phrasing this question: Is the BRITISH police title “Deputy Chief Inspector” real or made up for drama?
Deputy Chief Inspector is made up. Full stop, it is not a real rank. However, Detective Chief Inspector is not. That is a real rank which does have the initials DCI. Going from Inspector up, the ranks run like this: Inspector Cheif Inspector Superintendent Chief Superintendent Assistant Chief Constable (equal to a London Commander) Deputy Chief Constable (equal to a London Assistant Commissioner) Chief Constable (as above) Commissioner The ranks of Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner also exist in the Metropolitan Police. There are analogous detective ranks up to Superintendent (i.e. there is a Detective Superintendent, but not a Detective Chief Superintendent).
