A member of the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department and the head of Charming's law enforcement following the dissolution of Charming Police Department. Prior to his assignment in Charming, he spent fifteen years in Oakland working as part of an anti-gang task force. He is a strict, no-nonsense officer, confronting the Sons of Anarchy upon their release from prison and stating that any cuts worn in public by members on parole would be confiscated.
- Beard of Sorrow: After Rita's and their unborn child's deaths. He shaves it for Season 6.
- The Determinator: When he starts something, he finishes it.
- Demoted to Dragon: To both Jacob Hale and then to U.S. Attorney Potter. He outgrows it.
- Demoted to Extra: By Season 6. Most of his screentime is spent being asked to leave a room.
- Hero Antagonist: Shaping up to be the straightest example of this.
- In the Back: Shot twice by Juice as he tries to call in for back up...after Gemma admits to killing Tara.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's probably one of the most morally upright characters. He stands firm by his principles without seeing the world in black and white, he loves his wife deeply and eventually settles on a relationship with the Sons that isn't antagonistic (like Hale) or corrupt (like Unser).
- Killed Mid-Sentence: Shot in the back of the head twice by Juice, as he's calling in the murder of Tara by Gemma.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Lampshaded when he paraphrases's Theodore Roosevelt's "Walk softly and carry a big stick" when he first meets the Sons that are returning from prison.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He increasingly becomes this, successfully juggling many aspects of his career as well as the Sons.
She is the Sheriff of the Charming Police Department during Season 7, and was appointed by Patterson before she left at the end of Season 6. It's established early that she has a thing for bikers, and she is undeceive about doing her job, despite pretending that she is in control.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Not long after her introduction, she starts a relationship with Chibs.
- Analogy Backfire: When Unser and her visit Juice in prison to try and uncover more about Eli and Tara’s murder from him, she asks if Juice “tired of being someone’s asshole” in reference to him being constantly manipulated by everyone on the show. Juice , who at this point is being raped daily, responds with “All I am in here is someone’s asshole.”
- Corrupt Cop: Like Unser, but not nearly as smart or clever and lacking any financial motivation to help the club.
- Meaningful Name: An obscure one. The famous line "Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage," is from the poem "To Althea, From Prison." Fitting for a sheriff.
- No Sympathy: After Juice casually reveals that he's being raped on a regular basis, Althea doesn't care whatsoever and even mocks him for it. She essentially uses it as an opportunity to get him to talk, implying that Juice would be protected if he helps the police, but will continue to be abused if he doesn't.
- Scars Are Forever: From being shot in the abdomen by her ex.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Tries to carry herself as a no nonsense Sheriff, yet everybody she deals with sees right through her weak facade. Chibs uses her for sex. Unser manipulates her to his advantage. And Patterson gives her false praise, knowing that Charming will eat her alive.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Gets in a sexual relationship with Chibs, who uses the relationship to distract her from doing her job right. She has the sense to end it but he threatens to kill her if she attempts to interfere with the club in the future.
The deputy chief of the Charming Police Department. Chief Unser nicknames him "Captain America" for his black and white views and squeaky clean image (prior to his involvement with L.O.A.N. and sexual encounter with an ATF agent), adherence to the law and, possibly, because of his square-jawed all-American looks. He is a native of Charming, California, who knew of SAMCRO while he was growing up and who delivered newspapers to the Teller household. His father is a county judge and a very powerful and wealthy man. David has an older brother, Jacob, Jr.. He is next in line for the job of chief once Wayne Unser retires. Unlike Unser, Hale wishes to purge the town of SAMCRO upon becoming police chief.
- By-the-Book Cop: Usually sticks to the rules, and doesn't engage in corruption or brutality.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Hale was with the show from the beginning, established very quickly as a nigh-unmovable Hero Antagonist, both a Worthy Opponent to Jax as well as his opposing counterpart. However, he's killed very suddenly with almost zero build-up in a particularly anti-climatic way in the first episode of the third season: hit by a van. He's never discussed again.
- Fair Cop: Unser even calls him 'Captain America'.
- Friendly Enemy: Not all the time, but he can be courteous, friendly, and polite to the Sons.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: From SAMCRO's perspective, anyway. He's a dedicated, honorable, and pretty much incorruptible cop who believes in always doing the right thing, no matter how hard it is. This makes him dangerously unpredictable - he'll gladly work with the Sons to help take down some greater evil and then immediately go back to working against them in the next episode. Hell, sometimes he even helps them and works against them in the same episode.
- Hero Antagonist: To the Sons.
- Knight in Sour Armor: As the series progresses, he becomes more jaded by the influx of people like Zobelle and the compromises he's forced to make.
- Macho Masochism: Is willing to slice open his own arm with a piece of glass to intimidate the daughter of an Aryan Nationalist leader.
- Odd Friendship: With Jax in Season 2, who he has grown to trust enough to help each other. Also with Gemma to a lesser extent, who he seemed to have a crush on as a child.
- Precocious Crush: Gemma hints in one of their conversations that Hale had a crush on her as a teenager, and it's implied this is a big part of why he starts going in the offensive against the Aryans, who raped her.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He hates the Sons, but is willing to work with them on the rare occasions they're clearly in the right.
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: His general attitude when criminals or his own brother tries to buy him."I'm on nobody's payroll."
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Does this more and more in Season 2.
A Deputy Sheriff in the San Joaquin County Sheriff Department. He is based in the Charming-Morada Sub-Station under the command of Lieutenant Eli Roosevelt and partnered with Deputy Martinez.
- The Lancer: To Roosevelt.
A member of the Charming Police Department. She is shown to be sympathetic towards SAMCRO and the Chief Wayne Unser.
- Bit Character: She often appears when Hale and Unser need to have other officers around them.
The local county sheriff and, in addition to being on the payroll of SAMCRO, he appears to have a great deal of insider information on their illicit activities.
- Bus Crash: Trammel dies of his injuries off-screen, and the SAMCRO gets a call stating that he didn't make it.
- Dirty Cop: He's in SAMCRO's pocket.
- Mauve Shirt: He was a minor recurring character for a few episodes before being killed off in season 2.
- What the Hell, Hero?: To Jax, when he finds out the guns used to attack his prisoner escort came from the Sons.
