Stock Crime Drama Characters

The law represents forces of good in crime drama. But they are not all handsome heroes. You'l often notice that the officers of the law are complicated people, with problems and flaws. This makes them more real and helps you to like them, identify with them and want them to succeed.
Here are a few common character types from the right side of the law. You can also call these stock characters.

Hero cop, eg Jack Bauer (24), Aurelio Zen (Zen). Their sole aim is to get justice.

Heroine cop, eg Cagney and Lacey and Brenda Lee Johnson (The Closer)

Anti-hero, eg Vic Mackey (The Shield) and Dexter Morgan (Dexter)

Quirky detectives, eg Robert Goren (Law and Order: Criminal Intent) and Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock)

Bad-tempered but brilliant detectives, eg Andy Sipowicz (NYPD Blue), Peter Boyd (Waking the Dead). They might be bad tempered because they are frustrated at how other people don't understand what they believe to be simple things.

Rookie, eg Andy McNally (Rookie Blue, Ben Sherman (Southland) and John Clark Jr. (NYPD Blue)

Buddy Partners, eg Crockett and Tubbs (Miami Vice)

Grumply, world-weary superior officer, eg Captain Craigen (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit) and Luitenant Bert Samuels (Cagney and Lacey)

Forensic scientists/pathologists/other medical professionals, eg Gil Grissom/Ray Langston (CSI:Crime Scene Investigation), Grayling Russel (Inspector Morse) and Horatio Caine (CSI: Miami)

Psychology experts/consultants/helpers, eg Fitz (Cracker), Patrick Jane (The Mentalist), Dr. Cal Lightman ( Lie to me), Allison DuBois (Medium) and Jessica Fletcher (Murder, She Wrote)
FBI Agents, eg Vivian Johnson (Without a Trace), Don and Charlie Eppes (Numb3rs) and Mulder and Scully (The X-Files)

Lawyers, eg Jack McCoy (Law and Order), Rhonda Pearlman (The Wire) and Jo Mills (Judge John Deed)

Informants, eg Huggy Bear (Starsky and Hutch) and Bubbles (The Wire).

The central figure of the detective is so crucial to some crime dramas, that the show is names after them: we call this the eponymous hero, e.g. Sherlock, Luther, Dexter and Inspector Morse. It may even be a duo we are rooting for, e.g. Dalziel and Pascoe; Dempsey and Makepeace. Other programmes have a wider focus, with many characters shown as equally important and we like to watch them interact with each other: these are called ensemble dramas, e.g. The Bill, Law and Order, The Wire and The Shield.