•
Officer Janice Licalsi — Began a sexual relationship with Det. Kelly in Season 1, when a mob boss told her to get close to Kelly (who had been shutting down his businesses) and kill him. Janice instead killed the mob boss and his driver, and later was blackmailed by the mob into doing some illegal work for them, which was authorized by her sleazy, ambitious boss. Janice was legally free when Kelly destroyed evidence of her guilt, but her own conscience led her to confess to a priest and then turn herself in for the killings. She was acquitted of second-degree murder charges and convicted of manslaughter early in Season 2. Played by
Amy Brenneman. Janice would have returned later if not for
David Caruso's departure from the series, as Brenneman noted her character was a "mob chick" who didn't have any room for stories in the absence of Caruso's Det. John Kelly. •
Officer Roy Larson — A hot-tempered, workout-obsessed uniformed officer who partnered with Licalsi in the middle of Season 1 and showed himself to be a subpar cop when he screwed up the arrest of a rapist and left the victim needing to tell her husband (who blamed her). (The fact that the case was closed did nothing to improve Larson's abilities or his attitude.) Licalsi rebuffed Larson's efforts to date her, for which he blamed Kelly. Larson's erratic behavior resulted in his supervisors directing him to undergo a drug test; he tested positive for steroids and methamphetamine, and was immediately fired. He blamed Kelly for his firing, and instigated a fight with Kelly and Sipowicz in the main lobby of the precinct headquarters. Kelly punched Larson, knocked him down, and left him with a bloody lip and nose. After this altercation, Larson left and was not seen at the precinct again. Played by
John Wesley Shipp. •
Desk Sgt Vinnie Agostini — The One-Five Desk Sergeant. Generally got along well with the 15th's detectives, at one point furiously lambasting two corrupt plainclothes cops who had been robbing drug dealers before being arrested by Kelly and Sipowicz. Played by
Vincent Guastaferro. •
Insp. Anthony Lastarza — The sleazy, ambitious
OCCB boss who forced Janice to work for the mobsters (and coldly shut down her efforts to confess to killing Giardello and his driver by stating a mob hitman had claimed credit for those killings and "those cases are closed, period") and later clashed with Andy and Kelly over his treatment of a mob informant case. He rode his dubious successes out of the NYPD and into an off-screen job with the DEA. Played by
Tom Towles. •
Detective Mike Roberts — In Season 1, he was part of the detective squad but was disliked by Lt. Fancy and appeared to be a subpar performer. Roberts had a sexual relationship with a drug-addicted informant, who threatened to call his wife to reveal their affair. After an altercation with Mike, she committed suicide and left a diary that talked of wanting to get clean and being kept in drugs and violence by Roberts. The circumstances were suspicious, and the entire matter was enough for Fancy to force him to quit the job at a reduced pension (Roberts' other choice was to fight the charges and face Fancy's threat to terminate him without any severance). Roberts became a private investigator and second-rate "security consultant" whose work sometimes brought him back to the 15th Precinct, and usually made him look worse than ever. He finally tried to do a good deed in Season 6 when he nearly confessed to Sipowicz about a murder-for-hire plot he was being blackmailed into by Malcolm Cullinan; the intended victim was John Irvin. Roberts gave Irvin a veiled warning, which came shortly before Roberts was himself murdered. A badly-written book of fictionalized detective stories Roberts penned gave clues to the blackmail plot and Roberts' murder, and led to Cullinan's arrest. His last mention on the show came in the S8 episode "Dying to Testify", where a homicide case he closed against a murderous drug dealer is reopened with tragic results, and Diane Russell responds to ADA Haywood's mention of him by stating he used to work at the 15th but is now dead. Played by
Michael Harney. •
