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Local Law Enforcement
Atlanta, Georgia
Brown
Lee Brown
Portrayed By: Dohn Norwood
"It's also statistically significant that the Klan kills black people."
The Atlanta Police Commissioner.
- Attack of the Town Festival: His role in the investigation turns obstructionist because there is an election coming and he is dependent on the African-American vote, who has already decided to blame the murders on the KKK.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: The first time Holden says that they should be looking for a young black male he has him discreetly sent back to Quantico.
Redding
Chief Redding
Portrayed By: Gareth Williams
"Son, we've got 19 dead black children. You telling me that's a coincidence?"
The Chief of Atlanta police.
- Deadpan Snarker: He manifests his skepticism of Profiling by saying that Holden made a lot of progress after listening for ten minutes to a tape, or claims KKK involvement by remarking that 19 dead black children must mean there is a killer with a vendetta against black people.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Falls into this at times, but unlike Brown, it seems derived from someone's action above the chain.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He does listen to Holden's advice and help as much as he can (at least up front), and tries to reassure the victims's mothers personally rather than ignoring them.
Garland
Garland Periwinkle
Portrayed By: Brent Sexton
"Look, if you are looking for a monster... it's poverty."
A "semi"-retired GBI agent who volunteers to watch local KKK members for police.
- Fat, Sweaty Southerner in a White Suit: Subverted. He looks the part, but doesn't act like one at all. He is actually incorruptible and has a progressive view on race relations.
- Married to the Job: He's still on the job after retirement, and doesn't seem to have a life outside of it.
- Mr. Exposition: Used to deliver information on local history, crime, and social statistics, the reach of the KKK in town, and the state of the child murders investigation.
- Nice Guy: While firmly on the side of the law, Garland is polite and understanding to everyone. As in, even the racist KKK members he keeps a watch on know him by name, and say it's always nice to meet him.
- Perma-Stubble: He's permanently unshaven but without a real beard. He probably shaves, but only in the odd hours when he isn't working or sleeping.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: He mentions missing his sons' birthdays due to his work.
Stokes
Sergeant Willard Stokes
Portrayed By: Jeff Pope
"If there is anything else I can help you with..."
An officer asigned to "help" Holden with his plans to use mass gatherings to locate the Atlanta child killer.
- Allegorical Character: Personifies the bureaucratic nightmare that the BSU had to deal with while investigating the Atlanta Child Murders.
- Foil: To Garland. Both are obese, male, polite Atlanta law enforcement (at least superficially), but while Garland goes out of his way to help (to the point that he basically works for free for police despite being retired), Stokes just does the minimum required and gives up as soon as regulations get in the way.
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Lawful Neutral: He's not guilty of any crime as far as we know, but he doesn't seem to care if the murderer is caught. - Obstructive Bureaucrat/Police Are Useless: He has two scenes. In both, he shuts down Holden's plans to catch the killer by arguing that local regulations make it impossible and doesn't even try to think of an alternative.
Fairfield, Iowa
McGraw
Det. Frank McGraw
Portrayed By: Thomas Francis Murphy
"How fucking dare you?!"
A jaded, bitter veteran detective in Fairfield, Iowa who is skeptical of Tench and Ford's methods.
- Hidden Depths: He turns out to be a 22-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department who moved to Fairfield and knows the detectives who worked the Manson Family murders, which caughts Holden off-guard. He later surprises Holden again by requesting his insight into the Broomstick Killer case, instead of antagonizing him.
- It's Personal: He takes personal offense when he thinks that Holden is trying to make his audience sympathize with Manson, rather than just understand how he came to be. And again when Holden tells him that the FBI can't help him with the Broomstick case.
- Killed Offscreen: He dies between Season One and Two.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Has very little patience for Ford's long-winded approach to discussing Behavioral Science.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: A very concise one after Ford simply gives up on the broom murder case.
- That One Case: The Broomstick murders, due to their gratuitous sadism, extreme cruelty, and the fact that the victims couldn't have possibly angered anyone. He likely knew them in person and it serves as his Cynicism Catalyst.
Altoona, Pennsylvania
Ocasek
Det. Mark Ocasek
Portrayed By: Alex Morf
"It's what he told us. And I believe him."
