History Main / TheInspector

The Inspector is a plain clothes police officer who serves as the chief investigator and (often) protagonist of the story. They report to DaChief, but have, at minimum, one subordinate (in many television series, this is a [[OldCopYoungCop younger partner]]) who often acts as TheWatson for them. This character has just enough rank to order people around, and not enough to justify spending all their time in HQ. Instead of sitting in at his desk directing entire units, he will be out and about investigating crime scenes and interviewing witnesses himself.

In LongRunners, the character may be promoted to DaChief or retire, prompting their partner (or a completely new character) to replace their role as Inspector. Both the Inspector and DaChief can be compared to TheCaptain, the military equivalent. Depending on the story, the Inspector may have a large team of subordinates who are there primarily to show they have rank.
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!!Examples
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[[folder:Film]]
* [[Film/ThePinkPanther Inspector Jacques Clouseau]] is the most famous comic example of this trope.
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[[folder:Literature]]
* DCI [[InspectorMorse Morse]].
* DCI [[Creator/JasperFforde Jack Spratt]]
* [[ATouchOfFrost DI Jack Frost]]
* SherlockHolmes stories had Inspectors Lestrade and Gregson.
* DCI [[RiversOfLondon Thomas Nightingale]].
* [[Creator/GeorgetteHeyer Inspector Hemingway]], although he's [[OvershadowedByAwesome the assistant to Superintendent Hannasyde]].
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[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheBill''. [[LongRunner 26 seasons on the air]], it featured 8 Detective Inspectors among its regular cast during that time. The most famous of them probably being Detective Inspector Frank Burnside.
* Inspector Kerry Vincent [[Series/{{Rush}} Rush]]
* Lieutenant Horatio Caine, ''Series/{{CSI Miami}}''
* Lieutenant Fancy in ''NYPDBlue''.
* An exception with ''FoylesWar''- Christopher Foyle is a Detective Chief Superintendent.
* Detective Inspector Henry Crabbe, ''Series/PieInTheSky''.
* DI [[TheInspectorLynleyMysteries Thomas "Tommy" Lynley]], naturally, who forms an OddCouple [[TheyFightCrime crime-fighting duo]] with his partner DS Barbara Havers.
* [[MidsomerMurders DCI Tom Barnaby (later his cousin John Barnaby)]].
* Although he's a bit more rough around the edges than is typical for this trope, Detective Inspector Jack Regan of ''Series/TheSweeney'' still counts.

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* Lieutenant Horatio Caine, ''{{CSI Miami}}''