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     Law Enforcement in Supernatural 

Law Enforcement in Supernatural

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spn_0189_8341.jpg
"Since when have the Feds started tracking zombie activity?"
- State Trooper Jack in "Remember The Titans" (S08, Ep16)

While Sam and Dean frequently imitate law enforcement agents ranging from Park Rangers to Homeland Security, they also frequently find themselves in trouble with the law. Dean was first taken into custody during the Pilot, and this will not be the last time one of the Winchesters brothers is in handcuffs. The brothers usually escape the long arm of the law fairly easily, but some law enforcement officers end up being worthy foes or valued allies.

  • Agent Scully: Most of the law enforcement agents utilize mundane explanations for the deaths and other strange events which occur.
    Sheriff in "Bloodlust" (S02, Ep03): Because there's no such thing as cattle mutilation. Cow drops, leave it in the sun... Within 48 hours the bloat will split it open so clean it's just about surgical. The bodily fluids fall down into the ground and get soaked up because that's what gravity does... But hey, it could be Satan.
  • Bavarian Fire Drill: Usually the local police simply accept Sam and Dean as FBI Agents after they flash their fake badges.
    Deputy in "Southern Comfort" (S08, Ep06): First a Texas Ranger, now you guys?
  • Demonization: Police officers tend to blame the same acceptable targets when something odd happens.
    Detective Glass in "Hunteri Heroici" (S08, Ep08): A lot of people are thinking drugs, Agent Nash. An ass-load of drugs.
    Sheriff Dietrich in "Monster Movie" (S04, Ep05): Yeah you got me. I mean this killer's some kind of grade A wacko right? I mean some Satan worshiping, Anne Rice reading, Gothic, psycho, vampire wannabe.
    Agent Henriksen in "Jus In Bello" (S03, Ep12): Do you know what these guys do for kicks? Dig up graves and mutilate corpses. They're not just killers Sheriff. They're Satan-worshiping, nut-bag killers.
  • Police Are Useless: It is rare that the police understand the true nature of what they are fighting.
    Dean in "Nightshifter" (S02, Ep12): Friggin' cops.
    Sam: They're just doing their job, Dean.
    Dean: No, they're doing our job, only they don't know it, so they suck at it.
  • Weirdness Censor: Most of the police officers just ignore the odd events or take them in stride as if it was something they see everyday.
    Detective Glass in "Hunteri Heroici" (S08, Ep08): Coroner said his heart was ejected from his body. Got some air too... Found it in the sandbox.


     Detective Diana Ballard 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9b5d47c6e4556ae2f94d29cb626aa966.jpg
"Look, I just want you guys out there doing what you do best. Trust me, I'll sleep better at night. Listen, you need to watch your back. They're gonna be looking for both of you right now. Get out of here. I gotta radio this in."

Detective Diana Ballard is a detective in Baltimore, Maryland, who arrests and interrogates Dean and Sam after Dean is found at the scene of Karen Giles' murder. She is initially skeptical of Dean's claims of supernatural activity, but she ends up aiding the Winchesters after Claire Becker, a death omen, appears to her. She realizes that her partner and lover, Detective Pete Sheridan, is behind the murders and allows the brothers to escape. Portrayed by Linda Blair. Appears in "The Usual Suspects" (S02, Ep07).


  • Absence of Evidence: One of the concerns Detective Ballard has about convicting Dean is the absence of the murder weapon. The other main concern is the absence of a motive.
  • Secret Relationship: Detective Sheridan and Detective Ballard are in a relationship, despite being partners.

     Agent Victor Henriksen 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Victor_Henriksen_1645.jpg
"Well, guess what? Life sucks, get a helmet. ‘Cause everybody’s got a sob story, but not everybody becomes a killer."

FBI Special Agent Victor Henriksen is assigned to catch fugitive Dean Winchester (and later his brother Sam). He thinks they're both murderously insane, but acknowledges that they're crafty as hell and manages to get them into custody twice, the second time ending in his death shortly after learning the truth about the supernatural. Portrayed by Charles Malik Whitfield. First appears in "Nightshifter" (S02, Ep12).


