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The Baltimore Gun Trace Task Force
Left to right: Hendrix, Taylor, Jenkins, Hersl, Ward, Gondo. Not pictured: Rayam, Allers, Kostopolis
A BPD plainclothes unit meant to remove guns and drugs from the street through probable cause searches and seizures. In practice, the unit becomes wildly corrupt under Jenkins' leadership, using the badge to rob, brutalize and extract profit from the streets at the price of residents' trust and lives.
In general
- A Man Is Always Eager: They spend a lot of time at strip clubs after successful raids, and many of them, but especially both Jenkins and Rayam have a deep fondness for sex workers.
- The Bad Guys Are Cops: Pretty much the main theme of the show, but the trope's reveal is done as a twist. The first scene where the GTTF members go and rob a drug dealer for Shropshire is framed like the are just random gangsters and it's not long after that it's revealed those "gangsters" are actual plainclothes officers.
- Blatant Lies: Become notorious for this, as they'll pull innocent civilians over and then come up with some malarkey excuse to detain them.
- Dirty Cop: All of them are this, to varying degrees, of the greedy self interested variety. Only Gondo initially crosses that line and works directly with and protects a drug dealer, until Wayne eventually does so himself by working with Stepp.
- Drunk with Power: The Gun Trace Task Force gets the green light to act with impunity in the name of policing the streets after the Freddie Gray killing causes the BPD to quietly disengage from street policing.
- Evil Will Fail: Both in their ability to police effectively and to stay out of trouble themselves.
- Jenkins and several other members of the force are no longer viable to be witnesses in cases due to a history of perjuring themselves in court. This makes it so even though they are seizing a lot of guns and drugs off the streets, they aren't able to actually convict nearly at the rate they need to justify their touted effectiveness.
- Each of the members are very self interested and most cooperate immediately once they are arrested.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: All of them were well known thuggish cops who had gotten away with complaints, robberies, brutality, and (in the case of Rayam) using undue lethal force for over a decade.
- Laser-Guided Karma: All of them end up serving hefty jail sentences once they're indicted. The ones that cooperate get much lighter sentences, while Jenkins, Hersl, and Taylor get very long sentences. It's best shown at the end when Jenkins ends up just another criminal like the ones he put away.
- Mirroring Factions: After a while, begin stealing from the homes they raid, and even reselling their drugs, meaning the anti-drug task force is just doing what the criminals do!
- No Honor Among Thieves: After they get arrested, the majority immediately confess and start trying to pin as much as possible on Jenkins, who was the ringleader.
Sergeant Wayne Jenkins
- Played by: Jon Bernthal
- Big Bad: From a narrative standpoint, he would be this trope as the head of the extremely corrupt Gun Trace Task Force that's under federal investigation. However, it's deconstructed as the series goes out of its way to show that the entire system is the real problem and props up people like Jenkins.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Far from some mastermind, Jenkins is little more than a thug with a badge that figured out how to cheat the system, and relies on using his reputation to protect him more than any sort of tact in covering his tracks. The show makes it clear that as long as the leadership structures of police focus on arrest and seizure numbers while protecting and rewarding dirty cops, there will be many more people like Jenkins.
- The Corrupter: He convinces near everyone in his orbit to become dirty too, either by playing on their insecurities or just by flexing his rank and experience.
- Cowboy Cop: As in a previous David Simon show, a total deconstruction. Having a gung-ho, aggressive officer operate with little accountability is just a breeding ground for civilian abuses and total lack of honesty.
- Drunk with Power: Becomes convinced he can't be brought down midway through his career.
- Establishing Character Moment: His opening scene shows him giving a speech about the importance of good police work and keeping themselves and their paperwork clean. Then it shows him in a flashback as a beat cop with a baton, walking by, feared by all. Eventually he sees a man leaving a bodega drinking from a bottle out of a brown paper bag (a common social compromise where the police look away and don't enforce a public drunkeness ordinance) and smashes his bottle without saying anything. It shows him as a massive Hypocrite who is addicted to the power he wields.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He goes out of his way to help his wife and his kids when they need him, leaving work immediately to do so (if allowed to). He even takes several months off when his wife gives birth to his second child, during which the task force stopped doing any raids. Sieracki and Jensen even speculate the reason he ends up pleading guilty in the end is so that his infidelity to his wife isn't brought up and he can keep his image as a family man.