Detective Sharon LaSalle — She had attended the police academy with John Kelly, and transferred into the 15th Precinct in Season 1 to work as a detective. Her husband Danny, a retired police officer in charge of public safety at a city university, was killed while trying to stop a robbery on her first day at the 15th. She was later offered a position as an investigator in the department's Equal Employment Opportunity office. After being assaulted by a suspect during an interview, she decided that the raise that came with promotion to Detective First Grade and the regular hours that enabled her to spend more time with her children made the EEO opportunity too good to pass up; she accepted, and was not seen again at the 15th Precinct. Played by
Wendy Makkena. •
Detective Art Stillwell — An aging, fat Detective seen in Season 1 as a part of the 15th squad. Stillwell had a crippling gambling addiction that would often wipe out much of his paycheck and would play practical jokes that often irritated the other officers of the 15th. After losing his entire pension and the rest of his money, Stillwell played a final practical joke, which led Lt. Fancy to send him to a mental hospital and out of the 15th for good. Played by
John Capodice. •
Detective Vince Gotelli — A night shift detective and union delegate. Near the end of season 4, he stole and crashed an unattended city bus while the driver ran into a store for a bathroom break. It was revealed that Gotelli was drunk and depressed over health problems which would force him to retire when he was only two months away from reaching 30 years of service and qualifying for a higher pension. Fancy met with the bus driver's boss, and they agreed to keep both Gotelli and the bus driver out of trouble. Fancy then informed Gotelli that he needed to retire immediately with a pension for medical disability. Gotelli later had heart surgery and made a full recovery, after which he returned to work as a claims investigator for an insurance company. Played by
Carmine Caridi. •
Det. Nick Savino — A capable, successful narcotics officer who accidentally arrested Andy Jr. in Season 1 because he resembled a drug dealer Savino was investigating, then helped free him without charges. Savino later helped Andy on a murder case involving a store Andy had worked at when he was a kid, and with murders at an apartment building Bobby inherited. Played by
Steve Antin. •
Officer Mike Shannon — A uniformed cop who was the main "man in blue" that the 15th's detectives tended to interact with when arriving at a crime scene. While he was generally a stand-up guy who helped the detectives when he could (he helped find Andy's assailant and saved his career, and turned in a corrupt fellow officer who had framed Clark Jr.), he sometimes clashed with the detectives, mostly in cases where the detectives suspected that uniform cops had done something wrong. He was afraid that he would be forced out of the department after he cleared Clark Jr.'s name by admitting knowledge of Laughlin's attempt to frame Clark Jr., but subsequent appearances showed he remained on the job, and was a well-regarded officer at the 15th. Played by
James Luca McBride. •
Officer Miller — In addition to Shannon, one of the uniformed officers most likely to be in charge of a crime scene when detectives arrived. Played by
Billy Concha. •
Josh Astrachan & N.D. "Hank" Harold — A white-and-black pair of plainclothes Anti-Crime cops, they were mostly on hand to take care of babysitting suspects and witnesses, and to handle unpleasant tasks the detectives and uniformed cops tried to avoid, such as monitoring a suspect who had swallowed balloons full of drugs so they could be collected as evidence after the suspect passed them. Played by
Ray LaTulipe and
Henry Murph. •
Officer Abby Sullivan — A uniformed officer who met and became friends with Greg Medavoy in Season 4 when the portly detective undertook a fitness regimen to shed excess pounds. Greg later asked her out, only to learn she was a lesbian, but they remained friends and Abby and her partner Kathy decided they wanted Greg to be a sperm donor so Abby could have a child. Greg was unsure about this, but eventually did make a donation and Abby did get pregnant. In Season 5, Kathy was murdered during a fake robbery that was set up by her bitter ex-lover, and Abby resolved to be a single mother, with Greg promising he would be there to help her if she needed him. She gave birth off-screen late in Season 5 and was never seen or mentioned again. Played by
Paige Turco. •
Lt. Joe Abner — A bitter African-American lieutenant who previously commanded Baldwin Jones in the Bias Incident Investigation Unit. Abner held a grudge against Fancy over Fancy's refusal to get rid of
