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Regular cast
Capt. Frank Furillo
Played By: Daniel J. Travanti
The cool-headed captain of the Hill Street precinct and general main focus character of the series.
- The Alcoholic: Revealed to be in recovery in the season 1 finale. Has a relapse during season 4.
- Alliterative Name: Frank Furillo.
- By-the-Book Cop: Furillo is very conscientious about following regulations and ethical guidelines to the letter, which puts him at odds with his superior, Chief Daniels. He is not above bending the rules or resorting to blackmail for specific reasons, though, such as keeping a psychologically disabled officer on the roster to allow him to retire with a full pension.
- Father to His Men: Furillo does everything he can to look out for the other officers in his precinct.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: He is practically a paragon within the police department. He's immune to corruption and, against all odds, really is making a positive impact within Hill Street Precinct. Chief Daniels realizes that this makes Furillo the only officer who can be trusted to head a special commission into his conduct. No matter the outcome, at least it will be an honest one.
- Only Sane Man: Rather than politics or glory, Furillo is focused on keeping the peace, meaning he's probably the only precinct commander in the city who's making a positive impact on the community.
- The Unfavorite: In one Christmas episode, he takes Joyce to meet his parents, whom he hasn't visited in five years. They go out of their way to point out how great Frank's brother is, what with his multiple kids and stable marriage.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Frank is estranged from his father because of his divorce from Fay and his marriage to the career-oriented Joyce, but he wants very much to repair the relationship.
Sgt. Phil Esterhaus
Played By:: Michael Conrad
The well-spoken desk sergeant in charge of morning briefings and keeping order around the station.
- Character Catchphrase: He ends each morning briefing with "Let's be careful out there
." -
The Character Died with Him: After Michael Conrad's death, Esterhaus is said to have passed away. - Father to His Men: His imperative catchphrase "Let's be careful out there" exemplifies he's a stern yet caring father.
- Limited Advancement Opportunities: He passed the Lieutenant Promotion Exams four times, but he was never picked up for promotion.
- May–December Romance: Among his many romantic entanglements was a whirlwind romance with a 19-year-old cheerleader that resulted in marriage and divorce.
- Out with a Bang: He died in the middle of tryst with his lover.
- Sergeant Rock: While well-mannered and clearly accultured, he fits this trope at the perfection, running the district with an iron hand in a velvet glove.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Esterhaus uses his extensive vocabulary and facility with language often, most notably at roll call.
Officer Bobby Hill
Played By: Michael Warren
An officer and the partner of Andy Renko.
- Black Boxer Stereotype: Subverted; though he has won Golden Gloves competitions as a welterweight under the moniker "Blueberry" Hill, Bobby isn't a Scary Black Man.
- Full-Name Basis: Renko nearly always calls him Bobby Hill, to his face, as an Affectionate Nickname rather than out of formality.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Hill and Renko are not just an inseparable team at work, but are parts of other's private lives as well. Their dialogue, whether they're doing small talk or discussing more serious matters, often sounds like the bickering of an old married couple.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Bobby's father, a scam artist, would disappear for years at a time. When he reconnects with his adult son, it's clear he's untrustworthy and still looking for an angle. Later, he reappears and breaks the news to Bobby that he's dying; naturally, Bobby doesn't believe him until he unexpectedly turns out to be one of the corpses Bobby is helping to handle at the morgue.
Sgt. Mick Belker
Played By: Bruce Weitz
A disheveled looking yet very effective undercover cop.
- Bruiser with a Soft Center: And if you tell anyone he will bite your face off.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He dresses in rag, growls and snarls like a rabid dog, and has a reputation for biting off body parts. However, he's one of the department's most effective undercover cops and pursues every case with vigor.
- Cigar Chomper: He's perpetually gnawing on a cheap cigar to show that he's a hard charger.
- Distaff Counterpart: Mick's sister is a Tiny Tyrannical Girl and actually threatens one of his perps while she's visiting Mick at his desk. She even uses the term "Hairbag."
- Hidden Depths: Despite his feral, aggressive demeanor, he's one of the most sensitive cops on the Hill.
- I Work Alone: He's sometimes teamed up with other cops, but reluctantly; most of his plot lines involve an undercover job he's doing by himself.
- Momma's Boy: He often talks with his Jewish Mother on his work phone; she tends to call just as he's booking some hardened criminal, eliciting a warm "Hi, Ma!" and snapping him (temporarily) out of his bad temper.
- The Napoleon: Presumably why he's so ferocious.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: As he's helping subdue a violent suspect in the station, Furillo admonishes him by yelling: "No biting!" This upsets him and he laments that he only bit off one nose!
