the rank held by a senior detective.

In the [[San Francisco Police Department]], inspector is the normal title for a detective. Unlike detectives in most other departments, inspectors in San Francisco always have supervisory duties. This is one of the few modern remaining cases of inspector being used as a title for detectives. A few other police or sheriff's departments, such as the [[Portsmouth, Rhode Island]] police department, also use the title in that capacity.

Inspector is sometimes used as the title for internal affairs investigators within a police or sheriff's department, including in Florida's [[Alachua County Sheriff's Office]].

=== State police ===
In the [[Wisconsin State Patrol]], and others, inspectors are state troopers assigned to the motor carrier safety inspection unit where they enforce trucking laws and regulations. The [[Michigan State Police]] recognizes inspector as a formal rank. Unlike municipal or county police/sheriffs' inspectors, Michigan State Police inspectors are a grade below captain, instead of at least one grade above. New York State Police staff inspectors are senior commissioned officers holding the rank above major and below lieutenant colonel.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation's Division of Motor Vehicles License and Theft Bureau uses the title of inspector for its sworn state law enforcement agents/investigators. The inspectors of this agency investigate motor vehicle theft, title and odometer frauds, state issued identification and driver's license frauds, as well as regulate and inspect motor vehicle dealerships, repair shops, tow and storage facilities, and emissions and safety inspection centers. The NC DMV License and Theft Bureau is the state's oldest law enforcement agency and was formed in 1921 to combat vehicle theft with the rising sales of Ford's Model T. The agency has kept the title designation of inspector for traditional purposes.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/other_services/licensetheft/about.html |title=Ncdot.org |access-date=9 September 2010 |archive-date=20 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820210659/http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/other_services/licensetheft/about.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Oregon Liquor Control Commission]] uses the title of inspector for sworn law enforcement agents who investigate violations of the Liquor Control Act and other related crimes.

=== Federal agencies ===
In the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (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 troubleshooting investigators on major cases. [[Joseph Sullivan (FBI)|Joseph Sullivan]] was perhaps the best-known of the Bureau's major case inspectors and served as the model for Inspector Lew Erskine, the fictional character played by [[Efrem Zimbalist Jr.]] in the 1965–1974 [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] TV series ''[[The F.B.I. (TV series)|The FBI]]''.  [[Samuel P. Cowley]] was an FBI inspector in the late 1920s and 1930s who assisted in bringing down notorious gangsters such as [[John Dillinger]] in the early 1930s, before his death in November 1934 in a gun battle with [[Baby Face Nelson]].

The [[United States Marshals Service]] and the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] employ similar positions, but they primarily serve as internal affairs investigators.

The [[United States Park Police]] changed the rank of inspector to the rank of major, which is between captain and deputy chief.

In the [[Postal Inspection Service]], inspector is the name given to 1811 [[General Schedule (US civil service pay scale)|job series]] criminal investigators, better known as [[special agents]] in most other federal law enforcement agencies.

Prior to 2003, the US Customs Service (USCS) and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) had uniformed law enforcement employees called customs inspectors and immigration inspectors. These employees inspected and processed people and merchandise entering the United States from  foreign countries, at a land border, seaport or airport. They wore different types of uniforms and had different duties, but were paid essentially the same. After US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was established with the merging of the above two agencies, the inspectors were retitled Customs and Border Protection Officers and merged their responsibilities.

=== Administrative law ===
In American [[administrative law]], an inspector is an official charged with the duty to issue permits, such as a [[building code|building inspector]] or sanitation inspector, and to enforce the relevant regulations and laws. These positions are commonly known as the fire inspector or building inspector.  The duty it act is based on the adopted building or fire code in the municipality.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://inspector911.com/what-is-an-inspector/363 |title=Inspector911.com |access-date=11 June 2009 |archive-date=13 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713040950/http://inspector911.com/what-is-an-inspector/363 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A government agency may also have an [[inspector general]] responsible for preventing internal fraud, waste, abuse and other agency deficiencies.