Andy Sipowicz for his racist attitudes, but later revealed he steered Jones to Fancy's command so Jones could learn from a good boss in a position (general squad work) he was more suited for than judging whether cases involved hate crimes. Abner was depressed over the belief that his work had not done anything to change racism in the department, and he committed suicide, which had a negative effect on the emotions of both Fancy and Jones—they both knew if they had liked Abner more they would have interceded to get him help. Played by
James Pickens Jr., who had previously appeared in another role. •
Sgt. Bill Dornan — Another bitter African-American officer who did not like Andy based on a racist remark he once heard Andy make to a homeless black panhandler, as well as Andy seeking to re-open a murder case (at Sylvia's instigation) that Dornan had cleared. A convicted murderer, Suarez, told Sylvia that he had falsely confessed to prevent the real killer from retaliating against his family. Dornan overcame his initial anger at Sipowicz's second-guessing and told him that maybe Suarez had confessed too easily and Sipowicz should re-open the case. Sipowicz informed Sylvia, but by then Suarez had been murdered in prison to prevent him from officially recanting; subsequent events revealed that Suarez had been bribed and coerced into confessing, and while he was in prison, he was regularly beaten and raped, while the real killer carried on an affair with Suarez's wife. Dornan later got demoted; Andy worried that it was over Dornan's handling of the Suarez case, but in fact the demotion was unrelated. Dornan later fell into heavy drinking and left the job, leading Fancy and Andy to try to help him; Dornan was last seen in the Season 6 finale, making a concerted effort to stay sober and telling Fancy that in the aftermath of Sylvia's death, Andy was a "tough guy" who "will be all right". Talking to Dornan made Andy realize that Andy's father was not a victim of unprovoked violence at the hands of a black man, as Andy had believed, but a drunken bigot who was attacked by a black man who was defending himself. This realization caused Andy to begin questioning his own racist attitudes, which he began to moderate. Dornan was in some ways a black version of Andy, possessing several of the same traits—gruffness, pride, suspicion of authority figures, alcoholism, and racist attitudes—that initially defined Andy's character. Played by
Richard Gant. •
Officer Mary Franco — In Season 7, Danny met her on a murder case and they soon began sleeping together. Mary was nice but brittle, and Danny showed little interest in sharing details of his messed-up life with her, preferring to do so with Diane Russell (something Mary noticed). They broke up when Danny hit bottom over an informant's death, then got back together on rocky terms, before Danny finally did the right thing and broke up with her for good early in Season 8, after which she left the 15th. Played by
Sheeri Rappaport. •
Officer Ed Laughlin — On the same case where Danny met Mary, they also met Ed, who was upset about turning in two other uniformed cops for beating a punk to death. Ed later interfered with a case Jill was working, taunting an abusive drunk until he ended up killing his wife and leaving his children parentless. This led Kirkendall to confront him in a bar. When the much larger Laughlin menacingly moved toward her, Kirkendall stayed put, telling Laughlin that she was "standing right in front of [him]." In Season 9, Ed ran afoul of Clark Jr. by making advances on recently widowed Rita Ortiz, leading to a boxing challenge where Clark beat Laughlin despite Laughlin's low blows and other attempts to cheat. In Season 10, Andy and Clark found out Ed had been having sex with an underage auxiliary cop and ignored her pleas for help on a stalking complaint which later led to her death. The detectives gave Laughlin a choice: retire immediately or face an IAB investigation. He resigned, and Clark Jr. later discussed the case with his father. Clark Sr. informed on Laughlin to IAB, and Clark Jr. tried to make things right by trying to get IAB to reinstate Laughlin. Despite returning to work as a police officer, Laughlin blamed Clark Jr. for his troubles, and responded by planting heroin in Clark's car, followed by an anonymous call that resulted in Clark's arrest. Shannon was aware of what Laughlin had done, and eventually decided to turn him in, which resulted in Laughlin's arrest, followed by Clark's release from jail and return to duty. Played by
