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Introduced in This Is The Police

Jack Boyd

The player character of both games. In the first game he is an almost-not-corrupt police chief in an extremely corrupt city of Freeburg. Forced to retire in half a year, he sets a goal before himself - to make half a million dollars in that time, no matter the cost.

Anti-Hero: He's starts as this, depending on how you play ranging from Unscrupulous Hero at best to Nominal Hero at worst. By the end of the second game he's a full blown Villain Protagonist.
Anti-Villain: A police officer forced into siding with corrupt politicians and the mafia. Despite the horrible things he does, he still genuinely wants to help stop the crime in the city.
Beardness Protection Program: Between his retirement from Freeburg PD and his appearance in Sharpwood, he grows a beard.
The Corruption: He becomes ultimate image as this at the end. No matter how hard you try.
Deadpan Snarker: Boyd is one snarky motherfucker. Almost all his internal thoughts are some pointed comment at the situation he is facing.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Dirty Cop. There's nothing glamorous about what Boyd is doing and his descent into corruption hurts everyone around him, while bringing nothing but suffering to him.
Dirty Cop: Becomes one through the course of the first game. Fits this trope to a T in the second one.
The Don: Between the first and second games, is subject to a smear job in the newspapers that paints him as this for Freeburg. Becomes this for Sharpwood by the end of the second game, having annihilated any and all competition for control of both Sharpwood's police and criminal underworld. By the end of Rebel Cops, 7 years later, his reach has extended to Ripton, as well as multiple other towns in the surrounding area- Nirking, Gerinsberg, and Big Rift.
Experienced Protagonist: He's been in the Force for 30 years with all the experience that entails. Notably, cops on the field will frequently radio him for advice on how to approach situations, and he can solve cases by himself like a detective.
Fallen Hero: By the end of the second game, it's hard to remember that Boyd started off as a mostly law-abiding and honest police chief.
Forced into Evil: If Jack refuses to work with the Mafia at the beginning of Day 5, they murder his former deputy, his wife, and their two children, making it perfectly clear that his cooperation is not optional. His comments at the beginning of the second game imply that this is the canon outcome.
Functional Addict: He's addicted to painkillers, and probably drinks more than he should. He's still a very effective police chief. Seems to have kicked the pill habit cold turkey by the second game.
Hardboiled Detective: The monologues he gives, give off this exact vibe.
He Who Fights Monsters: Starts out as a cynical cop stubbornly opposed to crime and corruption. Ends up transforming into a criminal mastermind.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Jack can be undeservingly abrasive to other people, especially when under stress. Despite this and being gruff and sarcastic, he still tries to do what is right most of the time, and can go out of his way to help those who are close to him.
Knight in Sour Armour: Jack is this on the onset of the first game. Cynical and jaded, he still tries to do what is right and uphold the law as best as he can.
Lawman Gone Bad: The games chronicle his descent from a law abiding police chief at the start of the first game to an outright Villain Protagonist by the end of the second right up to wiping out the remnants of Ripton's police force in order to cover up his involvement in a turf war.
The Main Characters Do Everything: He's the chief of the police, but he also does the work of a dispatcher, a detective, plans assaults and commands assault teams in the field, and in the second game is even tasked with setting the dinner menu for his officers. Jack lampshades this in the second game when he offers to help Lilly with a case she's struggling with.
Player Character: You play as him through both games.
Previous Player-Character Cameo: In Rebel Cops, the titular rebel cops receive letters from him during the course of the game. He shows up in person in the game's ending to wipe them out.
Protagonist Journey to Villain: The first game starts with Jack as an honest police chief and sees him descend into corruption as his life falls apart. This trend continues with the second game and by Rebel Cops, he's turned the Sharpwood Police Force into little more than another gang, even going so far as to murder the good remnant of Ripton's Police Force in order to cover up his involvement in a gang war with their local mobster.
Red Baron: Dubbed "Caesar of Corruption" by the press in the second game.
The Scapegoat: The second game shows that Jack has been made a scapegoat for all the crime and corruption in Freeburg, with literally everything piled on him alone.
Scary Shiny Glasses: Starts wearing glasses in the latter part of the second game. With his character by that point it more often than not creates this effect.
Taught by Experience: By the end of the second game he wises up enough to not wait for his enemies to spring their trap, and instead make his own moves to outplay and kill Lilly and Henderson.
Tragic Villain: After everything Boyd goes through, it's easy to see why he broke under the pressure.
Trauma Conga Line: In just the first act of the first game, Jack's wife suddenly leaves him, he's forced into retirement without a pension, he's blackmailed into working for the mafia as well as being a pawn for both the criminal organisations in Freeburg and the corrupt mayor. Things get worse from there.
Villain Protagonist: Shows signs of this in the first game. Is completely this in the second one.

Laura Boyd Markham

Jack's wife. She leaves Jack prior to the start of the game - as in, completely vanishes without a trace cutting off any contact with him and their children. Trying to find out what happened to her and reconcile is a large part of Jack's motivations throughout the first game.