- A Father to His Men: He tries to be this for his squad members, covering for them and giving them pep talks about how they all deserve more respect and money. He believes it too, and seems to delude himself into thinking they won't turn on him. He's incorrect.
- Freudian Excuse: He had a corrupt field trainer who taught him that the badge was about extracting maximum profit from the system. In addition, the system rewards and promotes him for being so aggressive, so it can't be said to be all on him. He also is very self conscious about his lack of wealth, getting mocked by Fries, Hersl, and Stepp on separate occasions, and ends up overcompensating.
- Historical Beauty Update: The real Wayne Jenkins was more chubby and plain looking
◊, a far cry from the handsome and rugged Jon Bernthal. - Horrible Judge of Character: He thinks his team won't rat on him once they all get locked up. He is sorely mistaken.
- Hypocrite: Often passes himself off as a family man, but often and unashamedly visits strip clubs with the GTTF and spends time with prostitutes.
- Implausible Deniability: His go-to strategy is to deny everything and declare his detractors the liars. He continues to do this even when he's been arrested by the FBI.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Eventually gets sentenced to 25 years in prison. Since it's a federal sentence, he'll have to serve at least 85% of it before he can parole, meaning he'll serve at least 21.25 years. In addition, his reputation is ruined, his wife will likely learn about his infidelity, and he won't be able to see his kids finish growing up.
- Manipulative Bastard: Very good at rewriting the narrative to suit him and his guys, as well as improvising in the moment.
- Pride: His Fatal Flaw. He believes himself to be too valuable and untouchable to be taken down. It's telling he is the one that speaks the Title Drop "we own this city".
- Retirony: The final episode reveals that he actually considered retiring as his reputation started to take a nosedive. He puts in his transfer a month before the FBI arrests him.
- Start of Darkness: His corrupt trainer tells him there are two ways to get extra money - overtime, which you get from working more, and court pay, which you get from landing cases. This incentivizes Jenkins to both rack up arrests, regardless of their viability, and think of new ways to extract money from the job...
- Villain Protagonist: His story makes up a huge chunk of the screentime, but he is undoubtedly its villain.
Daniel Hersl
- Played by: Josh Charles
- Establishing Character Moment: He's first mentioned by name by the Civil Right's Office as a bad cop, and then it shows an example where he pulls over David Baker, who he makes get out of the car in front of his son, pulls his ID out of his wallet, and throws it on the ground. He allows Baker to leave and sarcastically congratulates him for living on the relatively well off area of Monument Street. It shows that Hersl is a petty man who is addicted to his authority he has over others.
- Hate Sink: Even among his similarly corrupt squad mates, Hersl stands out as particularly heinous and cruel. Hersl is such an In-Universe asshole that when Steele asks various figures to name the "prototypical" bad Baltimore cop, everyone immediately cites Hersl as the premiere example.
- Historical Ugliness Update: The real Hersl had a youthful, friendly-looking face◊ compared to Josh Charles, who depicts him as always scowling and visibly looks his age (Charles and the real Hersl are very close in age).
- Kick the Dog: He is needlessly cruel almost every scene he's in. His preferred strategy is to bump into the suspect and pretend they assaulted him, then proceed to either rob them or attack them.
- One of the worst examples is the first time he's seen using this strategy during a search on a man who cursed him, striking him in the back of the head with the radio and tells his fellow officer Hairston to call a prisoner wagon. Hairston calls an ambulance instead out of fear of being indicted if the man dies and Hersl just complains that everyone is too sensitive while stepping over the body of the man he beat and could have killed.
- Necessarily Evil: Deconstructed. The reason he ends up being protected by the BPD leadership is because he actually is willing to make arrests on the streets while the rest of the force just quietly stopped policing since Freddie Grey. Unfortunately he has little value to lead to a conviction due to his poor character as a witness.
- Obviously Evil: With fifty complaints against him, intentionally creating situations where he can brutalize innocent people willy-nilly, and rappers making public diss tracks aimed at Hersl specifically, Hersl carries himself with the swagger and reputation of an arrogant thug.
- Passive-Aggressive Kombat: When he meets Steele, his attempts to be polite are uncanny and uncomfortable. He is eating food with his hands at the bar and wipes his hands on his shirt and then shakes Steele's hand. When she asks about his brutality charges, he answers that they are all unfounded then stonewalls her by constantly telling her to have a good day even as she tries to ask more questions.