Anthony Mangano. •
Det. Harry Denby — A sleazy narcotics officer who was working the case that involved the drug dealers that Don Kirkendall was associated with. He later helped fake Don's death so they could deal drugs together. He was suspended from the force and began working at a courier company, where he put together a new drug ring and began an affair that ended with him killing his girlfriend and her husband. When a sting in Brooklyn led to him killing two dealers and wounding an undercover DEA agent, Diane Russell stepped in and shot him in a suicide-by-cop. Played by
Scott Cohen. •
Sgt. Ray Kahlins — The head of a combined NYPD-federal drug task force that worked with the 15th investigating drug gangs. An alcoholic loudmouth and liar regarded by Sipowicz as a "hump" with inept investigative skills, Kahlins was more often concerned with raking in overtime pay than in making good cases, and was held in low regard by both his task force and the 15th's detectives, though he appeared to be able to make major cases based on his good relationship with the U.S. Attorney. He clashed with Sipowicz and Simone over lies about his involvement in the
Vietnam War and his exposure of informant
Ferdinand Hollie, who was murdered as a result. He later appeared during a case that involved Fancy's foster son Maceo being caught while transporting heroin; Maceo agreed to become an informant, and made a controlled delivery that enabled Kahlins's task force to arrest the drug gang for whom Maceo had been working. Played by
Daniel von Bargen. •
Det. John Clark Sr. — John Clark Jr.'s father. An average detective from a low crime precinct mutually despised by Sipowicz, who called him
"Dutch Boy" in reference to a plaster marketing statue he once shot in the dark thinking it was a suspect with a gun. He threw his son out of the house when John Jr. decided to work at the 15th with Andy; his partner and he later worked a case with Clark Jr. and Andy that revealed Clark Sr.'s by-the-book approach and hyper-sensitivity to his son being anything like Andy. (In fact, Andy was much more the kind of detective Clark Jr. wanted to be, which is why he chose to transfer to the 15th when he earned a detective's shield and pick of assignments.) When the name "John Clark" surfaced in connection with a known prostitute, Clark Sr. let his son face the IAB accusation until Andy told him Clark Jr. was on the verge of being fired, which caused Clark Sr. to confess. After this, Clark Sr. began drinking heavily and became an IAB informant, which nearly ruined Clark Jr.'s career at the 15th. His actions helped lead to the campaign by Officer Laughlin against Clark Jr., who finally told his father to stop making bad decisions on his behalf and stop drinking so much. A depressed Clark Sr. later committed suicide, which sent his son into a long depression of his own. Played by
Joe Spano. •
Sgt. McNamara — A bigoted officer who had both gone to the academy and worked with Lt. Fancy. He was the supervisor of Fancy's brother Reggie, who was involved in a verbal altercation with McNamara that seemed to be racially motivated. Fancy mediated, which resulted in a brief respite, but McNamara later aided a Haitian gypsy cab driver to file a harassment complaint against Reggie. Fancy perceived that McNamara was using the groundless complaint to have Reggie fired; McNamara claimed it was departmental procedure to take complaints from minority citizens seriously even when minority officers were accused of police harassment. Fancy recognized the racism in McNamara's actions, and took action to save Reggie's job. Played by
Danny Goldring. •
Officer Reggie Fancy — Lt. Fancy's younger brother, who was not close to Arthur as evident by his failure to visit Arthur's first-born son until Arthur brought it up, who was a uniformed officer at a neighboring precinct. Reggie's willingness to complain about his supervisor's racism drew the ire of that supervisor, Sgt. McNamara. McNamara later tried to end Reggie's career by supporting a harassment complaint from a Haitian gypsy cab driver complaining that Reggie had shaken him down for money. Fancy's detectives teamed up to uncover the false story, after which Reggie seemed appreciative of his brother's help, while Fancy informed Reggie that none of the cops who saved his career were African-American, teaching Reggie a serious lesson in trust. Played by
