Rank question

[Refplace]

Military Rank probably gets enough love but I have a question on Police Rank.
Detectives are set at Rank 2 in a couple of places, including GURPS Mysteries.
What would be a reasonable set of examples and ranges for a special police force. I have a federal organization that is the equivalent of the FBI but deals with supers and paranormal beings.
My current estimate is Rank 2 for most PCs and field Supers.
The leader asked about being Rank 5. I would like that to be possible but ask for help on scale before deciding. I was thinking Rank 4 as typical for the guy in charge in major cities.
How would a Rank 5 FBI agent scale or be treated by senior official in a town the size of New Orleans?

[Phantasm]

My Police Rank table, with GURPS Rank, typical Titles (which vary wildly by jurisdiction), and duties:

7 - Commissioner or Supervisor. Head of the Department for larger cities and state/provincial police forces.
6 - Chief or Assistant Supervisor. Head of the Department for smaller cities, day-to-day manager for larger cities and state/provincial police forces.
5 - Commander. Section, Division, or Bureau Commander for cities and state/provincial forces; head of the Department for larger municipalities.
4 - Captain, Sheriff, or Inspector. Precinct or Unit Commander; head of the department for smaller municipalities.
3 - Lieutenant or Deputy Sheriff. Duty or Shift Lead Officer for precincts and smaller municipalities.
2 - Sergeant, Senior Detective. Squad Leader, veteran plainclothes detective.
1 - Detective. Investigator, CSI team lead.
0 - Officer. Beat Cop, CSI technician.


Note that police forces typically have at least two parallel pay grades: uniformed officer grades and detective grades. A junior detective would officially be an equivalent rank to the rookie beat cop, but his effective authority would be slightly higher, able to call upon the street cops or a SWAT team for backup. A uniformed Lieutenant and a Lieutenant Detective (like Columbo) would likewise have equivalent pay grades, but their authority (and actual Rank) differs. Some jurisdictions break things up into up to a half dozen pay grades with the same effective authority, with pay grades determining seniority and pecking order inside the unit.

Once you get up to and above Police Rank 4, you're getting into primarily administrative duties rather than investigations.

CSI teams, for those jurisdictions that have their own without outsourcing them (in some fiction, it's often just one or two guys with access to a lab), have the authority to perform investigations at the crime scene itself but lack the power to make arrests, passing their information onto detectives who make the actual arrests.


Hope this helps.

[Phantasm]

Of course, I also use GURPS Social Engineering: Pulling Rank for agencies like the FBI, CIA, DHS, SHIELD, etc., where the Rank does not grant authority and subordinates, instead being a measure of the kinds of assistance you can get from the Agency.

An FBI Special Agent may have an effective Police Rank 0, working alone, but Police Rank (Pulling Rank variant) 4 to have an Assistance Roll of 9, meaning he can get assistance from the FBI - or get access by name-dropping. ("FBI Special Agent Fred Duncan. I'm investigating a series of crimes that may be the work of a super-powered terrorist. Can I see your records, Sheriff?")

[Donny Brook]

"Special Agent" is Rank 0 in the FBI, but would include Legal Enforcement Powers and may also have a security clearance. A Special Agent In Charge (SAC) is the highest 'field' rank and leads a regular branch office. I'd give them rank 2 or 3. The Director of the whole organization is probably Rank 7 max.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

"Special Agent" is Rank 0 in the FBI, but would include Legal Enforcement Powers and may also have a security clearance. A Special Agent In Charge (SAC) is the highest 'field' rank and leads a regular branch office. I'd give them rank 2 or 3. The Director of the whole organization is probably Rank 7 max.

Under the standard Rank rules, agreed.

Using Pulling Rank, it depends on the size of the Agency as a theoretical Patron and the chances of getting assistance, not subordinates or even authority.

Legal Enforcement Powers either way, however.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

Under the standard Rank rules, agreed.

Using Pulling Rank, it depends on the size of the Agency as a theoretical Patron and the chances of getting assistance, not subordinates or even authority.

This is an interesting interpretation of Pulling Rank. Normally Rank reflects overt authority, the low Assistance Rolls for some Ranks mean some tasks may be harder than desired, especially in a cinematic campaign.
But if Rank reflects the influence in an organization, such as internal political pull and than higher levels of Rank could be available.

In real life an E-9 has lower authority than the lowest officer but is able to get far more done and often has more effective pull.
I'm curious what Kromm (as the author) intended, or if this interpretation is supported in the book and I overlooked or forgot it.