- Rabid Cop: Has a tendency to growl at suspects and gained a reputation for biting people.
- Running Gag: Brings in the same perp on numerous occasions, who gives a different BS name everytime. Belker physically threatens the guy (who has a good 12 inches on him) the entire time. More often than not they're interrupted by a phone call from Belker's mother.
-
The Woobie: Both his parents die through the course of the series, as do a number of people he grows close to over the course of the series.
Lt. Howard Hunter
Played By:: James B. Sikking
The gung-ho leader of the Emergency Action Team (EAT or EATers).
- Blood Knight: He served enthusiastically in Vietnam (contrasting with the era's stereotypical Shell-Shocked Veteran) and eager to fight crime with military tactics.
- Cultured Warrior: Hunter is both well-spoken and well-read.
- Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Likes to be seen with a pipe at the station.
- Foil: As an outspoken conservative, he stands in contrast to Goldblume, an outspoken liberal.
- General Ripper: He often clashes with Frank and/or Goldblume over tactics, preferring whatever course involves rounding up suspects/taking the shot/going in with tanks.
- Hidden Depths: His hard-charging attitude belies a lonely soul desperately looking for love. And despite his comments about enjoying his military service in Vietnam, he also appreciates its natural beauty and regrets that it had to be marred by war.
- Noble Bigot with a Badge: He really does want to make the city safer. However, he's bigoted against anything that doesn't meet his conservative, middle-class, WASP-ish view of the world.
- No Social Skills: Even when trying to be friendly, Hunter will make an inadvertently offensive comment.
- Precious Puppy: Adopts a cute shar-pei pup.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Not as effective at it as Sgt. Esterhaus
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: With Goldblume.
- Walking Disaster Area: He has an unfortunate habit of causing massive property damage through innocuous acts (such as breaking a storefront window just by tapping his pipe against it).
Lt. Henry Goldblume
Played By: Joe Spano
The resident hostage negotioater of Hill Street.
- Foil: As an outspoken liberal, he stands in contrast to Hunter, an outspoken conservative.
- Nice Guy: One of the most compassionate officers at Hill Street Station, although this occasionally gets him into trouble.
- Reluctant Warrior: In contrast to trigger-happy Hunter, Henry will keep hostage negotiations bloodless as best he can, only turning things over to the EATers when absolutely nothing else has worked.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: With Hunter
Fay Furillo
Played By: Barbara Bosson
Frank's shrill and needy ex-wife who often shows up unannounced.
- Butt-Monkey: Especially in the early seasons.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: When Fay gets pregnant after a short fling with a judge in season 3, she explicitly mentions that she will keep the baby because of her moral convictions about abortion.
- Running Gag: Barges into the precinct and makes a scene almost weekly.
Det. Neal Washington
Played By: Taurean Blacque
A plainclothes detective and the partner of J.D. Larue.
- Career-Ending Injury: One ended Washington's professional football career before he joined the force.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: Always wear a cool black leather jacket and a leather newsie hat.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Det. J. D. LaRue.
- Oral Fixation: Rarely seen without his trademark toothpick.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Neal is the blue oni to J. D.'s red.
Det. John "J.D." La Rue
Played By: Kiel Martin
A plainclothes detective and the partner of Neal Washington.
- The Alcoholic: LaRue's drinking jeopardizes his career during season 1.
- Abhorrent Admirer: To Davenport and Detective Mayo.
- The Casanova: Alternates between this and Casanova Wannabe, constantly hitting on women and earning the Affectionate Nickname of "Lover" from Neal. Sometimes he veers into Handsome Lech territory.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Det. Neal Washington.
- Jerkass: More than once, he talks his sister into staying with her cheating husband so J. D. still has access to his brother-in-law's car fleet.
- The Prankster: Though his pranks usually go awry, leaving him Hoist by His Own Petard.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: J. D. is the red oni in his partnership with Neal Washington.
- Schemer: He's always attempting some sort of Get-Rich-Quick Scheme.
Lt. Ray Calletano
Played By: Rene Enriquez
The Colombian-born Number Two to Frank Furillo, often answering and delivering phone calls.
- Always Someone Better: Calletano begins to feel this when Lt. Goldblume starts to rise through the ranks.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: He often feels, with reason, that he's given the short end of the stick within the police department despite having served nearly 20 years without incident. He points out that younger White officers are often promoted above him and that casual racism and cultural insensitivity are prevalent and unaddressed.
- Kicked Upstairs: When his precinct descends into racial unrest, he's sent to work under Daniels.