Did Not Get the Girl: Jack never reconciles with her.
He Who Must Not Be Seen: We do not learn what she looks like, only hearing her voice once.
Small Role, Big Impact: Her leaving Jack serves as the catalyst that starts his spiral into corruption and all the tragedy that follows - his resolve to become dirty and earn half a million is his desperate attempt to bring her back, clinging to some forgotten words she told him years ago.

Stewart Rogers

The corrupt mayor of Freeburg.

Better the Devil You Know: Despite the estranged relationship with Jack. Jack preferred Rogers to Chaffee as at least Rogers didn't hide how corrupt he was behind theatrics or a noble cause of creating a progressive city and keeps the status quo with Sands.
Big Bad Ensemble: Forms one with Eugene Chaffee in the endgame.
Corrupt Politician: A textbook example of one, almost to a caricature degree. As Jack puts it, the only difference between Rogers and corrupt politicians from movies is that when movie politicians play golf with bribed judges, Rogers plays tennis with them. That's it.
Evil Old Folks: 80 years old and still a horrible bastard.
Hate Sink: There is nothing remotely likable about this guy. Every moment that he appears is designed to make you hate his guts.
Hypocrite: He may request Jack to suppress lawful demonstrations and is rotten to the core - and this won't stop him from chewing Jack out or cutting his budget for conducting unlawful actions of his own or suppressing those demonstrations that Jack did on his orders. Justified, since he's playing to the public and also doesn't like Jack.
Karma Houdini: Gets away with his actions if you support him.
Light Is Not Good: Dresses almost entirely in white. He is not a nice man.
Obstructive Bureaucrat: Deliberately so. He constantly cuts the police budget, thus hampering the department's performance, often in cases where the police are performing badly due to being underfunded to begin with.
Politically Incorrect Villain: In the beginning of the game he asks you to fire all black cops to appease a small group of racists. Later on various occasions he also requests you to suppress peaceful protest demonstrations from such groups as feminists and gay people.
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Far from his only vice, but the one probably given the most emphasis is that the man is a serial rapist, making use of his position to get away with it. Lana is one of his victims.
Storming the Castle: The game's potential final challenge is planning an assault against the town hall in order to neutralise him.
Smug Snake: Is constantly smarmy and condescending to Jack and others as long as he has power over them - less so when he starts needing things from them.

Troy Starr

Mayor Rogers' assistant who Jack has to deal with on several occasions.

Interrupted Intimacy: The first time Jack gives him a call Troy is... preoccupied.
The Mole: Mayor Rogers' introduces him as his assistant. Later we learn that he's actually spying for Chaffee.

Frances Kendrick

Jack's deputy. Unlike Jack, he's firmly in the mob's pocket from the game's start, and has been so for years.

Cruel and Unusual Death: If you refuse his request, he and his family will be killed, their heads cut off and put on a candelabra. The sequel suggests that this is the canon choice.
Corrupt Cop: And unfortunately, a very obvious one. His in-game problems start because he's no use to the mob as a mole, since everybody knows he's corrupt.
I Have Your Wife: The mob takes his family hostage, giving him one hour to find a replacement mole for them.
Regretful Traitor: By now he hates being a corrupt cop, but can't do anything about it because the mob won't let him out alive - unless he can find a replacement.
Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Tries to just skip town with his family but unfortunately the mob finds out, worsening his predicament.
Your Days Are Numbered: He has days before being fired. Unfortunately, the mob does not want to lose such a useful asset, so unless he manages to provide them with a replacement till then he will not only be fired but dead too.

Martin Stett

Jack's new deputy after Kendrick resigns:

Mauve Shirt: He occupies important part in the game and in the police department, but he rarely figures in the narrative.
Number Two: He's Jack's second-in-command. Throughout the game he provides you with tips on new mechanics, helps arranging things behind the scenes as well as assists Jack in navigating through various crises.

Christopher Sand

The head of Freeburg's ruling mob family. Despite his age, he still has a very firm grip over the city, and going against him usually results in your death.

Affably Evil: He is polite and non-antagonistic as long as you do what he wants.
The Clan: The Sands family is this, and they've been controlling Freeburg for several generations now.
The Don: The head of his mob family, and is even called Freeburg's Godfather.
Evil Old Folks: He's 69, and is a ruthless mafia don.
Family-Values Villain: He has a rather conservative outlook.
Gang of Hats: Despite being more professional than his rival Varga, his outfit still has some odd quirks that make them stand out. They have a fascination with fancy decorum, big game hunting, and horseback riding.
Horrible Judge of Character: He thinks Jack is a dirty cop who's been feigning honesty for 30 years so he can start lining his pocket near the end without suspicion, likening him to a hunter who's spent decades in the bush to make the deers accustomed to him. As Jack's narration makes clear, he is a genuinely honest cop turned dirty due to a bad situation, and he may take Sand down later down the line to prove it.
The Mafia: The Sands are Freeburg's ruling mob - until Varga shows up.
Slobs Versus Snobs: Sand vs Varga mob war has these overtones, with Sand's side representing old blood gangsters with standards of style and conduct.
Villainous Respect: Admires Jack for his supposed "patience", thinking that he's spent 30 years as an honest cop so he could start going dirty without anyone suspecting. He could give Jack the $500,000 he wants no problem, but he doesn't want to deny him of his long-awaited payoff.
Villain with Good Publicity: To the majority of Freeburg he's known as a wealthy philanthropist, and even has a skating rink named in his honour. In reality he's a mob boss, with all the blood on his hands that it entails.
Worthy Opponent: He's ecstatic at the idea of facing Varga in a gang war, as it's his chance to prove himself in battle like his father and grandfather once did. He was actually afraid that he wouldn't have any worthy opponent during his lifetime to test his mettle.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Inflicts this on Kendrick, and may inflict this on Jack if you are not careful.