- Refuge in Audacity: He tries to argue that he's shouldn't be charged with conspiracy. He retrieved the drugs after all, he just didn't return them to Evidence Control. That's only ''theft'', not conspiracy. The judge is not amused with the "novel defense" and he's sent to eighteen years in prison.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Played with and eventually subverted. Despite being popular among his fellow cops, he's regarded as the biggest liability in the entire BPD, viewed as an untrustworthy witness by the legal system, and he's infamous enough that there's diss tracks about him. By the end of the show, even his own squad mates seem more scared of him than truly friendly.
Sergeant Thomas Allers
- Played by: Bobby J Brown
- Blatant Lies: He tells the rest of the task force that he always shares the spoils right after stealing ten thousand just for himself.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He's visibly shocked when he learns a drug runner he robbed was murdered when he couldn't pay back his drug debts.
- Never My Fault: Unlike Jemell's laidback attitude or Jenkins' Implausible Deniability arrogant behavior, Allers insists that the task force were simply acting as necessary and that there were no real victims to their heists. It doesn't last as he's forced to confront the weight of his actions.
- Refuge in Audacity: Despite seeming more reasonable than his colleagues, Allers is arrogant enough to bring his son in on a drug bust. The teen even helps his dad rob the dealers.
Jemell Rayam
- Played by: Darrell Britt-Gibson
- At Least I Admit It: Jemell's stance borders onto Card-Carrying Villain territory. He openly admits that he knew that the unit's actions were wrong but simply didn't care as long as he got paid. He even warns the agents that Jenkins is a true believer who can sway the other cops back to his side.
- Graceful Loser: Compared to the temper tantrums and anxiety of his compatriots, Jemell is casual and friendly throughout his interrogation, laying out a huge scope of the operation and revealing new details they were unaware of. The FBI agents are visibly confused when he starts praising them for a job well done.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Is the first one to fold under interrogation, since he knows they're not getting out.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: His casual demeanor wavers once the other GTTF team starts implicating him, as he nervously tries to explain away his own heinous acts that weren't under the influence of Jenkins, such as a murder in self-defense that he was coached to talk about by the current Deputy Commissioner Dean Palmere (who was a Colonel at the time).
- Really Gets Around: His hobby is having sex with women, despite being married. One of his girlfriends, Crystal Ferguson, also tips him off about which houses to rob.
Momodu "G Money" Gondo
- Played by: McKinley Belcher III
- Graceful Loser: Like Jemell, G-Money has no problem explaining what went down during interrogation and also like Jemell he praises the FBI Agents for how they was able to make their case against the unit.
- Suspicious Spending : Out of all the members in the GTTF, he’s the main one who has no problem showing off his materialism from his ill-gotten gains with wearing gold chains, silk shirts and expensive earrings. Jemell warns him to keep a low-profile especially if the Feds ( who are watching AND listening to them) are on their tail and calls him the biggest Drug Dealer in the whole Department due to his new threads and bling but G-Money is dismissive and tells him “When it ends, it ends. In the meantime we keep banging”
- Bonus points in the end of Episode 5 when the entire unit shows up at the IAD headquarters ( in which they are arrested) and G-Money shows up parking in the Lieutenants spot, gets out the car with a silk shirt and a Louis Vuitton belt without a care in the world.
- Too Dumb to Live: Despite being well aware he's under federal investigation, he throws himself deep into Jenkins' fraud and robbery schemes without a second thought. His missing tracker ends up putting him and the squad under the show's central investigation and sparks the end of their reign.
- Toxic Friend Influence: He grew up with Antonio "Brill" Shropshire, a drug dealer, and vouches for his character in front of other cops. This tips off other more honest officers about his character and puts a target on his back. He also directly does work for Shropshire, having his squad members rob Aaron Anderson at his behalf.
Maurice Ward
- Played by: Rob Brown
- Pragmatic Villainy: He ultimately accepts the money that Jenkin steals to make sure that the force has his back and that they can trust each other. To deal with his guilt, he throws the money away.
- Token Good Teammate: Downplayed. He wasn't against the idea of skimming money from raids, since it was something that was normally done in narcotics, but he felt uncomfortable with the amount that Jenkins was taking. He considered it might have belonged to informants or people in debt who would have been endangered by taking it. Ward reveals he threw away some of the money into the wilderness. The federal prosecutors don't believe him, but a shot of the money out there shows he did.
James "K-Stop" Kostopolis
- Played by: Benjamin H. Bass
- Broken Pedestal: The look of disgust he gives to Jenkins after the "hypothetical" question makes him realize his hero was just another Dirty Cop.