  • Agent Scully: The norm for law enforcement types on this show, but it's especially prominent for Henriksen. Aside from being a way to make his name, believing Sam and Dean are murdering psychopaths is the most logical mundane conclusion. It's not until "Jus in Bello" that he becomes convinced of the existence of the supernatural, which is also when he takes the Winchesters' side.
  • Anti-Villain: Jerkassery aside, Henriksen is still an honest, well-meaning FBI agent who wants to capture bad guys and save lives. He just happens to be chasing two fugitives who he thinks are murderous nutjobs.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: He can pull rank as an FBI Agent on officers lower on the totem pole and civilians. Either this makes Henriksen the cocky, tough son-of-a-bitch he is, or he's always been that way and being able to throw his weight around just got easier when he got the job.
  • Badass Normal: Arguably even more so than the other Badass Normals in the series since Henriksen does not have the occult knowledge they do.
  • Bolivian Army Ending: The last shot of him in Season 3 is him charging at Lilith as she raises her hand and blasts him with a Holy Hand Grenade. The odds aren't exactly stacked in Henriksen's favor and he is later reported as dead, but the writer of the episode (Sera Gamble) suggested that he might have survived somehow. It isn't really resolved until the next season when his ghost appears and confirms in no uncertain terms that yes, he died, he died horribly, and he blames the Winchesters for it.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Like Meg, this is how his ghost returns in "Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester".
  • A Death in the Limelight: In "Jus in Bello", Henriksen's motives are explored, he is revealed to be a genuinely good guy, and he develops a budding friendship with Dean. When he sees evidence of the supernatural firsthand, he helps Sam and Dean fight off legions of demons and it is even implied that he may become a hunter afterwards. Then Lilith shows up and slaughters everyone, Henriksen included.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: With Sam and Dean.
  • Forced to Watch: Lilith made him watch as she tortured everyone else in the police station to death, including flaying poor Nancy's skin off, before she finally killed him.
  • Freudian Excuse: He rejects this idea, as seen by his character quote: he assumes that (sexual) abuse and brainwashing from John at an early age turned Sam and Dean (especially Dean, who he sees as the brains of the operation) into vicious, delusional killers. That doesn't mean that Henriksen cuts them any slack; thinking that they've brutally murdered dozens of innocent people (not to mention other crimes, some of which they actually did commit) kind of lost whatever sympathy he might have had for them.
  • Hero Antagonist: Take out the fact that Sam and Dean are telling the truth about killing monsters and you'd be cheering the relentless FBI Agent and booing the serial killer Winchesters.
  • Inspector Javert: He is a good guy, it's just he doesn't realize Sam and Dean aren't actually serial killers.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Henriksen was previously a hard-nosed (albeit well-intentioned) jerkass towards pretty much everybody. He was revealed to be less of a prick in "Jus in Bello" with his protective and gentle treatment of innocent Nancy.
  • Jumped at the Call: "Jus in Bello" hints that Henriksen is seriously considering becoming a hunter himself after he finds out about the supernatural and fights alongside them, since (ironically, considering their antagonism) he shares Dean's desire to protect people. He gets Refused by the Call immediately after in the form of a slow and nasty death.
  • Killed Offscreen: Very slowly and painfully by Lilith For the Evulz in "Jus In Bello".
  • Last-Name Basis: Everyone except his partner (who calls him "Vic"), their boss, and later Dean (both of whom call him by his first name, "Victor") refer to him as plain, simple "Henriksen".
  • Nerves of Steel: Henriksen doesn't do "scared," or even "unsettled." You can kill his boss, kill his partner, and surround him with a horde of demons trying to come in and kill everybody and he'll still be keeping everything tightly under control, barking orders and trying to figure out what their next move is. When he finds out that the demonic overlord Lilith is right in front of him, the very last thing he does is start to throw himself at her in a futile attempt to fight her off. The only time he's ever visibly shaken is right after a demon is exorcised out of him and he realizes he's just killed the sheriff.
  • Never Filled Out Official Paperwork: Averted. There's a brief moment in "Jus in Bello" where, after nabbing Sam and Dean, his boss gives him paperwork to fill out. Henriksen himself looks like he forgot about this part of police-work.
  • Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: To standard operating procedure in his first appearance. When a cop on a case he's about to take over says: "I'm sure you're going to say you'd like me to cooperate and...," he responds with: "I don't give a rat's ass what you do. You can go eat a doughnut and bang your wife for all I care."
  • Redemption Equals Death: Not that he really had anything to be redeemed for, being a Hero Antagonist, but nevertheless he died shortly after befriending the Winchesters.

