I’ll admit that the first few times that I heard British mystery shows describing police ranks, I was a bit confused. What the heck is a constable anyway? And why do folks rarely use the word “detective”?
Criminal Investigation Department (CID)
It can be confusing, and I’ve finally been able to sort out some of the key bits.
First, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has the same rank structure as uniformed officers—they just use the word “Detective” before the rank. Detectives are simply a specialist division, but a detective is not superior to a uniformed officer of the same rank.
(CID handles a number of complex criminal matters, including suspicious deaths, serious assaults, robbery, burglary, major property thefts, and abuse cases.)
And importantly, the ranks of UK police detectives tend to be identified by initials—such as DI Perez—instead of the words themselves as titles (like Detective Inspector).
Individual Roles
Here’s a quick look from lowest to highest (note that the uniform equivalent follows each term in parentheses):
- DC: Detective Constable (PC: Constable). The rank of constable is the first rank you can attain when joining the police—a DC is the lowest rank in the CID. Constables perform daily duties like gathering information. officers for the service. A DC may gather and analyze evidence from crime scenes, interview victims and suspects, surveil suspects and places of interest, and prepare cases for court. (Those who are training are called a Trainee Detective Constable (TDC). You have to complete the national Initial Crime Investigators’ Development Programme (which takes around two years) before you can become a DC.
- DS: Detective Sergeant (PS/Sgt: Sergeant). The rank of sergeant is the first supervisory rank—sergeants may be responsible for a team of constables. A DS can investigate a crime scene and would typically supervise and coordinate the collection of evidence, interview suspects, communicate with other law enforcement agencies, and make important decisions about whether to charge a suspect.
- DI: Detective Inspector (Insp: Inspector). The rank of inspector is the second supervisory rank. An inspector would typically oversee a shift of constables and sergeants. A DI leads investigations, analyzes evidence, coordinates with other law enforcement agencies, and manages their teams of detectives. Their duties may also include executing search warrants, making arrests, and ensuring that cases progress through the courts.
- DCI: Detective Chief Inspector (CI: Chief Inspector). A chief inspector is a high supervisory rank. A DCI leads and manages criminal investigations, supervises detective teams, and is responsible for overall case strategy and resource allocation for major incidents.
- DSI/DSU: Detective Superintendent (Supt: Superintendent). A superintendent is a management role within the department. A DSI/DSU leads criminal investigations, manages complex operational responses to critical incidents, and oversees large teams and budgets. This role also involves contributing to force-wide policy and culture, managing budgets, and building relationships with partner agencies.
- DCS: Detective Chief Superintendent (Ch Supt: Chief Superintendent). A chief superintendent is a senior rank. A DCS is typically a career detective who has led several investigations.
(If you catch an error, do let me know!)