- By-the-Book Cop: He doesn't believe that cops should break the rules and that the badge carries a lot of responsibility.
- Token Good Teammate: Played straight compared to Ward. Jenkins and Hersl try to ask him what he thinks about taking drug money if it was just there. The idea disgusts him, and it turns out Kostopolis is an actual moral cop. Jenkins quickly gets him transferred out so he doesn't remain this trope for long.
Evodio Hendrix and Marcus Taylor
- Played by: Ham Mukasa, Robert Harley
Hendrix (left) and Taylor (right)
Two other GTTF members.- Out of Focus: They get no focus in any of the scenes. Taylor doesn't cooperate and has no interview scenes. Hendrix also gets next to no focus, but does cooperate mostly-offscreen.
Other Baltimore PD
Commissioner Kevin Davis
- Played by: Delaney Williams
The commissioner. He is trying to work with the Civil Rights Office and City Hall to try to do more effective policing.
- Big Good: Discussed and subverted. Its left unclear for much of the show if Davis truly believes in police reform or if he's perpetuating the usual corruption. By the finale, it becomes clear that he wants to be a Big Good, but simply can't enact real change under the hand he's been dealt.
- Death Glare: Davis gave one to each of the arrested members of the GTTF. Only Jenkins didn't look away, revealing to Davis that Jenkins was the only one that wasn't ashamed of what he did.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He really does want to improve the Baltimore Police, but is also desperately working to act as a comforting force to his discouraged and unmotivated unit.
Deputy Commissioner Dean Palmere
- Played by: Christopher R. Anderson
- Chekhov's Gunman: He is revealed to have helped Rayam cover up an unlawful killing while still Colonel by coaching him about it being self defense. After the GTTF is charged, Palmere is forced to resign.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: His role in protecting one of his officers that almost certainly used undue lethal force goes unknown for about a decade but he ultimately has to resign because of it.
- Minor Major Character: The second in command of the police. He frequently appears, but never is the focus of any scene.
- Resigned in Disgrace: His ultimate fate once his role in helping one of the indicted members of the task force comes to light.
Detective Sean Suiter
- Played by: Jamie Hector
- Action Dad: He has five kids and a wife, and engages in various police raids.
- Ambiguous Situation: His fate. An investigation gone wrong? A reverse Suicide by Cop? Or a straight suicide that he framed as a homicide so that his family would get pension? The show leaves the true facts and motivations up to interpretation, though it favors the last interpretation based on how the scene is framed.
- The Atoner: Ultimately he believes he can make up for his past association with Jenkins by working homicide, where it's much harder to be dirty and he can actually serve the community. He is also trying to rebuild trust that the city's residents have lost in the police force and is shocked to see that the jury selection process has been slowed down due to how many residents are distrustful of the BPD now.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: He is able to reconstruct crimes very effectively, and also is able to pick up on other parties in the area that may be involved. He shows himself to be quite talented at homicide.
- Driven to Suicide: A possible interpretation of his fate. He dies under mysterious circumstances in the finale. While evidence is circumstantial, it seems likely that he arranged to die in the line of duty so that he wouldn't lose his job in the GTTF trial and so his family could get a widow's pension.
- Historical Beauty Update: Played by Jaime Hector who looks much more handsome and model-like than the more plain looking◊ real Sean Suiter.
- It's All My Fault: He blames himself for the death of a motorist in a drug bust chase and it haunts him for the years that follow. He never gets to talk to anyone about it.
- The Social Expert: Manages to get several uncooperative witnesses to talk with the right words.
- Spotting the Thread: Jenkins is not able to find the stash while he and Suiter are raiding the car wash, but Suiter notices one table looks weird while Jenkins is busy yelling at the suspect.
- Token Good Teammate: Deconstructed. He was connected to the GTTF for a short time but didn't last because he wasn't comfortable with their lifestyle. However, he still considers himself complicit by association and for taking money. He's visibly unraveling throughout the final two episodes as his guilt consumes him and ultimately demonstrates how no one can stay innocent within the perimeter of Jenkins.
- Walking Spoiler: It's hard to talk about him at length without revealing that he was dirty in the past and that he dies under mysterious circumstances.
Ed Barber
- Played by: David Hammond
- Canon Foreigner: He was not in the book and was invented for the miniseries. Due to not being directly involved in Jenkins' crimes and just being involved in his initial Start of Darkness, Barber likely did not exist.
