Inspector general

This article is about the administrative office. For the Russian play by Nikolai Gogol, seeThe Government Inspector.For the Danny Kaye film, seeThe Inspector General (1949 film).

Aninspector generalis an investigativeofficialin a civil ormilitary organization.The plural of the term is "inspectors general".

Australia

TheInspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia)(IGIS) is an independent statutory office holder who reviews the activities of the six Australian intelligence agencies under IGIS jurisdiction.

TheInspector-General of the Australian Defence Forceconducts internal reviews of administrative action, investigates Service Police professional standards breaches and other significant incidents including Service deaths, and reviews and audits the operation of the military justice system independently of the chain of command. The Inspector-General Australian Defence Force is appointed by the Minister for Defence.

Bangladesh

The chief ofpoliceofBangladeshis known as the inspector general of police. He is from theBangladesh Civil Servicepolice cadre. The current inspector general of police is Dr. Benazir Ahmed, and his predecessor was Dr. Javed Patwary. There is another temporary post of inspector general of police, known asPulish Shômônnoyôk(Bengali:পুলিশ সমন্বয়ক্) or "police coordinator", currently held by Bivuti Vooshon Choudhury.

Canada

Before 1867, the position of Inspector General of Canada existed as the minister responsible for finances and government spending in theProvince of Canada.After 1867 the position was assumed as theMinister of Finance.Alexander Galtserved as the last Inspector General from 1858 to 1867 and the first Minister of Finance in 1867.

Colombia

Main article:Office of the Inspector General of Colombia

Colombia's inspector general is a unique post with broad powers to investigate government malfeasance and to bar public officials from running for office.

France

Shoulder insignia of a policeinspecteur général(France)

In theFrench Civil Service,an inspector general (inspecteur général) is a member of a body of civil servants known asinspection générale,generally of a high level, charged with a nationwide mission to inspect some specific services and provide government officials with advice regarding that service. Most ministries have their own inspectorates general, including for instance:

• Inspection Générale des Finances(IGF; Ministry of Finances)
• Inspection Générale des Affaires Sociales(IGAS; Social Security)
• Inspection générale de l'administration(IGA; various administrative departments, e.g.prefectures)
• Inspection générale de l'Éducation, du Sport et de la Recherche(Ministries of National Education, Youth and Sport, and Higher Education and Research)

Theinspection générale des Financesis particularly prestigious as a job appointment after studies at theÉcole Nationale d'Administration.In recent decades, many of its members have occupied various high positions in lieu of their traditional mission of inspection. The corps has come under increased criticism for this.

Within theuniformed services,"inspector general" can refer to both a rank (especially within the police) and a job title within an inspectorate general, the best known of which are:

• Within theInspection générale des Armées(Inspectorate General for the Armed Forces):
  • the Inspector General of theGendarmerie(Inspecteur général de la gendarmerie nationale);
  • the Inspector General of theArmy(Inspecteur général de l'Armée de Terre);
  • the Inspector General of theNavy(Inspecteur général de la Marine);
  • the Inspector General of theAir Force(Inspecteur général de l'Armée de l'air et de l'espace);
  • the Inspector General ofArmament(Inspecteur général de la Direction générale de l'armement);
  • the Inspector General of theHealth Service(Inspecteur général du Service de santé des Armées)
• Within civilian uniformed services:
  • the Inspector General of Police (Inspecteur général de la Police nationale);
  • the Inspector General ofCivil Defence(Inspecteur général de la Sécurité civile).

Despite often similar names and an apparently similar structure, different inspectorates general often have significantly differing roles.

Germany

DuringWorld War II,Colonel GeneralHeinz Guderianwas appointed inspector general of armoured troops on 1 March 1943, reporting directly toAdolf Hitler.

Since the reestablishment of German armed forces after World War II, theinspector general of the federal armed forces(Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr) has been the highest-ranking soldier (four star or full general in rank), responsible for the overall military planning and the principal military advisor to the federal minister of defense and the federal government. As professional head of the Armed Forces, his position is broadly equivalent to that of the BritishChief of the Defence Staff.

In the system of German police forces (Bundespolizei,Landespolizei,and theGerman Parliament Police), the highest-ranking riot police officer is called inspector of the federal police (Inspekteur der Bereitschaftspolizeien der Länder), although this position is a more coordinating than commanding one. All of the sixteen German state police forces have an inspector, usually as the highest-ranking uniformed police officer. The state police commanders-in-chief (Landespolizeipräsidenten') are very often not genuine police officers but recruited from administrative personnel. The competence for police services in Germany is in general assigned to the federal states of Germany. The federal police is a coordinating police department with a number of narrowly defined competences, e.g. in border control, airport and trial security as well as protection of German embassies abroad.

In the scope of responsibility of the state police departments, the federal police can only act with permission, or request of the local state police.

