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William Rawls
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William Rawls
William A. "Bill" Rawls is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor John Doman. Over the course of the series, Rawls ascends through the higher ranks of the Baltimore Police Department, eventually becoming Deputy Commissioner of Operations and, at the end of Season 5, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.
His careerism and deft political maneuvering are generally portrayed as detrimental to the department and the work of officers under his command; seen, for example, in his regular attempts to offload difficult case-work to other divisions or departments, or shut down investigations in order to keep 'stats' down.
When Rawls is promoted to Deputy Commissioner, he is put in charge of the weekly ComStat meetings, a platform which he uses to bully and berate the commanders under his authority. He is a 'no-nonsense' leader who obstinately refuses to allow anything that might harm his career, regardless of benefit to the department. Little is disclosed of Rawls' personal life aside from incidental allusions to his sexuality, wife and children.
Rawls is a major and commanding officer of the Homicide Unit in Season 1. He is only concerned with maintaining the case clearance record of his unit, and is extremely demanding of his detectives. He is upset when Jimmy McNulty bypasses him to Judge Phelan to encourage further investigation of the Barksdale Organization.
At the request for manpower and instruction of Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell, Rawls sends McNulty and Michael Santangelo to Lt. Cedric Daniels' Barksdale detail as they are the two "humps" he no longer wants. Santangelo is used as Rawls' inside man in the Barksdale detail. Rawls relies upon Sergeant Jay Landsman to handle much of his communication with the men under his command in homicide.
McNulty placates Rawls by working several old murder cases, linking them all to the same gun and to D'Angelo Barksdale. Rawls wants to immediately issue a warrant for D'Angelo, but McNulty is wary since prematurely arresting him will tip off his uncle Avon to their investigation. The detail persuades Daniels to fight Rawls' push for arrests.
Eventually, Daniels goes over Rawls' head and meets with Burrell, convincing him to suspend the warrants. An infuriated Rawls demands that Santangelo either clear a case by day's end, inform on McNulty, or leave the unit altogether due to his low clearance rate. McNulty and Bunk Moreland save Santangelo by clearing one of his open cases while sending him on a trip to a phony gypsy named "Madame LaRue".
Following the shooting of Detective Kima Greggs in a buy bust gone wrong, Rawls becomes personally involved in the investigation. His first action is to order all non-essential personnel, including Greggs' friends in her detail, to evacuate the crime scene. He later speaks to a distraught McNulty and while he again expresses his hatred for his subordinate, he reassures him that he was not ultimately responsible for the shooting. When McNulty convinces Daniels to go around his superiors and try to involve the FBI in the Barksdale case, Rawls reassigns McNulty to the BPD's marine unit, replaces him with Detective Lester Freamon, and transfers Santangelo to the Western District as a beat officer.
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William Rawls
William A. "Bill" Rawls is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor John Doman. Over the course of the series, Rawls ascends through the higher ranks of the Baltimore Police Department, eventually becoming Deputy Commissioner of Operations and, at the end of Season 5, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.
His careerism and deft political maneuvering are generally portrayed as detrimental to the department and the work of officers under his command; seen, for example, in his regular attempts to offload difficult case-work to other divisions or departments, or shut down investigations in order to keep 'stats' down.
When Rawls is promoted to Deputy Commissioner, he is put in charge of the weekly ComStat meetings, a platform which he uses to bully and berate the commanders under his authority. He is a 'no-nonsense' leader who obstinately refuses to allow anything that might harm his career, regardless of benefit to the department. Little is disclosed of Rawls' personal life aside from incidental allusions to his sexuality, wife and children.
Rawls is a major and commanding officer of the Homicide Unit in Season 1. He is only concerned with maintaining the case clearance record of his unit, and is extremely demanding of his detectives. He is upset when Jimmy McNulty bypasses him to Judge Phelan to encourage further investigation of the Barksdale Organization.
At the request for manpower and instruction of Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell, Rawls sends McNulty and Michael Santangelo to Lt. Cedric Daniels' Barksdale detail as they are the two "humps" he no longer wants. Santangelo is used as Rawls' inside man in the Barksdale detail. Rawls relies upon Sergeant Jay Landsman to handle much of his communication with the men under his command in homicide.
McNulty placates Rawls by working several old murder cases, linking them all to the same gun and to D'Angelo Barksdale. Rawls wants to immediately issue a warrant for D'Angelo, but McNulty is wary since prematurely arresting him will tip off his uncle Avon to their investigation. The detail persuades Daniels to fight Rawls' push for arrests.
Eventually, Daniels goes over Rawls' head and meets with Burrell, convincing him to suspend the warrants. An infuriated Rawls demands that Santangelo either clear a case by day's end, inform on McNulty, or leave the unit altogether due to his low clearance rate. McNulty and Bunk Moreland save Santangelo by clearing one of his open cases while sending him on a trip to a phony gypsy named "Madame LaRue".
Following the shooting of Detective Kima Greggs in a buy bust gone wrong, Rawls becomes personally involved in the investigation. His first action is to order all non-essential personnel, including Greggs' friends in her detail, to evacuate the crime scene. He later speaks to a distraught McNulty and while he again expresses his hatred for his subordinate, he reassures him that he was not ultimately responsible for the shooting. When McNulty convinces Daniels to go around his superiors and try to involve the FBI in the Barksdale case, Rawls reassigns McNulty to the BPD's marine unit, replaces him with Detective Lester Freamon, and transfers Santangelo to the Western District as a beat officer.