- The Corrupter: Was Jenkins' field training officer and was the one who turned him to exploiting the system for profit.
Detective Michael Fries
- Played by: Joey Palestina
A detective that was partnered with Jenkins early on.
- Evil Mentor: He teaches Jenkins how to more effectively be a Dirty Cop and when and how it is acceptable to rough up random civilians.
- Karma Houdini: He does not face any consequences on screen, since he was not part of GTTF.
Keith Gladstone
- Played by: Eoin O'Shea
- Dirty Cop: Plants a gun at Jenkins' crime scene so they can actually pin something on the perp they roughed up.
- Failed a Spot Check: Gladstone plants a BB gun at the scene and tells Jenkins where it is within earshot of Guinn, who later tells the FBI.
- Retired Monster: He retires suddenly around the time of the Jenkins arrest, probably in an attempt to avoid arrest. It doesn't work.
Lieutenant Marjorie German
- Played by: Celeste Oliva
- Token Good Teammate: While she tries to hype up Jenkins, she is never seen engaging in any corruption and does not appear aware of it. She talks Jenkins out of transferring out of field work out of what appears to be genuine respect for his skills, rather than any benefits to herself.
Ryan Guinn
- Played by: Aristeo F. Kardia
- Everyone Has Standards: He reports Gondo because of him defending Shropshire as a decent guy, despite being a known drug dealer. Guinn also is the one that incriminates Keith Gladstone when he reveals to Jenkins within earshot of Guinn where the gun he just planted is.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: The real Ryan Guinn was worse than the relatively honest cop he's shown being. Guinn was guilty of planting the drugs from the car chase, something the show implies Suiter did. He was also accused but not proven to have tipped Jenkins off about the investigation too.
Jaquan Dixon
- Played by: Jermaine Crawford
- Old Cop, Young Cop: The young cop to Suiter. Together they investigate a murder and Suiter is able to get a witness to talk that Dixon couldn't.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: He wants to be an effective policeman and tries to be involved in the community, but he is facing mass distrust from uncooperative citizens.
Stephen Brady
- Played by: Domenick Lombardozzi
- Punch-Clock Villain: When he talks to Steele, he concedes that even if cops are found to do wrongdoing, his job as the union president is to protect them.
Brian Grabler
- Played by: Treat Williams
Harford and Baltimore County PD
During surveillance of a Baltimore drug dealer, Harford County detectives discover that the GTTF have been tracking him and knocked over one of his residences. Subsequently, they start building a case against them that comes into conjunction with the FBI.
In general
- Evil Only Has to Win Once: The inversion is discussed. While McDougall and Kilpatrick have Shropshire on a wire, their supervisor reminds them that the criminal only has to slip up once. It happens not long after.
- Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: Their independent investigation into Shropshire and Anderson end up leading to Gondo and eventually Jenkins himself.
- True Companions: McDougall and Kilpatrick start the story as strangers but become pretty close while working on the case.
Detective David McDougall
- Played by: David Corenswet
- Decoy Protagonist: While initially presented like he would be the main investigator of the GTTF, the real heroes are Jensen and Sieracki, who he ends up working with.
- Fair Cop: He's played by the very handsome David Corenswet.
- Hero of Another Story: He works outside of the main city of Baltimore where the GTTF story takes place. His independent investigation just finds its way into their business.
Gordon Hawk
- Played by: Tray Chaney
- Out of Focus: He disappears after the second episode, not being assigned to the wire on Gondo and Shropshire.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Despite his relatively minor role in the series, he is the one that discovers the other tracker on their target's car, which is what sparks the entire investigation.
Detective Scott Kilpatrick
- Played by: Larry Mitchell
- Big Fun: He's a bit heavy, prone to cracking jokes and is overall very good natured.
- Old Cop, Young Cop: He's the older cop to McDougall, being more experienced and insightful.
FBI
A dedicated team from the FBI that built a case against the GTTF and eventually arrested them. Using a wiretap and other means, they were able to discover many cases of the GTTF breaking the law.
In general
- Audience Surrogate: Their reactions to the GTTF's exploits parallel the audience's, as they learn about the exploits at the same time.
- Crazy-Prepared: They spend years building their case so that when they finally arrest the GTTF, there's no way they're getting out without hefty sentences.
- Framing Device: Most of the series is framed via their interrogations of GTTF members.
- Good Is Boring: They're much less exciting than the GTTF, but they're also not cheating on their wives or stealing from civilians.