India

Insignia of anIndian Police Serviceofficer with rank of inspector general of police

During theBritish rule in India,in 1861, the British Government introduced theIndian Councils Act 1861.The act created a new cadre of police, calledSuperior Police Services,later known as theIndian Imperial Police.The highest rank in the service was theInspector General.

Currently, in modernIndia,the inspector general of police or joint commissioner of police is atwo-star rank officerand one of the most senior officers in the state police forces. All inspectors general and joint commissioners in state police forces areIndian Police Serviceofficers. They are in some states the commissioner of police for the city, that is they head a police force for a particular city. Inspectors general inCentral Armed Police Forces(BSF, CISF, CRPF, SSB, ITBP) are eitherIndian Police Service(IPS) officers or directly appointed gazetted officers (DAGOs), who are directly appointedAssistant Commandants(through UPSC entrance test from the year 2005 onwards). The rank insignia of an inspector general of police or joint commissioner of police is one star above a crossed sword and baton.

TheIndian Coast Guardalso has the rank of inspector general. The coast guard regions are commanded by officers of the rank of inspector general.

Norway

The army's inspector general (generalinspektøren for hæren—GIH) is the immediate superior of the commanding officer ofspecial forces FSK.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, theinspector general of policeor provincial police officer is athree-star rankwho heads the police force of a province. The inspector general of police (IGP) is aPolice Service of Pakistanofficer, appointed by the federal government with consent of the provincial chief minister. The rank insignia of an inspector general of police is the national emblem or one pip containing the national emblem above a crossed sword and baton worn on both shoulder flashes.

Poland

The office ofGeneral Inspector of the Armed Forcesexisted in theSecond Polish Republicand was held by, among others,Józef Piłsudski.

Romania

InRomania,inspector general is the title given to the head of theRomanian Police,Romanian Border Police,Romanian Gendarmerieand theRomanian General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations(whose central commands are called "general inspectorates" ).

Russia/Soviet Union

TheOffice of Inspectors Generalof theMinistry of Defenceof the Russian Federation was established in 2008, and consists of around thirty retired senior officers. The main task of the office is "to promote the organization of combat and operational training of troops, the construction and further development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the development of the theory and history of military art, and the education of personnel."It is the successor to theSoviet Armed Forces'sGroup of Inspectors General,which was dissolved in 1992.

Sweden

In theSwedish Armed Forcesthe inspector general (generalinspektörortruppslagsinspektör) was the highest official for amilitary branchorcombat arm.The first arm to have an inspector general was the artillery where theMaster-General of the Ordnancehad this function since 1634. Inspector general of the cavalry and inspector general of the service troops was founded in the 19th century. The infantry did not get an inspector general until 1914. The engineer troops and signal troops followed in 1937 and asurgeon generalin 1941. In 1941 the commander of thecoastal artillerywas also renamed inspector general of the coastal artillery.

In 1998 the previous inspectors general were abolished and the commanders of the major branches (army,air forceandnavy) was renamed "inspector general", renamed again to "branch inspector" in 2003 to resume the title commander in 2014.

Turkey

In Turkey the office of anInspector Generalwas created in 1927and disestablished in 1952.He ruled with martial lawand over all military, juridical and civilian matters.

United Kingdom

Military

In theBritishtradition, an inspector general is usually a senior military officer responsible for the inspection ofmilitary unitsto ensure that they meet appropriate standards of training and efficiency. Unlike American inspectors general, they do not usually have an investigative or law enforcement function.

For many years theRoyal Air Forcemaintained a post ofinspector general.

Police

Thecommanding officersof theRoyal Irish Constabulary(and later of theRoyal Ulster Constabularyuntil replaced bychief constable) and manyCommonwealthpoliceforces also bore the title ofinspector general of policeand it is still used inIndiaand some other former British territories.

The inspector general is also the name given to thechief executive officerof theInsolvency Service.

Inspector and variants of it are rank titles of officers in the police ofBritainand most Commonwealth countries.

United States

Main article:Office of Inspector General (United States)

Logo for the Council of the Inspectors General

In the United States, an inspector general leads an organization charged with examining the actions of a government agency, military organization, or military contractor as a generalauditorof their operations to ensure they are operating in compliance with generally established policies of the government, to audit the effectiveness of security procedures, or to discover the possibility of misconduct, waste, fraud, theft, or certain types of criminal activity by individuals or groups related to the agency's operation, usually involving some misuse of the organization's funds or credit. In the United States, there are numerousoffices of inspector generalat the federal, state, and local levels;theOffice of the Inspector General of the United States Armyis a military example.

The framework of offices of inspector general within the United States government was established with theInspector General Act of 1978.

Vatican City

In theVatican City State,the inspector general is the commanding officer of the state police force, theCorps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City.He is also the chiefbodyguardfor thepope,and accompanies the pontiff when he visits foreign countries.

See also

• Internal affairs (law enforcement)
• Ombudsman
• Regulatory agency

External links

• Inspector General jobs at Jobsearch.usajobs.govArchived2012-02-18 at theWayback Machine
• Ignet.gov