Vicus Varga

A Freeburg gangster that decides to challenge Christopher Sand for control over Freeburg. Depending on Jack's actions he may or may not succeed.

Affably Evil: Like Sand, Varga acts like he's an old drinking buddy around Jack, being nothing but smiles and jokes.
Army of Thieves and Whores: Compared to Sand's more organized gang, Varga created a confederation of smaller gangs from multiple races and walks of life or from gangs he's already taken over, relying mostly on sheer numbers than talent.
Big Bad Wannabe: Depending on player choice, Varga could make only a single apperance in the game and die 4 days later because he fails to get Jack on his side. The fact that he doesn't offer any advantage over Sand while being much harder to side with makes it very likely that most players leave him to dry.
Calling Card: A fruit basket of oranges that he sends to those that interest him. The meaning of it, whether it's a peace offering or a declaration of war, largely depends on how the receiver interprets it.
Chaotic Evil
Cloudcuckoolander: It wouldn't be too far-fetched to say that Mr. Varga has a couple screws loose. He's fond of strange metaphors, clowns, children's sweets, and he always wakes up at exactly 5:56 every morning because he believes the extra four minutes add up to a year later in life.
Equal-Opportunity Evil: Varga's gang recruits criminals among multiple races, ethnicities, and class. Morally bankrupt though he may be, at least he doesn't discriminate.
Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Fond of some cruel jokes and possesses a dark wit. One of the crimes he commits that the player can respond to is him unleashing a *single* wasp to harass a suburbanite.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Only a few months before the game's start, he was dismissed as another over-ambitious wannabe gangster that would be swallowed up by the bigger, badder gangs. Than the bodies started piling up.
It Amused Me: A lot of his crimes just seem to involve him causing trouble for the hell of it.
King of the Homeless: Varga has a large following among the destitute of Freeburg, who are another addition to his gang.
Meet the New Boss: Nothing changes in the city at large if he wrestles control from the Sands, whether it for better or for worse. You will have to investigate different crimes related to his gang rather than the Sands, but the overall (crappy) situation remains exactly the same.
Mob War: Starts one against the Sands.
Mysterious Past: Nobody knows just where he comes from. The best you can get is that he's from some unspecific eastern european country, judging from his accent.
Outside-Context Problem: He showed up in Freeburg out of nowhere and quickly began dismantling the underworld's power structure to become the next big crimeboss. Neither Boyd nor Sand are quite sure of what to make of him.
Psychopathic Manchild: He has a childish attitude and demeanor despite his great intelligence, and a lot of his crimes seem like highschool pranks than felonies.
Rebellious Spirit: A facet of his character is that he decides to seize control from the Sands in part out of rebellious attitude, wanting to challenge the old timers and bring new blood to rule.
Sharp-Dressed Man: Wears a gangster-like suit during his first meeting with Jack. Jack is not impressed.
Slobs Versus Snobs: Sand vs Varga mob war has these overtones, with Varga's side being rough, unruly and unsophisticated mobs of youth.
Troll: Never misses the opportunity to mess with Boyd, and the entire war was sparked mostly to entertain himself.
White Gangbangers: He makes his power base out of these, organising various punks and street gangs under himself to oppose Sand.

Lana Berman

A young woman working as a prosecutor. One day she decides to give Jack a call, with two of them forming a connection over their talks.

Broken Pedestal: Most likely reason as of why she is so obsessed with getting to Jack is her disappointment with someone who she looked up to but ended up as corrupt as anyone else around her.
The Confidant: She and Jack become this to each other.
Double Standard: She mentions she has to struggle a lot with advancing her career because of sexism in the prosecutor's office.
Hero Worship: She strongly respected Jack for his accomplishments as a police chief. This turns into just as strong hatred when his corruption comes to light.
Living Emotional Crutch: Lana becomes this to Jack in the first game - and though its not spelled out, the second game implies through her actions that he was just as much as one for her.
Mistaken for Romance: Played for drama. There is nothing romantic in her and Jack's relationship - but it does not stop other people from treating it like that if it suits them.
Killed Mid-Sentence: Unceremoniously shot and killed by Jack mid-rant.
Rape as Drama: She was raped by Mayor Rogers some years before the first game.
Sanity Slippage: She's clearly not in the right state of mind when she finds Jack in the second game. Nobody, not even herself can tell just what she wanted to achieve there.
Took a Level in Jerkass: She's noticeably more abrasive in the second game, and takes more and more levels as stress piles up on her.
Tragic Hero: She is an honest and hardworking woman hoping to defeat the corruption in the current rotten system. Unfortunately, she's a character in This Is The Police...
Turn in Your Badge: She gets suspended in the second game because of her connection to Jack and resulting conflict of interests in her investigation. To rub the salt further in, it wasn't even done to maintain the proper procedure but because of office politics her superior was involved in.
Woman Scorned: An ideological rather than romantic example, but fits otherwise.