- Hero Antagonist: To Jenkins' Villain Protagonist. The perspective of most the GTTF scenes are from the members and the FBI investigators are shown monitoring them.
John Sieracki
- Played by: Don Harvey
- Bald of Authority: He is bald and an IAD officer, keeping track of other cops.
- Big Eater: When he goes to witness one of the GTTF's shakedowns and robberies, he's shown eating McDonald's very messily on the hood of his car.
- Chivalrous Pervert: He seems to be interested in Erika Jensen and tries to keep her out of danger, such as when he volunteers to plant the bug in Gondo's car.
- The Generic Guy: Other than his backstory as a police officer, he mainly acts as a sounding board for other agents.
- Historical Beauty Update: The real John Sieracki◊ is quite a bit heavier and has some less conventionally attractive facial traits than Don Harvey.
- Mr. Exposition: He gives a lot of background about the police department and it's culture. For example he is the one that explains a lot of Baltimore officers buy some of their own gear.
Erika Jensen
- Played by: Dagmara Domińczyk
- Hidden Depths: She is big into classical music and plays the flute in her spare time.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Averted. She tells Leo that she would have told Jenkins that Gondo and Rayam were under investigation if not for McDougall and Kilpatrick revealing from listening to the wire that Jenkins was also known to be dirty. Doing so would have sabotaged the investigation into Jenkins himself.
Leo Wise
- Played by: Lucas Van Engen
- Bald of Authority: He is bald and the highest ranking investigator in the case.
- Big Good: To the main story. He's the one ultimately in charge of the investigation of the GTTF.
- Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally pipes up with a sarcastic quip, particularly withering when interrogating Jenkins.
DOJ
In the wake of the Freddie Gray riots, the mayor assigns personnel from the Department of Justice to prepare a consent decree for reforming the BPD. This involves interviewing police current and past to learn where the biggest flaws in the system are.
In general
- Canon Foreigner: These characters are not in the book and they are in the show moreso to discuss the themes.
- Composite Character: They are not real people but their experiences seem to be amalgamated from many real life people.
Nicole Steele
- Played by: Wunmi Mosaku
- Establishing Character Moment: The first thing she does is record a police officer arresting a suspect before he angrily lets them go. She then goes to her office and shows her supervisor, voicing the level of distrust the citizens have with their police.
- The Fettered: After Trump wins in 2016 and is about to install Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, a move that would effectively gut the Civil Rights Office, Steele chooses to quit instead of (in the words of her colleague) "take a vacation" by staying put.
- Hidden Depths: She grew up in a well-off suburb of Washington DC but her brother was a target of discrimination by the police, which had an effect on how she views police.
- Rage Breaking Point: After the consent decree to fix police corruption gets sabotaged by the new mayor, she finally gets sick of the lack of real reform and quits the DOJ in protest.
Ahmed Jackson
- Played by: Ian Duff
- The New Guy: He is a fresh transfer and works under Steele. A lot of his screentime is having things explained to him.
Other Criminals
Antonio "Brill" Shropshire
- Played by: Curt Morlaye
- Graceful Loser: He doesn't resist when he gets arrested. When they find drugs in his pocket, he complains he was unlucky, since he tried to sell that but the buyer didn't like the product and gave it back.
- Villain of Another Story: He would be a villain of a normal crime series, but not this one which focuses on corrupt cops. He is arrested at the end but it's more of an afterthought.
Aaron "Black" Anderson
- Played by: Melvin T. Russell
- Butt-Monkey: His apartment gets raided by the GTTF members disguised as normal criminals, and the hotel he checks into gets raided by the police the next day.
- Starter Villain: He is the initial target of McDougall's investigation, when drugs he dealt leads to some overdose deaths.
Donald Stepp
- Played by: Seth Hurwitz
- The Corrupter: He is the one that pulls Wayne from a Dirty Cop to effectively becoming a player in the drug scene with promises of even more money. Earlier in the series he is one of the most prominent people who feeds on Jenkins' insecurity about his lack of money too when he shows up at a BBQ with better food and drinks than him.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Instead of being a Graceful Loser, he takes this trope's approach instead. Stepp does not try to claim innocence when he's arrested. To add to it, he even tells them they missed some cocaine during the seizure at his house. Jensen and Sieracki even speculate that Stepp's testimony is what convinces Jenkins to plead guilty, just so that his affairs and strip club visits don't come out to his wife and kids.