- Nice Guys Finish Last: His approach to commanding the Polk St. Station is to try and see both sides of every issue and be a friend, rather than an authority figure, to his people. The result is that nobody respects him; his officers quietly refer to him as "Captain Taco" and even Frank can't help him when an all-out race war starts in his precinct. Ultimately, he's forced to either bow to Daniels or resign. (He chooses the latter.)
- Number Two: At Hill Street, he's Furillo's able second-in-command.
Officer Lucy Bates
Played By: Betty Thomas
A female officer and the partner of Joe Coffey. Later becomes a sergeant.
- Action Girl: Though she's shown entirely at desk duty in the earliest episodes and occasionally fills in as desk sergeant later on, she is mostly shown on patrol with Officer Coffey, even after her promotion.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With her partner, Coffey.
- No Guy Wants an Amazon: In the earlier episodes, the 6'1" Lucy often laments her inability to get a date. Subverted later on, when she's wooed by Coffey, Lt. Hunter, a handsome sculptor, and an Amazon Chaser plumber.
Officer Joe Coffey
Played By: Ed Marinaro
An officer and the partner of Lucy Bates.
- The Big Guy: Actually taller than his partner, Lucy Bates.
- Chick Magnet
- Killed Off for Real: Twice! The first incident at the end of season 1 was changed to being seriously injured, but surviving. The second time in season 5 had him being shot after walking in on an armed robbery whilst off-duty.
Officer Andrew Renko
Played By: Charles Haid
- Cowboy: Though he can be a Cowboy Cop sometimes, Renko actually adopts the persona of a cowboy, down to speaking with a southern accent and wearing cowboy boots while on duty. He's even called Cowboy by the other cops. He openly admits, however, that he is from New Jersey and has never been west of Chicago.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Hill and Renko are not just an inseparable team at work, but are parts of other's private lives as well. Their dialogue, whether they're doing small talk or discussing more serious matters, often sounds like the bickering of an old married couple.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: When his father is dying, Renko tries desperately and in vain to make up for their cold, distant relationship.
Joyce Davenport
Played By: Veronica Hamel
A public defender who is Frank Furillo's lover in spite of their opposite professions.
- Crusading Lawyer: She feels strongly, as a public defender, that the underdog must be represented in an unfair world. For this reason, she doesn't last long during a switch to the D.A.'s office.
- Hello, Attorney!: In the pilot, J. D. can barely keep his hands off her.
- Love Across Battle Lines: Her relationship with Frank. They often clash during the workday but leave the tension at the office; most episodes end with them snuggling together at home and commenting, with a shared sense of irony, on the madness they both witnessed during the day.
- The Unfavorite: Frank's parents barely accept his divorce from Fay, whom Frank's mother still calls routinely. During a Christmas visit, the childless, career-oriented Joyce is able to make some headway with her mother-in-law but is barely acknowledged by Frank's dad.
Officer Leo Schnitz
Played By: Robert Hirschfeld
Tropes:
- Ascended Extra: Originally a minor background character, Leo gets a significant storyline in season 3 with his efforts to get Rico the junkie clean. He finally becomes a credited regular in season 5 before his character is Put on a Bus.
Sgt. Stanislaus Jablonski
Played By: Robert Prosky
- Character Catchphrase: He ends each briefing with "Let's do it to them before they do it to us!"
- Contrasting Replacement Character: The stout, blunt, and aggressive Jablonski replaced the tall, erudite, and gentle Esterhaus to reflect how policing and public perception of police were changing.
Det. Harry Garibaldi
Played By: Ken Olin
- Fair Cop
- The Gambling Addict: His habit for this and his inability to pay off his debts would ultimately be his downfall.
- Killed Off for Real: His aforementioned gambling debts lead to him being stabbed to death in the streets in season 4. Heartbreakingly, it was Bates who discovered his body.
Det. Patricia "Patsy" Mayo
Played By: Mimi Kuzyk
- Groin Attack: In busting the rapist of several elderly women, Mayo shoots him in the junk. Although she swears she was aiming for his leg, everyone at the precinct teases her about it, and her picture appears in the newspaper the next day under the headline "Deadeye Dick."
- Put on a Bus: From Season 6 on.
Lt. Norman Buntz
Played By: Dennis Franz
- Oral Fixation: Frequently shown popping a stick of chewing gum in his mouth (even in his opening credits shot). This is likely an Addiction Displacement, since Buntz vocally eschews smoking to a point of scolding other cops for doing it.
- Smug Straight Edge: Though he otherwise would seem like a Real Men Eat Meat sort of guy, he chides Hunter for eating unhealthily and berates a whole roomful of other cops for smoking.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Buntz is a more likable version of Dennis Franz's recurring character Det. Sal Benedetto.
