Inspector is a rank in many police forces. However, it is not the same (equivalent) rank in each:

• in the San Francisco police department, Inspector is the lowest rank of detective (below sergeant). The SFPD's original rank of Inspector (which was the same as most other US police department ranks with that name) was changed to Commander, since SFPD senior officers preferred the more military-sounding title.

• in most other American police departments, Inspector is two grades above Captain and one grade above Deputy Inspector.

• in the British police, 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 former British Colonial police forces also use the rank. A UK Inspector is approximately equivalent to a lieutenant in other police forces (such as in the US).

• in the French Police Nationale, an Inspector (Inspecteur) is a detective.

In 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 deficiences.