Eugene Chaffee

A respectable if a bit eccentric Freeburg businessman on the surface, he's much more and much worse underneath it.

Ambition Is Evil: He's very ambitious and very amoral.
Big Bad Ensemble: Forms one with Mayor Rogers in the endgame.
The Chessmaster: He's very cunning and plans far ahead in pursuit of his goals.
The Coup: Arranges a coup to depose Mayor Rogers and himself become the city mayor without elections through popular support and civil unrest. Because following laws and waiting for elections and running in them is for chumps.
Dude, Where's My Reward?: Played as a deliberate insult: after he becomes the new mayor and fires Jack, as a "reward" for what Jack has done for him he sends an envelope with a sum of money - a single dollar.
Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Fond of strange, childish jokes. His reward to Boyd for taking down Rogers, should he choose to? A single One Dollar bill. "Enough money to last you the rest of your life," indeed.
Evil Is Hammy: Chaffee has a definite flair for the dramatic, as both Robespierre and his more "public" persona. It's clear he's enjoying the hell out of playing the "mysterious and slightly sinister politician". His bombastic nature, in hindsight, was probably an early clue that he orchestrated the fake Dentist killings. The postcards he sent were smug, playful, and full of personality, whereas Jordon herself, the "new" Dentist, was as talkative as a brick wall.
Faux Affably Evil: Polite and courteous at first, but dismissive after you are no longer of use to him.
Inspirational Martyr: Creates these out of several women previously raped my Mayor Rogers. He arranges the new Dentist to kill all these women and frame Rogers for arranging their deaths in order to build up dissent against him.
It's All About Me: Simply put, he's a megalomaniac. His sets his ambitions for ever higher positions of power and authority and flaunts laws, morals and lives of other people for no other reason that he wants to. Unfortunately for everyone, he's also smart and effective at achieving his goals.
Karma Houdini: Same as Rogers, he gets away with everything completely scot-free if you support him.
Magnificent Bastard: Very smart, with a sense of flair and an ego to match.
The Man Behind the Man: He is the mastermind behind the new Dentist.
Phantom Thief: As "Robespierre".
The Sociopath: He ticks off every single point on the trope's page.
Storming the Castle: Similar to Rogers, the game's potential final challenge is planning an assault against his restaurant to neutralise him.
Troll: Fond of bizarre pranks as Robespierre, and even in his civilian role, he has a rather off-brand sense of humor.
Übermensch: Ignores laws and morals and does as he wants, just because he can.
Villain with Good Publicity: He's only known as a respectable businessman to the public, and even his "Robespierre" persona is known as an amusing and harmless prankster. In reality, he's much worse.

Ethan Palmer

A federal investigator and Jack's old friend from the academy days. When a notorious serial killer resurfaces in Freeburg Ethan arrives there to try and catch them.

CIA Evil, FBI Good: There's no CIA in the game but the latter part is played straight, as Ethan is an honest, well-meaning and non-corrupt character.
Foil: To Jack. They come from the same origin, having attended the academy together and starting their friendship back then but not seeing each other in a while. Unlike Jack, Ethan had a more successful career, has a happy family life, and most importantly, never had to compromise his morals or dabble in corruption.
Jurisdiction Friction: His arrival creates this. The case of the Dentist is a federal affair, and so Jack is forbidden from investigating it himself, only providing clues and assistance to federals when needed. You will have to break the law if you want to catch the Dentist yourself.
Small Role, Big Impact: He has only one scene in the second game but it marks a very important milestone in the narrative. After Ethan refuses to listen to Jack's earnest plea for help and displays no sympathy towards him Jack finally snaps for good and abandons the last of his morals as there is now definitely no way back for him.

The Dentist

A notorious serial killer that never got caught. He was thought to have stopped killing, but now resurfaces in Freeburg, and for some reason he has some interest in Jack.

Calling Card: Got his name for drilling holes in his dead victims' teeth after strangling them.
Criminal Mind Games: Offers to play one with Jack and only with Jack. He will send you letters with cryptic hints on his plans and how to catch him - if you (or one of your cops) go to federals with his letters he will cut off his contact.
Empty Shell: Boyd remarks that her eyes are "dead" when Jordon is brought into custody. It's unknown if she was always like this or if the killings took a toll on her sanity.
Evil Is Hammy: The postcards he sends Boyd are cocky and mischievous, an early clue that Chaffee is the one behind the new Dentist.
Inspirational Martyr: The new Dentist's victims were all women previously raped by Mayor Rogers. When Chaffee could not convince them to testify against Rogers in his favour he arranged for the new Dentist to kill them and create trope out of them.
Heel–Face Turn: The original Dentist had a change of heart after a successful therapy and stopped killing. He peacefully died before the game even started.
Karma Houdini: The original Dentist.
Legacy Character: The Dentist you are dealing with in-game is not the original. The new one is a copycat murderer directed by Eugene Chaffee.
Mysterious Past: Goes for both, but especially the newest incarnation. All Chaffee reveals is that Jordon Dawson is in his debt and is a "very caring mom".
Samus Is a Girl: The new Dentist is a woman.
Serial Killer: He's a murderer targeting women.
There Are No Therapists: Averted. The original Dentist was convinced to stop killing by a therapist.
Walking Spoiler: One can't discuss him freely without revealing some major plot points.