     Nancy Fitzgerald 
"When I was little, I would come home from church and talk about the Devil. My parents would tell me to stop being so literal. I guess I showed them, huh?"

Nancy Fitzgerald is a secretary working at Monument Sheriff's Department. Portrayed by Aimee Garcia. Appears in "Jus In Bello" (S03, Ep12).


  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Shortly after Sam and Dean manage to save her and everyone else from demons, she and the rest of the survivors are killed by Lilith. The ghost of Henriksen tells them that Lilith had flayed poor Nancy alive, piece by piece, and that she never stopped screaming.
  • Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: She plans to if they survive.
    Nancy: "When this is over, I'm gonna have so much sex..."
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted. She volunteers herself as a virgin sacrifice to perform a spell and destroy the attacking demons without killing their vessels. Dean, however, rebuked the idea and came up with an alternative plan. It worked, but everyone else died shortly after Sam and Dean left.
  • Killed Off for Real: In "Jus In Bello".
  • Unexpected Virgin: Lampshaded by Dean.

     Special Agent Calvin Reidy 
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"Armed robbery, kidnapping and, oh, three counts of first degree murder."

Agent Calvin Reidy is Agent Henriksen's partner. Portrayed by Kurt Evans. Appears in "Folsom Prison Blues" (S02, Ep19) and "Jus In Bello" (S03, Ep12).


  • FBI Agent: He is a Special Agent engaged in the criminal investigation of the Winchesters.
  • Killed Off for Real: He dies in "Jus In Bello" when the demons attack the police station.
  • Meaningful Look: He tends to say little, but is able to communicate a lot to his partner Agent Henriksen in a glance.
  • The Quiet One: He typically only talks when asked a question, but can be a Deadpan Snarker.
    Agent Henriksen: Near went nuts trying to find you. Ask him.
    Agent Reidy: He near went nuts.

     Prison Warden Deacon 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deacon_6921.jpg
"Boys, uh... I can't thank you enough for this. I know it was asking a lot but you still came through. Your daddy raised you right."

Deacon served in the Marine Corps with John Winchester during the Vietnam War, and is now the Warden of Green River County Detention Center near Little Rock, Arkansas. He asks Dean and Sam for help when strange deaths start occurring in his prison. Portrayed by Garwin Sanford. Appears in "Folsom Prison Blues" (S02, Ep19).



     Sheriff Jody Mills 

Sheriff Jody Mills

Portrayed by Kim Rhodes

First appears in "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jody_mills_sn_3050.jpg

Sheriff of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and several other smaller towns. Jody is a friend of Bobby's and helps him cover up hunter related activates in the area. She also turns to Sam and Dean whenever she gets a case that she suspects has supernatural elements.


