In Australian police forces, the rank of Inspector is generally the next senior rank from Senior Sergeant and is less senior than a superintendent (in the cases of the Queensland Police and Western Australia Police) in the other Australian police forces. Members holding the rank usually wear an epaulette featuring three silver pips, the same rank badge as a Captain in the army. In addition to the general rank of Inspector, some police forces use other ranks such as Detective Inspector and District Inspector.

In Austria a similar scheme was used as in Germany. At some point the police inspector was completely removed from the list of service ranks. The current police service has an inspectors service track with "Inspektor" being the entry level – it is followed by "Revierinspektor" (precinct inspector), "Gruppeninspektor" (group inspector), "Bezirksinspektor" (district inspector), "Abteilungsinspektor" (section inspector), "Kontrollinspektor" (control inspector) and "Chefinspektor" (chief inspector).

In most Canadian police services the rank of inspector is the first above the staff sergeant rank. It is usually immediately below the rank of superintendent. Senior inspectors are a high administrative rank in Canada's police forces and are considered to be the first level of senior management.

Staff Inspector

Provincial Police Services and the majority of Municipal Police Services, such as the Toronto Police Service have a staff inspector rank, which ranks above inspector and below superintendent. Other commonwealth police agencies and some American police departments, such as the Philadelphia Police Department also have staff inspectors.

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. In the French customs, inspecteur is the first rank of members of the Command and Management Corps.

In contemporary 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 earlier times the upper service track was called "Inspektorenlaufbahn" (inspectors service track) ranging from "Inspektor", "Oberinspektor" (senior inspector), "Amtmann", "Amtsrat" to "Oberamtsrat" (senior supervisor).

The title is used on many professional areas that require an inspection service, like "Brandinspektor" (fire inspector in the fire department), "Steuerinspektor" (tax inspector in the financial department) or "Bauinspektor" (building inspector in building control) that are in a supervision position of their department. In many administration parts a corresponding position exists like the "Regierungsinspektor" (government inspector on the federal level), "Stadtinspektor"/"Stadtverwaltungsinspektor" (city administration inspector), "Kreisinspektor"/"Kreisverwaltungsinspektor" (county administration inspector) that serve in supervision of the department.

In some regions the "Inspektor" is a colloquial name for any police officer just like in Austria.

In the Hong Kong Police Force, inspector (including probationary inspector and senior inspector) is the rank senior to station sergeant but junior to chief inspector, leading a sub-unit in day-to-day policing. Rank badge of probationary inspector is one silver pip on his/her epaulette; 2 silver pips for inspector of police; and 2 silver pips and one bar on for senior inspector of police. The epaulettes rank badge of chief inspector is 3 silver pips. The epaulettes of all inspectors do not show their personal identification number. Plain-clothes detective inspectors have the prefix "detective" identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) or Organised Crime Triad Bureau (OCTB).

Several of the HKP's past and current Commissioner of Chiefs joined the force as Probationary Inspector ranks as opposed to the junior ranks.

Customs and Excise Department also have inspector ranking but with bronze stars and bars rank badge instead.

In addition, there are Health Inspectors from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department who carry out investigation and prosecution on sanitary nuisance and irregularities of food business under related ordinances. They are characterised by golden stars and yellow rank badge.

In the Indonesian National Police, there are four levels of inspector, which are First Police Inspector (Inspektur Polisi Satu), Senior Police Inspector (Inspektur Polisi Dua), First Police Inspector Adjutant (Ajun Inspektur Polisi Satu), and Second Police Inspector Adjutant (Ajun Inspektur Polisi Dua). Those ranks are below the rank of Police Commissioner Adjutant (Ajun Komisaris Polisi) and above the rank of Chief Police Brigadier (Brigadir Polisi Kepala).

Inspectors of Police in India are typically the officer in charge at a police station. In a police station in India, there are Constables, the Head Constables, Sub Inspector and The Inspector. They have the three-star insignia to indicate their position and they are high command officers. Inspector's post is higher than sub inspector's post whose post is higher than assistant sub inspector's post.

In the Garda Síochána, inspectors are senior to sergeants and junior to superintendents. Inspectors may be either detectives or in uniform.

In the Polizia di Stato, the position of Ispettore (Inspector) replaced the rank of Maresciallo after the 1981 reorganization and demilitarization of the corps; an Ispettore is thus a Sergeant of several sorts, above the rank of Sovrintendente (Superintendent, which is somewhat equal to a Senior Corporal) and under the rank of Commissario. There are three four different Inspector ranks in the Polizia di Stato: Vice Ispettore ("Assistant Inspector"), Ispettore ("Inspector"), Ispettore Capo ("Chief Inspector") and Ispettore Superiore ("Special Inspector", or "Superior Inspector"), roughly equivalent to the ranks ranging from Junior Sergeant to Second Lieutenant. A fifth position, called Ispettore Superiore S.U.P.S., where the achronym stands for Sostituto Ufficiale di Pubblica Sicurezza ("Special Inspector – Substitute Public Safety Commissioned Officer"), is used to designate those Inspectors which can act as substitutes to Commissioners in the chain of command under certain situations, or in Police detachments that are too small to require the presence of a Commissioner; when this happens, the officer is named Ispettore Superiore – Sostituto Commissario ("Special Inspector – Substitute Commissioner"). Inspectors can serve either in uniformed patrol duties, plain-clothed patrol duties, or as detectives. The Inspector ranks are the highest that an Italian Police officer can reach without having a University degree.

In the Royal Malaysia Police, the rank of Inspector is one level above Sub-Inspector and one level below Assistant Superintendent. There are two stages: probation inspector (probation lasts within three years) and inspector. Inspectors are recruited differently from normal police constables, requiring at least a degree, and their training is longer.

In Nepal Police, the rank of Inspector is generally the next senior rank from Sub Inspector (SI) and is less senior than a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP). Members holding the rank usually wear an epaulette featuring one pair of crossed kukri, the same rank badge as a Inspector in Armed Police Force (Nepal).

In the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, the rank of Inspector is one level above Chief Sergeant and below Senior Inspector. Officer Cadets normally graduate and automatically become an Inspector.

In the Philippines, inspector is a rank in the Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and the Bureau of Fire Protection. It is above the senior officer 4 (sergeant) and below the senior inspector (captain). It is regarded as an equivalent of a lieutenant in the Army.

In Poland, inspector (inspektor) is a high rank (above podinspektor and m?odszy inspektor, but below nadinspektor), comparable to colonel of the armed forces.

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).

In the Singapore Police Force, there are several ranks that have the title of Inspector in it.

In the junior police officer category, there is the rank of 'Station Inspector', 'Senior Station Inspector' and 'Senior Station Inspector (2)'. The title of 'Inspector' is in the senior police officer category. For National Servicemen, outstanding policemen may be appointed as a 'National Service Probationary Inspector'.

In the National Police Cadet Corps, the rank of 'Inspector' is given to teacher officers or honorary officers who have first entered the Corps. The rank insignia is two diamonds.

In Spain, the rank of Inspector exists in the National Police Force of Spain (Cuerpo Nacional de Policía), the Catalan Police Force, and several municipal police forces.

In the Sri Lanka Police Service, Inspector of Police (IP) is senior to Sub-Inspector and junior to Chief Inspector. In many towns, Inspectors would be the Officer in Charge (OIC) at most police stations. The rank insignia for a Police Inspector is two stars.