Mr. Fry

A private detective. In the first game Jack hires him to try and find his wife. He also has a prominent part in the sequel.

Almighty Janitor: A mere private eye, he can throw federal investigators off Jack's trail in the second game.
Fatal Flaw: Greed. Jack tempts him with a large sum of money to provide himself a lasting set of fake documents, before luring him to his death.
Given Name Reveal: He's always referred to by his family name. Only by the end of the second game we learn that his first name is Seymour.
He Knows Too Much: Jack arranges to have him killed in the end of the second game.
Knows a Guy Who Knows a Guy: How he manages to keep federals away from Jack - he has friends in the ministry.
Porn Stache: Has one.
Private Detective: He's not perfect and can appear sleazy, but he's quite good. In the first game he manages to find a trail of Jack's wife, and in the second he's shown to have enough clout to buy off people on Jack's trail after he gets onto a federal wanted list.

Emma Weinstein

Jack's secretary in Freeburg's police.

He Knows Too Much: The Stinger for the second game shows that Jack is going to kill her too, as the last person who still knows where he is.
Knows a Guy Who Knows a Guy: She was the one who introduced Jack to Fry in the first game.
Moral Event Horizon: Jack has her killed, even though she's the last genuinely loyal and supportive person to real him. This is the final, most decisive tell that Jack has lost all of his heroic qualities by that moment, if previous events of the game did not clue the player in.
No Hero to His Valet: Averted. She's been Jack's secretary for many years and greatly respects him, and keeps covering for him even in prosecutors' interviews.
Undying Loyalty: She still supports and thinks high of Jack even in the second game, after the whole world turned away from him.

Sally Markham

Jack's mother-in-law.

Innocently Insensitive: She rubs Jack the wrong way when she notes his poor financial situation, but this does not sound intentional on her part.
Obnoxious In-Laws: Subverted. Jack is irritated by her at first, but she is in fact supportive of him and wants Jack and his wife/her daughter to mend their rift.
Tongue-Tied: She's is the only member of the family who still has contact with Laura, and probably knows where to find her and her situation. She tells Jack very little, apparently hoping to mediate things herself. It does not work.

Kevin Paulsen

Kevin used to be another policeman in Freeburg's force until Jack fired him. Now, he is next in line to be the chief of police - being Mayor Rogers' son-in-law may have something to do with that.

Hypocrite: He like waxing poetics about corruption. He's only getting his post because he's married into the mayor's family.
Nepotism: How he came to be the next in line to be the police chief.
Talk to the Fist: At one point Jack slugs him in the face when he runs out of patience with him.
Turn in Your Badge: He used to be a policeman until Jack fired him - though according to Kevin he wasn't fired, he quit.

Other Gangs and Criminal Organizations

Freeburg is no stranger with other strange groups of scoundrels working in their own self-interest, and you will inevitably encounter a few of them running amok. They're a main source of Investigations, and a handsome cash reward will be given if you successfully dismantle their enterprise. NOTE: Some of these gangs may be unique to different languages for the game.

Corrupt Church: So corrupt that it's considered no different from the rest of the gangs at play in Freeburg.
Gang of Hats: A couple gangs tend to flirt with noticeable gimmicks. Such examples include the Keyless, who are illegal street racers and chop shops that focus on rewiring the cars they steal without using keys, and the Pagansters, who are criminals devoted to Celtic spirituality.
Generic Ethnic Crime Gang: More than a few dip into familiar categories, from triads to Russian mobs.
MegaCorp

Introduced in This Is The Police 2

Lilly Reed

The newly-minted sheriff of a small town of Sharpwood, a well-intentioned woman who is however completely out of her depth for the task before her. When her policemen accidentally arrest Jack Boyd she is initially wary of him, but when he in desperation offers his help in running the police department she accepts out of desperation of her own.

