The following is a partial list of the numerous characters that appeared on NYPD Blue during the twelve seasons it was on the air.
Main cast chart
CharacterPortrayed byPositionSeasons123456789101112 John Kelly David Caruso Detective colspan="2" colspan="10" Andy Sipowicz Dennis Franz Detective/Sergeant colspan="12" Arthur Fancy James McDaniel Lieutenant/Captain colspan="8" colspan="4" Laura Michaels Kelly Sherry Stringfield A.D.A. colspan="11" Janice Licalsi Amy Brenneman Officer/Detective colspan="2" colspan="10" James Martinez Nicholas Turturro Officer/Detective/Sergeant colspan="7" colspan="5" Sylvia Costas Sharon Lawrence A.D.A. colspan="3" colspan="6" Greg Medavoy Gordon Clapp Detective colspan="11" Donna Abandando Gail O'Grady P.A.A. colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="6" Bobby Simone Jimmy Smits Detective colspan="5" colspan="5" Adrienne Lesniak Justine Miceli Detective colspan="9" Diane Russell Kim Delaney Detective colspan="6" colspan="2" Jill Kirkendall Andrea Thompson Detective colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="5" Danny Sorenson Rick Schroder Detective colspan="5" colspan="3" colspan="4" John Irvin Bill Brochtrup P.A.A. colspan="2" colspan="7" Baldwin Jones Henry Simmons Detective colspan="6" colspan="6" Valerie Haywood Garcelle Beauvais A.D.A. colspan="7" colspan="4" Connie McDowell Charlotte Ross Detective colspan="7" colspan="4" Tony Rodriguez Esai Morales Lieutenant colspan="7" colspan="4" John Clark Jr. Mark-Paul Gosselaar Officer/Detective colspan="8" colspan="4" Rita Ortiz Jacqueline Obradors Detective colspan="8" colspan="4" Eddie Gibson John F. O'Donohue Detective/Sergeant colspan="6" colspan="3" Thomas Bale Currie Graham Lieutenant colspan="11" Laura Murphy Bonnie Somerville Detective colspan="11"
Main 15th Squad detectives Andy Sipowicz Bobby Simone Greg Medavoy John Clark Jr. Diane Russell James Martinez Baldwin Jones Connie McDowell John Kelly — The original protagonist. He appeared in the first season and the first four episodes of the second. Kelly was born in 1958, joined the police force in 1979, and became a detective in 1986 at age 28. At the start of season one, Kelly is in the midst of a divorce from his wife Laura and begins a relationship with Janice Licalsi. When Licalsi is charged with murder, Kelly destroys evidence to obstruct the prosecution. While he gets away without legal consequences, the police department pushes him to quit, after which he leaves the country to work as a private security consultant for an American corporation's India branch. After leaving, Kelly never returned to the precinct and was rarely mentioned by name. Played by David Caruso. Danny Sorenson — Appeared from seasons six (1998) through eight (2001). An army veteran of the Gulf War and member of the United States Army Reserve, he moved to the 15th squad from Narcotics after Bobby Simone's death. Originally from Norway, his younger sisters and he were raised by an aunt in Albany, New York. While the other detectives were initially wary of the youthful Sorenson, his professionalism and proactive approach earned him their respect. Sorenson had a brief romantic relationship with Officer Mary Franco, but was clearly attracted to Simone's widow, Detective Diane Russell, and they briefly dated. The death of a drug addict he had been mentoring appeared to cause Sorenson to become erratic, but this was a ruse to facilitate his participation in an undercover assignment investigating an organized crime syndicate. Sorenson soon disappeared during the assignment, and his body was uncovered in a shallow grave six months later. His death was attributed to the criminal enterprise he had been investigating. Played by Rick Schroder.