Michael Jai White. •
Officer Jack Hanlon — A retired officer who had been on the force at the same time as John Kelly Sr. Hanlon was a corrupt racist who worked part-time as the superintendent of a rent-controlled building; the landlord paid him to brutalize residents in an effort to make them move so he could replace them with better-paying tenants. Martinez's brother lived in the building, and Martinez became aware of Hanlon's bad acts, so Martinez, Sipowicz, and John Kelly Jr. investigated. Because they thought turning in another cop might get Martinez a reputation as a "snitch", Kelly obtained a recorded confession from Hanlon, because he was established enough that his reputation would not suffer. Martinez and Kelly then turned Hanlon in for the murders of two tenants, which were caused when Hanlon created incidents that initially appeared to be accidents. Played by
Mitchell Ryan. •
Det. Walker — A tired, likely-alcoholic officer who appeared in the Season 1 episode "True Confessions", when Andy Sipowicz was restored by Lt. Fancy to active duty and joined him and Det. Kelly in investigating a double-murder at a liquor store. Walker did not want Andy on the case, ignored his work, and refused to listen to his concerns that they'd arrested the wrong man. When an anonymous tip about the robbery was phoned in from a local bar, Walker snidely said Andy wanted to check it out so he could drink rather than investigate, but Andy's instincts paid off when the lead ended up nabbing the man who really committed the crimes. Walker was still hostile towards Andy and asked how he was going to get screwed, but after Andy said the case was made and no one including himself would care about the wrong initial arrest, he finally apologized to Andy, and revealed that he wished he could find a way to sobriety like Andy did. Walker is mentioned once more in Season 1, as a character says the portly detective isn't able to play the 15th's Santa Claus because he's out with medical problems. Played by
Robert Breuler. •
Officer Szymanski — A bigoted uniformed officer who stopped Lt. Fancy and his wife for driving in an all-White neighborhood of
Bayside, Queens. Art figured that Szymanski had little interaction with Blacks working in Bayside (aside from the ones he pulled over, according to Art) and then called in a favor to send Szymanski to work in an all-Black precinct located in either Brooklyn North or Harlem as a means of teaching him to learn which Black citizens to treat with respect. Szymanski was then transferred to the all-Black neighborhood
Bedford-Stuyvesant but later was transferred to the 15th when Captain Bass said it was a bad idea to put a cop who disliked black people in a problematic neighborhood like Bed-Stuy. Szymanski was later falsely accused of robbing a drug dealer and was involved in shooting an undercover Black officer, both cases where Fancy and he clashed, but in both Szymanski was later cleared. In Season 8, his cousin was killed accidentally and the brother of the dead cousin later killed a man in a drunken rage. Played by
Christopher Stanley. •
Officer John McCaslin — The rookie partner of Officer Szymanski, who stopped Lt. Fancy in Queens. Seeing that McCaslin was a rookie who had merely backed up the veteran Szymanski in the traffic stop, Fancy spared him the payback that Szymanski received. •
Officer Lucas — A patrol officer at the 15th. •
Desk Sergeant Baumgartner— An obnoxious uniformed sergeant who first appeared in Season 4's "Upstairs Downstairs", when an off-duty uniformed officer named Mike Zorzi was investigated following the death of a friend for whom he had been providing security. Baumgartner whipped up anger among the uniformed officers against Andy and Bobby for investigating one of their own, but Baumgartner unintentionally revealed information that implicated Zorzi in the crime, which led to his arrest (Zorzi's friend was a courier for illegal gambling money, and Zorzi killed him to steal the cash, after which he fabricated a story about a mugger committing the crime). After Zorzi's arrest, Baumgartner acted like there had been no animosity, but Andy bluntly told him he was a mean drunk who wanted to make everyone else miserable. Baumgartner appeared again in Season 6's "Cop in a Bottle", when Andy went to him for alcohol so Andy, Diane, and Greg could "focus" Mike Walsh, an alcoholic cop who was involved in a shooting while he was off-duty; Baumgartner brought up his past with Sipowicz in a negative context, and denied drinking on the job; Andy replied that Baumgartner could either help or take a beating. Baumgartner then conceded that he did keep a flask on hand, and gave it to Andy so Andy could let the alcoholic cop have a few drinks and stop his DTs (the shooting turned out to be justified). Played by Matt Landers. •
