CSI Levels and Rank?

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It IS confusing, especially when you add in county and state law enforcement entities! Plus, as you said, there is no national uniform hierarchy, so police ranks and grades, even specialized section titles, can vary a great deal from one state to another. Then of course, we have writers using creative license to set up their fictional characters and settings, so there really isn't a hard and fast rule to follow regarding our fave characters' jobs/titles/positions.
 
kissmesweet, Okay techinqually were suppost to keep it to the LV show only but I will answer your post with this.
Mac is Head Investigator 1st grade,
Grissom is Head Investigator
Horatio is Head Investigator Lieutenant
I think each state has its own rankings, and in some they are cops, and scienists, ect. I guess that is what each show is trying to say, were similar but still different.
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Oh wow. Thank you for everything. You're amazing! :D
 
kissmesweet said:
kissmesweet, Okay techinqually were suppost to keep it to the LV show only but I will answer your post with this.
Mac is Head Investigator 1st grade,
Grissom is Head Investigator
Horatio is Head Investigator Lieutenant
I think each state has its own rankings, and in some they are cops, and scienists, ect. I guess that is what each show is trying to say, were similar but still different.
Click to expand...
Oh wow. Thank you for everything. You're amazing! :D
Click to expand...

Mac is a police detective--not sure what rank (lietenant?), 1st grade. In one ep, Stella called Hawkes "Sergeant", which I thought was confusing since he was a doctor in the medical examiner's office before becoming a CSI--didn't think he was a police detective, too. But in another ep, Stella and Mac were both donning police uniforms to attend a funeral. They're definitely cops, not just CSIs like our Las Vegas group.

I'm really curious about the carrying a gun issue--as someone already pointed out, Holly (CSI killed in the pilot episode) was a brand new CSI killed on her first night on the job with her own gun. In another episode, Brass asked Grissom if he was carrying a weapon, as they entered a potentially dangerous crime scene. In yet another episode, Grissom wouldn't let Nick work out in the field because he'd failed his weapons proficiency test. Then there was the ep where Greg told Hodges he chose not to carry a gun. What's the policy? Is there a policy, or is this merely sloppy continuity? My guess is that there is no policy and the individual writers come up with whatever will fit the plot for a specific story.
 
I'm not sure. I think maybe there's not a policy, and it's a choice you have to make for yourself, but of course, if you choose to carry a weapon you need to have the training required. I think the whole deal with Grissom not allowing Nick out in the field without his weapons proficiency test was that he was trying to protect him. I'm sure Gris would probably prefer all his CSI's to carry a weapon just in case of emergency, but has made the decision that he'd rather not carry one himself. Make any sense? I think it's a personal decision basically.
 
Departments do not mandate a weapon for CSIs. If they wish to carry a weapon, it must be department approved and they have to pay for the initial shooting course, pay for a concealed weapons permit and stay certified by the department. They're allowed to carry a weapon like any other private citizen. In other words its up to them, as opposed to police officers who are obliged to carry a weapon.

Technically, Nick failing a proficiency would just mean he couldn't carry a gun.

My brother's a cop and says many CSIs choose not to carry.

Back on topic:

As for real life ranks, Las Vegas Metro Police Department have the following:

Criminalists Level I and II
Crime Scene Analysts Level I and II
Various specialists (of which, latent print examiners Level I and II)
 
Thanks for the info! I think it's interesting that in the first few CSI (LV) eps, Nick referred to himself as "criminalist" and instead of saying he was from the CSI lab, he said he was from "Criminalistics". I assumed the reason the writers then switched it to "CSI" was because that's easier to say than "criminalist" and "criminalistics".
 
I watched Eleven Angry Jurors last night...can someone explain what a lead CSI is? And I forgot some of the storyline...was anyone ever given the promotion? I know Sara didn't...did Nick?
 
A lead CSI.. I think that's like the Supervisor (Grissom) the one that has the most experience, and can lead his/her team.

I watched the episode today "No More Bets" where Nick and Sara were discussing how Grissom nominated Nick for the promotion/key position. Nick stated that he did not get the promotion to be Key CSI, since it had been cut.

Transcript from: http://www.kilohoku.com/csi.html Season 4x22 "No More Bets"
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NICK: It's not necessary. Position was cut. Budget had room for the new
promotion or a new qiagen, bio robot ez-1. Greg will be thrilled.
 
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