Break the Cutie: Her situation combined with Jack's treatment of her does not bring out the best of her, and only damages her further until she herself gives into corruption.
The Dog Bites Back: Snapping under stress and Jack's verbal abuse she starts conspiring with Henderson to kill Jack.
Decoy Protagonist: The marketing and preview of the game made her out to be the main character of the game, struggling to maintain law in remote town and with dilapidated sheriff department. In the game proper you only control her during the prologue, and then switch to Jack as the protagonist for the rest of the game.
Establishing Character Moment: In the beginning, when she tells other officers that they are not going to take down that tapestry they completely ignore her, continuously talking over her words.
External Combustion: How Jack kills her.
Extreme Doormat: As well-intentioned as she is, Lilly simply does not have the spine to command authority over her subordinates.
Fatal Flaw: As Jack points out, her aforementioned Extreme Doormat tendencies leave her incapable of doing things on her own. Despite being First Deputy under Sheriff Wells, she learned nothing about what that job would entail once she took command. Once she becomes Sheriff, she relies on Gale Greenberg, and later Jack, to step up and do her job for her to keep the peace, and on Captain Carter to try and replace Jack when she realized how dangerous he was. Even after Jack chews her out over this, her turn into corruption falls into just the same flaw, relying on Colonel Henderson to get rid of Jack in exchange for leaving his operations alone.
Fiery Redhead: Subverted. Lilly is noticeably redheaded, but she is timid, easily influenceable and has the presence of a wet tissue paper.
Headphones Equal Isolation: On one occasion she is seen listening to music in headphones, with visible empty space around her and people ignoring her.
Heroic Safe Mode: Falls into this on the morning of Carter's death.
The Main Characters Do Everything: Deconstructed. When Jack first sees her she is sifting through a case file - because nobody wants to work on this case and neither can she get them to do it.
Leader Wannabe: She honestly wants to be a good sheriff but has neither the experience nor the character necessary for this post.
The Peter Principle: How she came to be in her post. She became the sheriff because she was the first deputy when sheriff Wells died, and she became the first deputy because, out of all the department, she was the only one who understood the meaning of the tapestry that hang in the department - which to sheriff Wells symbolised what the police work was about. Unfortunately, having good intentions in their heart does not make one a good commander of a police force.
Team Mom: Deconstructed. As a sheriff she conducts herself in a fussy way, treating the rest of her subordinates as unreasonable and unruly children who just don't know better. Nobody takes her seriously.
Unfit for Greatness: Her main problem. She simply does not have what it takes for the post she finds herself on.
Wham Line: Doubles as Ironic Echo:
Lilly: "I'd like to speak to Liam Henderson."
You Are in Command Now: She automatically becomes a new sheriff after the previous sheriff, to whom she was the first deputy, gets killed. She is woefully unprepared for her position.

Gale Greenberg

A member of Sharpwood sheriff's department, and Lilly's assistant. He gets killed in the prologue.

Hypercompetent Sidekick: In his short screen time he shows himself as a better and more capable commander than Lilly, and does more work at running the force than Lilly does.
Only Friend: He's the only member of the force who treats Lilly with (relative) respect.
Plotline Death: You can't prevent his demise.
Sacrificial Lamb: A competent, reasonable police officer who dies soon into the game.
Unresolved Sexual Tension: It's very subtle, when Jack asks Lilly if they were close with Gale she denies it, saying they only went to school together - but cuts herself off at something in the process, and as a whole sounds just a tad too wistful about it.

Charlie Fletcher

A Sharpwood cop who arrests Jack in the beginning.

Defeat Means Respect: See Undying Loyalty - looks like that beatdown was just what Charlie needed to be put into place.
Fisticuff-Provoking Comment: He tries mocking Jack at one point in the game, reminding him how Jack got arrested. Look below to see what that got him into.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Which is even more disturbing to see in a cop.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Jack inflicts one on him later when Charlie mocks him, beating him up with a broom.
Promoted to Playable: You can actually recruit him for your roster later in the game.
Rabid Cop: The man looks like he's just a moment away from shooting Jack when he's arresting him, and on another occasion is all too eager to start cracking a suspect.
Torture Technician: He seems to be the one usually handling "interrogations" in the sheriff's department. At least before Jack's arrival - in the game proper there is no way to get him to do tortures.
Undying Loyalty: Surprisingly he's this when playable. His loyalty gauge literally cannot go below zero, meaning he will never turn disloyal to Jack no matter what you have him do.

Liam Henderson

A former army colonel, now a smuggler and a major criminal figure in the Sharpwood area.

Affably Evil: Jovial and friendly to Jack and to most people in general. He even gets Jack his old vinyl player and records from the first game as an unprompted gift.
Almost Dead Guy: He lives just long enough for Jack to gloat to him.
Bad Liar: Really, Liam, you could've tried to be more subtle about planning to double-cross Jack.
Batman Gambit: He was the one who set the ambush that got the previous sheriff killed - and lured him in there with a false call telling him that it was the Neckties' safe house.
Colonel Badass: He was a colonel when he got discharged, and he's quite good at what he does even when he's no longer in the army.
Cool Car: Drives around in a humvee.
Final Boss: The second game does not really have a Big Bad, but he is the final opponent Jack has to go through with Liam's assault on Sharpwood's sheriff office, making him this.
From Camouflage to Criminal: He was in the military for forty years, only to turn smuggler after his discharge.
Hero Killer: Indirectly. He was the one who orchestrated the death of the previous sheriff, who was idolised in Sharpwood.
Justified Criminal: Paints himself as such. While he does not deny that he smuggled illicit goods and even people in the past, most of his trade is in basic supplies such as food or medicine that people in Sharpwood simply cannot get in enough quantities.
The Man Behind the Man: What he wants to be. The reason he is so nice to Jack is he hopes to make him his ally and a puppet, having him take care of all other criminals in the area for him while leaving his operations alone. He later switches his bet to Lilly as a more controllable figure, when she requests him to kill Jack in exchange of ignoring his gang.
Old Soldier: Quite literally, as he was an army colonel in the past and commands a gang of smugglers in the present.
Too Dumb to Live: Ultimately it's Henderson himself who was responsible for his own demise, when he severely underestimated Jack and did not even bother to hide his double-crossing nature from him.
They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: His subordinates still call him Colonel, though he's not in the army by now.
Villainous Rescue: Arrives just in the nick of time to save Jack from Neckties' hitmen. May or may not have been intentionally orchestrated.

