Officer Strunk, age 34, with his trendy haircut, expensive watches, custom-tailored uniforms, is creative and impulsive, and often holds far too high an opinion of his own intelligence and abilities. Although he is a master krumper, he does manage to almost blind himself with his girlfriend's shower cleaner. He may be vain enough to spend hundreds of dollars on custom-tailored uniforms, but doesn't have the wherewithal to stop spilling burritos on his uniform shirts or otherwise soil his clothing. He flirts with the notion of being "cut in" on a police-run gambling den, but ultimately his honesty and integrity win out and it's justice that he pursues over personal gain. He is a second generation police officer.

Officer Mattingly, age 33, is an athletic, kid-at-heart who possesses enormous hidden gifts—he's a master card player, unbeatable practitioner of self-defense and expert in delivering The Knee of Wisdom. When the cop who runs a neighborhood gambling den refuses to "cut in" Strunk and Mattingly, he goes to the makeshift casino one night and cleans the place out playing high stakes "Kentucky Three Finger." Mattingly reconnects with an old girlfriend after she's apprehended shoplifting allergy medication for her ailing son. During his personal time, Mattingly is an accomplished mechanic, driving and maintaining his vintage Ford Mustang Fastback, which proves to be a welcome distraction from his painful addiction to following his beloved Detroit Lions.

Mr. Pedanski, age 76. Every police beat has that self-deputized citizen who believes he is fighting crime shoulder-to-shoulder with the police. Mr. Pedanski is that citizen who looks after his neighborhood with sentinel-like vigilance and constancy, as he did during his 32 years as security guard at Ford Motor Company. The only difference between Mr. Pedanski and the legion of busy-body nosenheimers who badger police with overhyped complaints, is that he is always correct in his suspicions. When he noticed people going in and out of a house down the block, he called in police who uncovered a meth lab. Upon seeing a young woman wearing a halter top across the street, his report to authorities broke up a prostitution ring. And when he noticed cars driving up and down a neighborhood around the corner, he reported the illegal gambling house operating there. Mr. Pedanski has personally apprehended purse snatchers and taken down an armed robber in a convenience store with a can of Canada Dry.

Inspector Illich/Charlotte Piper, age 49, is the total embodiment of the bosses we all hate: ambitious, self-aggrandizing, mean as a mongoose in a pepper sack. She is wily and shrewd and has advanced in the police department by screwing over other cops. Illich gained her current post in the police department after arresting Mr. Strunk (Strunk's father) for driving drunk. Any other cop would have simply made sure Mr. Strunk got home safely and dropped it at that, but Illich took the opportunity to put him through the departmental ringer, ultimately ending his career.

Sarge, age 53, has seen it all and done it all during his 30-year career with the police department. He's now the curmudgeonly commander of a platoon of officers of whom he cynically expects are capable of accidentally poking their own eyes out with pencils. Hence their need for his guidance. Sarge is a cross between The Good Shepherd and Dr. House.