Sub-divisional inspector was a rank used in the London Metropolitan Police from the 1870s or 1880s until 1949. A sub-divisional inspector ranked above an inspector and below a chief inspector. As the title suggests, he or she commanded a sub-division or held an equivalent administrative position. The equivalent rank in the Criminal Investigation Department was divisional detective inspector or first class detective inspector. In 1949, the rank was absorbed into that of chief inspector, although in 1953 officers who held the position of sub-divisional commander were regraded again to superintendent grade I, and are thus equivalent to modern superintendents.
Until 1922, the sub-divisional inspector wore a single star ("pip") on his collar or epaulettes. From 1922, he wore two stars on his epaulettes.
Bertha Clayden was the first (and possibly only) woman to be promoted to the rank, in 1934.