Britt Carter

A former military and an acquaintance of Lilly. After the death of sheriff Wells she writes a letter to him, asking him to take post in Sharpwood's sheriff department. But by the time he arrives, Jack is already working there...

The Alcoholic: Implied to be a recovered one.
Chest of Medals: He wears his awards when he comes to the station.
Dark and Troubled Past: He is implied to had his own share of problems in the past, but it's not elaborated on.
Dry Crusader: Downplayed. While he does not drink and makes a couple of comments to Jack that he should quit drinking too, he does bring a bottle of booze as a gift to Jack when he visits.
The Fundamentalist: He is openly religious, though not too preachy about it.
Genius Cripple: He walks with a cane, and was called in by Lilly to help running the department. Subverted, because he's not that genius.
Hero Antagonist: He's an honest and upstanding individual who becomes Jack's rival for his post.
Heel–Face Brainwashing: He admits to Jack that his current outlook came as a result of essentially being reprogrammed and brainwashed. Not in any sci-fi way - he was put in a basement on nothing but water for three weeks and was not let out until he proved he changed his ways.
Honour Before Reason: Not only admits to Jack that he cheated in his contest, but also lets on to Jack that he knows who he really is. He does not live to see the next morning.
Ordered to Cheat: He shows reservations of making use of the lead Lilly provides him in the contest, but relents when she presses him again.
The Rival: Becomes one to Jack in a contest to see who is better at being a sheriff's deputy. Unsurpsisingly, with his good character but no practice of actual police work he's not really good at this, and will show meager results throughout the contest. Until the last day, that is .
Sacrificial Lion: An honest and upstanding character, his death shows how far Jack has fallen.

Moreno

Sharpwood's sheriff station dispatcher, secretary, and anything else that might be needed. Also, Liam Henderson's informant.

Bald of Evil: He's bald, and he's a spy within the police for a smuggler gang.
Conflicting Loyalties: On one hand he spies for Henderson, on the other he's Jack's fan. So when he learns that Henderson is planning to kill Jack, he finds himself in this kind of situation - and chooses Jack.
He Knows Too Much: Killed by Jack as one of those people who know his real identity.
Loony Fan: He displays bizarre infatuation with Jack, as he believes that Jack is as corrupt as the media makes him out to be, adores him for it, and completely fails to realise how annoyed Jack is with him.
Mission Control: As he's also your main dispatcher, he's technically this.
The Mole: He's Henderson's man in the department.
Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: He gives away Henderson's plan to Jack. Jack kills him nonetheless.
Spanner in the Works: Henderson's plan to double-cross Jack might have worked if Moreno did not tell Jack about Lilly requesting Henderson to kill him.
Too Dumb to Live: Shows zero suspicion of Jack when he invites him to talk, thinking that Jack finally shows a liking to him.
Yes-Man: To Jack, to whom he's extremely servile and adoring for some reason.

Arthur Sherman

A member of the Neckties gang. He manages to figure out Jack's identity.

Eagle-Eye Detection: How he figures out who Jack is. He simply follows a trail of clues and witnesses Jack left on his way to Sharpwood to figure out his real identity.
He Knows Too Much: Killed by Jack as one of those people who know his real identity.
Smart People Wear Glasses: He's a smart kid, and wears glasses in all his appearances.
Too Clever by Half: He managed to figure out who Jack really is. Instead of telling his gang about, he went to Henderson with it, probably hoping to get something extra out of it. This gets him taken as hostage by Henderson, and later killed by Jack.

Sharpwood Police Officers

Unlike in the first game, your officers receive a decent amount of characterization, instead of being interchangable cannon fodder.