A mild-mannered Altoona, Pennsylvania detective who seeks Tench and Ford's help investigating the gruesome murder of local babysitter Beverly Jean Shaw.
- Character Development: Initially, he seems a little incompetent, but after some on-the-job training with Holden and Ford, he learns not to make assumptions based on prior knowledge or prejudices. He actually winds up as being one of the more competent and accomodating members of law enforcement that Bill and Holden meet.
- Close-Knit Community: Ocasek struggles with the possibility that Beverly Jean's killer might be a local, and initially seems intent on directing the investigation towards drifters and outsiders.
- Hidden Depths: Actually a pretty good investigator who picks up on a lot of cues from Tench and Ford, and is instrumental in cracking the Shaw case once he overcomes his initial assumptions and prejudices.
- Nice Guy: Initially to a fault. He compromises the investigation by letting Benji leave town to be with relatives and by not looking into the man who found the body as a possible suspect. However, he gets better later and actually starts exploiting his Nice Guy image to get the information needed to solve the case.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The normally gentle and personable Ocasek gives Rose an icy ultimatum when he suspects that she's lying to the investigators, which in turn convinces her to come in and spill the beans on Beverly Jean's murder.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Bill gives him a brief one when he points his reluctance to suspect the killer a local.
- Shame If Something Happened: Ocasek gets Rose to talk after implying that her son could be taken from her if she is found to be involved.
- Vomiting Cop: Downplayed in that he doesn't actually vomit, but he is not used to work murders, and Beverly Jean's is extra-whammy due to her gruesome injuries. He has trouble reading them from the file and almost drops it when he reaches the part about her being stabbed in the groin.
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Spencer
Det. Art Spencer
Portrayed By: Nate Corrdry
"You need to know that the residence is, unfortunately, a crime scene."
A detective tasked with investigating a murder in a house that was going to be sold by Nancy Tench.
- Bearer of Bad News: Exactly What It Says on the Tin. He's there to tell Nancy and Bill about the murder and give exposition on it. The murder itself isn't hard to solve.
- Cannot Spit It Out: He cannot bring himself to tell Bill that the murder victim is a baby, instead leading him to the crime scene and letting him figure by the Chalk Outline.
Sacramento, California
Carver
Det. Roy Carver
Portrayed By: Peter Murnik
"Listen, we need to know exactly how worried we need to be."
A detective who asks Holden and Bill to look into a series of assaults (and later murders) of old women where the offender stabbed the victim's dogs with a knife, yet only beat and gropped the women.
- All for Nothing: He's obviously bothered when the duo tell him to look for an older offender, after they told him to look for teenagers the first time.
- Hollywood Satanism: He believes the dog stabbings could be Satanic sacrifices.
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Values Dissonance: He casually uses racial slurs to describe suspects.
Adairsville, Georgia
Chambers
Det. Gordon Chambers
Portrayed By: Duke Lafoon
"I am greatly concerned with this line of questioning."
A detective who faxes the BSU for help after a 12 year-old majorette is raped and murdered near a rural road by bashing her head with a rock.
- Missing White Woman Syndrome: In hindsight, it is clear that this is at play. The case isn't serial, nor does it cross state lines, nor does it require any police work besides checking the crime scene and interviewing the one, obvious, local suspect in the right way. It is veily brought back in Season 2 to contrast with the Atlanta murders: Right at the same time the police was faxing the BSU scene photos and requesting help in investigating the murder of one pretty blonde majorette, they were saying nothing about the murders of 10+ black children (including two girls abducted, raped, and murdered, just like the Adairsville case), and neglecting the investigation to the point of not taking scene photos and not interviewing the victims's families and friends.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He tells the local press about Holden's interviews with Kemper, which are in turn picked up by nationwide press, which is read by Kemper and encourages him to lay a trap for Holden, who suffers several panic attacks and must be hospitalized as a result. All because some bar talk didn't stay in the bar.
- Vomiting Cop: Downplayed. He is very troubled by Holden and Bill's attempts to "fraternize" with Devier in their attempt to make him get his guard down and confess, to the point of interrupting the interrogation because he needs a break.