  • Action Girl: Joins the hunters in fighting off a townful of zombies in "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", and proves more than capable of taking down other monsters and even pagan gods.
  • Action Mom: As of Season 13, she juggles the life of a sheriff and a mother of three girls.
  • A Day in the Limelight: In "Alex Annie Alexis Ann".
  • Badass Normal: She has faced vampires, pagan gods, and other beings in the body of an aging woman armed with a handgun most of the time.
  • Cartwright Curse: Men close to Jody tend to die and not just because they are in a romantic relationship. By the season 12 finale, the list includes her son, her husband, Bobby, Asa Fox, and Crowley. The only ones who don't are the Winchesters, who also have this trope in regard to women, so you can say that they cancel out.
  • Demonic Possession: Is briefly possessed by a crossroads demon in "Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox".
  • Family of Choice: She and Alex form a makeshift family in season 9, driven by their shared past. Claire joins them in season 10, followed by Patience in season 13 and Kaia in Season 15.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: She initially regarded Bobby as little more than the town drunk and a troublemaker, until the dead started coming back to life in Sioux Falls and he helped her deal with it.
  • Good Parents: She loved her son and much later on is a great parent to Claire, Annie, and Patience.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Donna as of season 10.
  • Mama Bear: After adopting Claire, Alex, and Patience, she's highly protective of them.
  • Mentor Occupational Hazard: Averted. She is among the Winchesters' oldest allies, having appeared in at least an episode per season since her debut in season 5, and is never afraid to call (and be called by) the Winchesters for help, a position that has a nearly 100% mortality rate. As of season 14, she is still alive and kicking.
  • Outliving One's Offspring: She outlived her son, who later came back as a zombie.
  • Parents as People: "The Scar" reveals that she has difficulty raising her three girls in the hunter's life and keeping them out of harm's way, especially Claire, who is still in The Mourning After state since Kaia's death.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Helps Bobby deal with other law enforcement officials who had started nosing around hunter business, and uses her position to get him and the Winchesters out of any trouble they get into in her district.
  • Silver Fox: Her hair has notably grayed out in season 12.
  • Staking the Loved One: Subverted when Sam kills her zombified son, who has already killed her husband, to spare her from having to do it herself.
  • Ship Tease: With Bobby.
  • Team Mom: Whenever she works with Bobby, Sam, and Dean, she often cleans up after them and worries about their health. She even threatens to use her "mom voice" on Sam when he won't go to sleep.
  • Wanting Is Better Than Having: She discusses this with Dean regarding Mary coming back. She states that if given the chance, she would gladly do anything to have her husband and son back, yet she is also scared if they would actually come back, since she would not know if they, and indeed she herself, have changed in the meantime. This serves as a foreshadowing to Mary's story in season 12.

     Sergeant Miranda Bates 
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"Listen, kid, I don't have to do anything. And I don't take orders from the Feeb. So unless you can give me one good reason you got a couple of pretty-boy agents poking around my crime scene, I'm gonna put them in cuffs and spank your ass raw, understand? "

Sergeant Bates is a military police officer who is investigating a bus that was abandoned in front of the Naval base in Coronado, California with the bodies of 3 people who have fatal wounds, but the wounds appear quite old. Portrayed by Carmen Moore. Appears in "Devil May Care" (S09, Ep02).



     Sheriff Donna Hanscum 

Sheriff Donna Hanscum

Portrayed by Briana Buckmaster

First appears in "The Purge"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hanscum_8839.jpg

Sheriff of Stillwater, Minnesota, she first meets the Winchesters while they're hunting something that sucks the fat out of its victims. Months later she tries to make friends with Sheriff Mills, ultimately succeeding, and through her meets Sam and Dean again, this time learning about the supernatural as well.