Desk Sergeant Mahoney — A uniformed supervisor who had an altercation with Danny; Danny had requested that an informant, Nicholas, be held in jail overnight for his own protection. Mahoney decided that he needed to free up the cell to detain suspects who had been arrested and were pending booking, so he released Nicholas, who was then murdered by the suspect against whom he was informing. When Sorenson found out the next morning that Nicholas was dead, he got into a screaming match with Mahoney, which was observed by several other officers. Believing that Sorenson had undercut his authority, Mahoney approached Fancy to demand punishment. Fancy reminded Mahoney that he once caught Mahoney drinking on the job, and agreed to handle the problem unofficially. Mahoney agreed, and reminded Fancy that he had apologized to Fancy in person—"like a man"—and insisted that unofficial resolution of his dispute with Sorenson would also require an in person apology. Sorenson put it off until Fancy ordered him to do it; he then attempted to deliver his apology one-on-one. Mahoney compelled Sorenson to make the apology in full view of the 15th's uniformed officers. Sorenson did so, which Mahoney accepted as an unspoken restoration of his authority. In return, Mahoney told Sorenson that the death of Nicholas was no one person's fault, but rather the unintended consequence of unfortunate circumstances. Played by
Jack McGee, who had appeared twice previously in other roles. •
Lt. Steve Graham — The commanding officer of the detective squad at the 27th Precinct (a running meta-reference to the precinct on the rival NBC drama
Law & Order), Graham was an inflexible, unlikable boss. He appeared twice in Season 6 when detectives from his squad crossed paths with the 15th's detectives. The first appearance had him looking forward to ending the career of the alcoholic Detective Mike Walsh, but backing down in the face of evidence that Walsh had acted properly during a shooting (even though he had been drinking) and Lt. Fancy's anger over his crusade. The second appearance had Graham dealing with Bill Dornan, the recently demoted sergeant who brought a bad attitude to his detective's position that was matched by Graham's contempt for him, though Graham was not behind Dornan's demotion. The two detective squads handled a gun-smuggling case that led to Lt. Fancy being shot and wounded in the arm. Graham wanted to grandstand after the arrests, and deny credit to Fancy, which caused Sipowicz to lead the 15th Precinct's detectives in a boycott of the planned press conference to show solidarity with Fancy. An angry Graham then canceled the press conference. Played by
Steve Rankin. •
Officer Donny Simmons — An African-American uniformed cop who like Shannon was often a first on the crime scene officer seen briefing the detectives upon their arrival. He usually got along well with the detectives but was among the uniformed officers who were upset with Sipowicz and Clark when they mistakenly believed Sipowicz and Clark had informed IAB about the numerous officers who were having sex with an underage auxiliary officer. Played by
David Harris. •
Officer Maya Anderson — An attractive, extroverted, flirtatious police officer who works in Anti-Crime, she made her attraction to Baldwin Jones clear as soon as they met, and they eventually began spending time together. She found herself in trouble when the details of her story about how her partner died in a shoot-out did not line up with the recollections of the eyewitnesses. When Maya confesses that her negligence might have contributed to her partner's death, Baldwin persuades Valerie to let him remove Maya's original statement from the case file and replace it with an accurate one so that she will not be accused of perjury. Maya decides that she may not be well-suited for police work and takes time off to consider her options, after which she is not seen at the 15th precinct again. Played by
Tanya Wright. ==Family, friends, and love interests==