Other 15th Squad detectives Adrienne Lesniak — An experienced detective who transferred in to the 15th Squad in Season 2 after her relationship with a co-worker at her old precinct went public. The former boyfriend began stalking her, which caused her to avoid dating colleagues. When James Martinez expressed a romantic interest, she brushed him off by telling him she was gay. Martinez and Lesniak later dated, but Lesniak's jealousy caused her to become possessive. Martinez broke up with her and she later left the 15th Precinct after Season 3. Played by Justine Miceli. Jill Kirkendall — Diane Russell's partner, she was a recurring character in Season 4 and a regular from Seasons 5 to 7. A highly skilled detective, her inability to break free of her ex-husband Don ended her career. Don committed crimes with Harry Denby and manipulated Jill into aiding him by threatening to inform on her to Internal Affairs or kill their children. The other 15th Squad detectives engineered Don's arrest in a way that enabled Jill to avoid being arrested with him, after which she and her sons fled New York City to avoid police and prosecutors. While a few moments early in Season 8 hinted that Jill's name could be cleared before or after Don paid for his crimes, she never returned to the job and was never mentioned again after that. Played by Andrea Thompson. Rita Ortiz — Transferred in from Vice in Season 9 because her husband Don Harrison, an assistant district attorney, was upset with her dressing as a street walker to effect arrests. Don's increasingly paranoid delusions covered for the fact that he was cheating on Rita, which came to light after he was murdered by his girlfriend's husband. Rita dated John Clark Jr. until his behavior after his father's death led to their breakup. She saved Tony Rodriguez from Captain Fraker's attempt to murder him by shooting Fraker before he could fire at Rodriguez a second time. Rodriguez and Ortiz began a personal relationship after he retired, but it was unclear, though suggested, they were still dating. When she reached out to a fellow officer that had previously expressed interest, he attempted to finally persuade her to date him. She declined which suggested she remained in a relationship with Rodriguez. Played by Jacqueline Obradors. Stan Hatcher — Hatcher was assigned to the 15th Precinct as a replacement for Connie McDowell in Season 11 when she went on maternity leave. Hatcher had killed his wife years previously, but the case had gone unsolved because it was attributed to the perpetrator in one of his cases trying to kill him. While working for the 15th squad, he stalked a former girlfriend and got shot when he was mistaken for a burglar. He emerged as a devious, violent, corrupt cop who used his connection to his uncle to get Sipowicz transferred to morgue duty. Sipowicz, Clark, and Detective Wally Dorland from the morgue eventually determined that Hatcher had killed his wife. Though they did not have enough evidence to bring criminal charges, Sipowicz and Clark confronted Hatcher and told him to leave the 15th; Hatcher ended up retiring in disgrace from the force altogether and became a private investigator. After his uncle learned of his true nature, he opted to no longer protect him. In Season 12, he launched a campaign to ruin Sipowicz, including purchasing child sex abuse material with Sipowicz's credit card, badmouthing him to fellow A.A. members, poisoning his beloved pet fish and having a client temporarily abduct Sipowicz's son. Sipowicz threatened Hatcher's life in response, but Hatcher had actually set up Sipowicz by recording the threats. The dispute ended when Bale reluctantly brokered a deal with Hatcher's uncle which kept Andy out of trouble and forced Stan to permanently relocate to Miami. Played by Scott William Winters. Kelly Ronson — Transferred in from Brooklyn North late in Season 11 after the welcome departure of Det. Stan Hatcher. She raised a few eyebrows at the 15th when she said she was attending law school at night, but she and Rita Ortiz worked well together. She was unsettled when Dr. Jennifer Devlin, John Clark's bipolar ex-girlfriend falsely accused her of having sex with him. Ronson left the 15th Precinct between Seasons 11 and 12 and her absence was not noted. Played by Jessalyn Gilsig. Laura Murphy — joined the 15th Precinct at the beginning of the twelfth season after having worked in the Applications Investigations unit. Murphy was the long-term replacement for Connie McDowell after Connie married Andy Sipowicz, then became a stay at home mother. As she explained to her co-workers, Murphy was from a family of brothers and cousins who were all New York City firefighters. Partnered with Rita Ortiz, Ortiz was initially concerned at what she believed was Murphy's overly flirtatious attitude with fellow cops, including John Clark. They quickly overcame these difficulties and began to work as an effective team. Played by Bonnie Somerville.
15th Squad commanders Lt. Arthur Fancy Lt. Susan Dalto (Denise Crosby) — An obnoxious supervisor who immediately got off on the wrong foot with the 15th Precinct when she was assigned as Fancy's replacement. Though she worked in Internal Affairs and had no field experience, she announced that because she had completed the qualification course for supervisors she was already capable of running a detective squad. She criticized Fancy to his face and to the other detectives, though the detectives liked and respected him. She criticized in full view of the squad the wardrobe choices of her female detectives, such as deciding unilaterally that the heels on their shoes were too high for running if they had to chase suspects. She announced immediate changes to partner assignments with no initial observation of how current assignments were working. She hinted to Sipowicz that she intended to have him fired or transferred. Dalto was a lesbian, and John Irvin knew her from a gay police officers' association; he disliked her so much he threatened to quit if she stayed. McDowell asked Fancy if she could transfer out, even though she was a recent arrival, but Fancy counseled her to stay so she did not acquire a reputation as someone who could not get along with her bosses. When it became clear that Dalto was making the squad dysfunctional, Fancy called in a final favor from Bass before Bass retired, which resulted in Dalto's immediate transfer. She angrily accused Fancy of arranging her removal, but deflated when Fancy pointed out what a horrible job she had done and told her to leave. Lt. Tony Rodriguez (Esai Morales) Rodriguez was assigned as 15th squad commander after the detectives all but rebelled against Lt. Arthur Fancy's replacement, Lt. Susan Dalto. Fancy called in one last favor from Captain Bass, who had Dalto transferred out and Rodriguez transferred in. Rodriguez had previously been a part of the Narcotics squad where he was a successful undercover officer; the squad (except for Andy) became excited that their new boss was a "living legend". Andy was initially scornful, with their differences coming largely from the fact that Rodriguez was a "hands on" supervisor. When Rodriguez intervened while Andy was interrogating a suspect, Andy reminded him that being a boss was different than being a detective, which Rodriguez accepted as fair criticism. Andy's disputes with Rodriguez were generally addressed quickly and it was clear there was a lot of mutual respect between the two men.