The Alcoholic: As in the first game you will have to deal with people occasionally showing up to work drunk or getting drunk during the shift, but this game introduces people who have this as a trait. They will always show up to work drunk. Putting them on calls makes it very likely for them to crash their patrol vehicles, and they will have greatly reduced range of movement during tactical missions.
Alliterative Name: Quite a few. Ari Aaronovitch, Benedict Belmont, Mac Maguire, Sandra Spurlock...
Blatant Lies: Kurosawa, the laziest officer in the game who skips out on work frequently and refuses to go on more than two jobs a day, insists in an optional interaction that his motto is that "labor enriches the soul."
Blood Knight: Duvall, your sniper, volunteers for the job because he admittedly finds shooting people more fun than shooting pictures. Is it surprising then that he turns up to be a murderer in one case?
Custom Uniform: One possible officer, Bradhi, is too much of a Fashionista to wear standard uniforms, and will ask your permission to wear some custom uniforms he made himself. Quite hypocritically, he will refuse to go on missions with officers who aren't in the standard uniform, and won't go on tactical missions for fear of ruining his threads.
Demonic Possession: Surprisingly, this seems to happen to one of your officers. Late in the game, you are contacted by the church, who claims that one of your officers has taken "the Destroyer" into himself, and must be sacrificed. If you turn the officer over to them, several of your other officers will immediately have their loyalty plummet. However, if you turn the church away twice, the accused officer will go mad and kill another officer in the dining hall while shouting gibberish, before committing suicide.
Does Not Like Men: Officer Spurlock, who will refuse to be partnered with male cops of lower professionalism than her, and generally tends to be dismissive of male sex. Though apparently she has a boyfriend, making her a misandrist rather than a lesbian or anything else.
Domestic Abuse: At one point, you will be approached by the mother-in-law of a random male officer, who reveals to you that he has been beating his wife, and asks you to have him killed. You receive no reward for helping her, and in fact may lose a perfectly good officer, but your other officers will breathe a sigh of relief when he's gone, calling him a "beast."
Evil All Along: Duvall, as in, the extremely helpful police sniper, murdered a fellow photographer just because he was taking most of the contracts. You have to decide if closing the case is really worth losing your only sniper. Canonically, he's arrested by his own department for murdering out of petty spite.
Hypochondria: Officer Yarbrott will refuse to go on missions to dirty places, such as the morgue or bars, and frequently tries to take time off for various overblown maladies. Officer Horsemoon, meanwhile, is overly superstitious and won't go on calls after dark.
Insufferable Genius: Officer Spurlock, who may be the most finicky recruitable cop. She invariably starts disloyal, refuses to go on calls or other activities with male cops of lower professionalism, not infrequently tries to take a day off work and generally comes off as very abrasive. All of this is offset by another quirk of hers - if she is sent on a call as a part of a all-female group then every member of that group gets double professionalism reward after resolution. This makes her invaluable in quickly leveling your female cops to competent levels. Also, one of her reasons for being off can be reading professional literature - which, if allowed, will give her a free skill level.
Jerkass: Officer Stockmann, one of the most stubborn and uncooperative officers you can get. Not only is his Loyalty stat the hardest in the game to get to positive levels, but is also the only uncurable alcoholic on the force. The only known way to conceivably get his loyalty into the positives is to be lucky enough to have recruited him before solving the case of the stolen VCR, which gets toilets installed in all of your officers homes and immediately maxes out their Loyalty. Outside of that, your best bet is to just keep him assigned to detective work.
Leeroy Jenkins: Disloyal cops will not listen to player commands during tactical missions and instead will be controlled by the AI. Said AI will have them run straight into the enemy lines guns blazing, throwing all stealth, tactics, and most likely their lives out of the window.
Master of All: It is possible and not even that difficult to have a cop with all skills maxed. Two very rare officers even start out like that- Willard Hodges and Hong Age.
Picky Eater: During the 3-7 days you need to choose the lunch menu for the station, some of your officers each day will have requests for options they want or don't want. Going with their choice will make their loyalty rise, while giving them something they actively don't want will make it fall. Thankfully, this only applies to 5 officers a day- the rest will eat anything.
The Pig-Pen: Poor officer Woolbag, an otherwise good cop who also apparently has rather poor personal hygiene, and as a result smells terrible. Other cops may randomly refuse to go on calls with him on account of his smell; and if he asks you a day off to take a shower and you refuse then nobody wants to work with him - because if Woolbag himself notices the smell then you know that the reek is terrible.
The Slacker: Disloyal cops- Shini in particular- may randomly refuse to go on a call, preferring to stay in the station and play cards, or outright refusing to work two days in a row. This can be remedied by treating your officers with respect and doing things for them, such as allowing them a requested day off for serious matters, arranging for toilets to be installed in their homes, or taking their food requests when the station chef quits and you have to pick meals.
- Officer Kurosawa is this even when loyal - he will refuse to go out on more than two calls per day. Best way to use him is to level his intelligence quickly and put him behind the detective desk for most days, either that or you send him on the errand that makes him quit so you finally stop seeing him. Officer Luna, meanwhile, will barely bother to show up for work at all.
- Officer Penkin will frequently take days off to focus on his musical hobby, even with his professionalism and all other stats maxed out. This is required for keeping him loyal.
Straw Misogynist: Officer Locke Mustard, who absolutely refuses to go on missions involving women, or even work with female officers.
The Stool Pigeon: One of your starting cops will turn out to be a snitch - a snitch to you, that is. They had an agreement with the previous sheriff to provide them with info on other cops in exchange for money and valuables, and will offer to do the same thing for you. Maintaining a snitch will allow you to see your other cops' loyalty gauges in return for paying the snitch with money and items. Items seem to be randomly varied depending on a snitch, going all the way from VHS tapes or antibiotics to heroin or even gold bars.
Those Two Guys: Officers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who both receive double EXP if sent on a mission together.
Tuckerization:
- Artavazd Muradyan was named after a Russian game journalist. Amongst other things, he always comes at the job drunk and has the worst level of experience at the start of the game.
- Kevin Penkin is named after the game's composer.

Characters / This Is the Police

Introduced in This Is The Police

Introduced in This Is The Police 2

Alternative Title(s): This Is The Police 2

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Characters / This Is the Police

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Introduced in This Is The Police

Introduced in This Is The Police 2

Alternative Title(s): This Is The Police 2

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