Officer Patrick Flaherty
Played By: Robert Clohessy
Officer Tina Russo
Played By: Megan Gallagher
Recurring characters:
Grace Gardner
Played By: Barbara Babcock
Jesus Martinez
Played By: Trinidad Silva
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Furillo is constantly frustrated by Jesus because he thinks Jesus has the skills and intelligence to walk the straight path and thrive. Furillo is proven right when Jesus eventually renounces his gang affiliation and finds a decent amount success.
- Worthy Opponent: With Captain Furillo. The two respect each other for being intellegent strategists willing to put in the work to maintain peace on the streets. However, they come at it from opposing sides of the law.
Chief Fletcher Daniels
Played By: Jon Cypher
- Ambition Is Evil: He is arguably the most ambitious and one of the less likable characters of the show, criminals aside.
- Corrupt Bureaucrat: Played With. He has many traits of the character, but he is never seen taking a bribe and he is cleared of all charges during a comprehensive investigation of the Police Department's corruption in Season 7. However, it is implied that he had until then tolerated that corruption for political expediency.
- Foil: To Francis Furillo. He worked as a District Captain before becoming the Chief of Police and it is implied that he was a competent police officer in his former days in the force. He is also shown as personally honest. However, he is also a huge self-centered Jerkass, who is using his position as a springboard to a political office and is willing to throw under the bus anything and anybody if it can further his career. He is also openly despised and mocked behind his back by the Police Department's rank and file. On the contrary, Furillo strives to act ethically and professionally and is always ready to sacrifice personal ambition to do what is right. Unsurprisingly, he is beloved by the men and women under his command.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: When the chicken finally come home to roost and the widespread corruption of the police force is exposed to the public, he appoints Furillo, the one high officer he can trust to be both highly competent and incorruptible, as the head of a special commission to carry out a thorough investigation. Predictably, the final report of the commission scolds him for his inaction and failings in counteracting the culture of corruption of the police.
- Magnificent Bastard: He is very apt in navigating the difficult waters of the city's politics. No matter how big a scandal is or how serious a setback he suffers, he is always able to come out on top. Not that this makes him any more likable.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat
Irwin Bernstein
Played By: George Wyner
Attorney/Judge Alan Wachtel
Played By: Jeffrey Tambor
Sid the Snitch
Played By: Peter Jurasik
Officer Robin Tataglia
Played By: Lisa Sutton
- Action Girl: To a point where she insists on doing dangerous work despite her pregnancy.
- Boyish Short Hair
- Shiksa Goddess: To Nice Jewish Boy (when you come down to it) Mick Belker.
Det. Lt. Alf Chesley
Played By: Gerry Black
Jerry Fuchs
Played By: Vincent Lucchesi
Bald Pickpocket
Played By: Nick Savage
Notable guest characters:
Captain Freedom
Played By: Dennis Dugan
Eddie Gregg
Played By: Charles Levin
Det. Sal Benedetto
Played By: Dennis Franz
- Batman Gambit: His plan to steal a bag full of cocaine involves corrupting the impound officer who has it in custody, replacing the cocaine with bicarbonate, using the bag in a sting operation to arrest a loan shark, murdering the criminal who helped him to set it up and have the impund officer organize a stage robbery during the operation to get the bag. And betting that his fellow officers will be all too happy to blame the loan shark for everything.
- Despair Event Horizon: Neal Washington getting seriously wounded during the staged robbery that he set up. Afterwards he seems sincerely sorry and starts to lose his usual arrogant and boasterous posture. At the end, he commits suicide moments after J.D. reminding him of this.
- Dirty Cop: One of the worst of the Series. He not only uses excessive force during arrests, embezzles impounded evidence, tries to frame a loan shark for his own crimes and conspires to commit an armed robbery to cover up his tracks, getting Neal Washington seriously wounded in the process, he is also a cold-blooded murderer.
- Heel Realization: Despite declaring himself unrepentant, when he is eventually exposed and cornered in a bank by his fellow officers, he seems to suddenly realize the hurt and pain that he has caused. This is what leads to his suicide.
- Jerkass: In his first appearance, he butts heads with Officer Renko over a parking ticket that culminates in him beating Renko up at a bar. This is before we see he's a Dirty Cop.
- Spanner in the Works: His plan would have worked had it not a member of the public ratted out one of the criminals who staged the robbery. When he is arrested and talks, J.D. La Rue and Belker are able to quickly find out the truth.
- The Unapologetic: At the end he prclaim that he regrets nothing. Of course, since he is visibly shaken by his plans having fallen apart and kills himself shortly after, it is a subversion of this trope.
Gina Srignoli
Played By: Jennifer Tilly
Jesse John Hudson
Played By: Danny Glover
Tommy Mann