  • Action Girl: Her initial status as a sheriff already makes her one, but she later becomes a hunter as well. By "Wayward Sisters", she has built a reputation as a vampire hunter.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: While she seems ever cheerful, it is possible to make her angry and you don't want to be on her bad side then.
  • Broken Masquerade: In "Hibbing 911", when she sees a fellow sheriff's vampire teeth.
  • Cartwright Curse: In "Breakdown", her boyfriend breaks up with her upon finding out that she is deeply invested in the supernatural world.
  • Expy: Marge Gunderson for the Supernatural 'verse.
  • Gosh Darn It to Heck!: Her euphemisms have semi-Memetic Mutation status.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Jody as of Season 10.
  • Love Martyr: Seems to have been this to some extent during her marriage to the awful Doug, who still treats her like a doormat.
  • Minnesota Nice: She is from Minnesota and is a very sweet and joyful woman most of the time.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: There are hints of this especially in "Hibbing 911", where Jody's steely-eyed police work gets her shut out but Donna's own "oh gosh" attitude lets her see more of the evidence.
  • The Pollyanna: Most of the time.
  • Put on a Bus: In Season 12. She was slated to appear, but it didn't work out. She did get a mention in the penultimate episode, where Jody tells Alex to seek refuge in Donna's safe house while she and the other hunters take down the British Men of Letters.
  • Weight Woe: Her desire to lose weight took her to a spa run by pishtacos, essentially South American fat vampires. Luckily, it's only the more benign one who tended to her.

     Doug Stover 
Played By: Brendan Taylor
Donna's deputy and boyfriend.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Saves Donna by shooting a possessed villain in his first episode.
  • Broken Masquerade: He gets told about the world of monsters in his second episode. It freaks him out.
  • Clueless Deputy: A bit, but he's no more awkward than his boss.
  • Fair Cop: In a small-town, down to Earth way.
  • Minnesota Nice: A pleasant, somewhat awkward Minnesota cop who joined the police force out of a desire to help people.
  • Porn Stache: Has a notable mustache that makes him look more earnest and unassuming.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He can't deal with the supernatural, quits his job and leaves Donna.
  • Vampire Refugee: He's bitten by a vampire but they manage to keep him from turning.

     Deputy Kathleen Hudak 
Played By: Jessica Steen
A Minnesota deputy who the brothers work with in Season one against the Bender Clan.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She doesn't reappear in a much later episode featuring a sheriffs department conference in her hometown.
  • It's Personal: Her brother was a victim of the Benders.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Places Dean under arrest but agrees to suspend then arrest long enough to help him find the kidnapped Sam and ultimately lets him go.
  • Vengeance Feels Empty: Admits to not feeling any better after killing or arresting her brothers killers.

     Sergeant Joe Phillips 
Played By: Eric Schweig
A Dodge City policeman who works with the Winchesters to catch the killer of his nephew.
  • Cool Uncle: Inspired his nephew to become a cop too and works hard to avenge his death.
  • I Was Never Here: Agrees to say this about the Winchester Brothers.
  • Turn in Your Badge: Not on a permeant basis but he takes it off as a sign about how what he's doing is private revenge, unrelated to his job.

     Sheriff Barrett Bishop Jr. 
Played By: Steve Boyle
Thee Sheriff of Tomahawk, Wisconsin.
  • The Atoner: For his family, selling off the holdings they accumulated from sacrificing people.
  • Taxidermy Is Creepy: Taxidermy is his hobby and he's briefly a suspect in the murders.
  • White Sheep: His family have been sacrificing people to a God for wealth and power for generations. He was the first one to turn his back on it.

     Agent Rick Sanchez 
Played By: Stephen Lobo
The president's head secret Service Bodyguard at a time when, unfortunately, the president happens to be possessed by Lucifer.

     Agent Camp 
Played By: Norman Browning
The Head of a government Black Site.
  • Formerly Fit: Possibly. He gets very winded and out of shape while chasing Sam and Dean and seems surprised and exasperated by this.
  • Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: By Ketch and Mick.
  • The Spook: The mysterious head of a secret prison, the purpose and information of which are largely unexplored.
  • Torture Is Ineffective: He gives this as the reason he isn't going to torture the brothers, but instead drive them half-crazy through solitary confinement.
  • Wardens Are Evil: Runs an unconstitutional black site and is an antagonist to the brothers.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Thinks that he's detaining/questioning legitimate enemies of the state.

Agent Eliot Ness is listed under Hunters.

Detective James Frampton is listed under Witches.

Alternative Title(s): Law Enforcement

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