Unfortunately, his jeans caught fire, forcing Dangle to cut the bottom parts of his pants off, resulting in the hot-pants he currently wears.
Dangle also felt attraction to a female Homeland Security officer in town to conduct counter-terrorism training, but the experience left him uncomfortable and confused.
It was revealed later that the female officer was actually a very well-disguised man (and was part of a team of con artists, along with the other Homeland Security "trainer"), which caused sexual confusion among the heterosexual deputies who had also felt attracted to "her".
Dangle once worked as a maitre d' and served in the United States Coast Guard Reserve (stationed in Hawaii) but was discharged for undisclosed reasons (perhaps pertaining to his homosexuality).
In Season 2, she began dating a man named Craig Pullin (Kyle Dunnigan), who was revealed to be the "Truckee River Killer".
In the sixth season episode "VHS Transfer Memory Lane", it is revealed that Wiegel's behavior and mental defects are the result of a brain injury that occurred during an explosion at a drug raid in 1988.
Deputy Sergeant Class II Sisyphus Cosman Jones (played by Cedric Yarbrough) is an emotionally detached African-American "smooth-talker" who frequently channels his need for attention into sexually promiscuous behavior.
He is a horrible dancer, but a talented singer with a wide vocal range, singing in either a deep baritone or a high-pitched, R&B-style falsetto.
In season seven, after it is discovered that Garcia was born in Mexico and has been living as an illegal alien, he and Jones marry to keep him from being deported, after everyone else in the station refused to do so.
Deputy Sergeant Class III James Oswaldo Garcia (seasons 1–5, 7–8; played by Carlos Alazraqui) is an arrogant, racist, sexist, angry and depressed former Marine helicopter pilot.
A running gag involves Garcia firing shots at people or objects without hitting them due to his comically terrible marksmanship, and giving suspects "a little of the old stick time", in which he beats them with his billy club.
His personal life is often the subject of ridicule by his contemporaries, who mock his frequent bowel movements (Dangle once said that in the men's room, Garcia sounded like the Battle of Normandy), his excessive masturbation and his habit of drinking alone while watching Hill Street Blues reruns.
He also has a younger sister, whose life the other deputies manage to wreck, because of their mistaken belief that she was his girlfriend and was cheating on Garcia with another man (who turned out to be her actual fiancé).
In the season 6 episode "The Midnight Swingers", his ashes are fired from a cannon, as per his will; however, the deputies' attempt misfires and a squad car is destroyed in the process, for which Garcia is subsequently and posthumously blamed.
Garcia is second in command below Dangle, and is followed by Jones, who holds the rank of Deputy Sergeant Class II, and Johnson, who holds the rank of Deputy Sergeant Class I. Alazraqui returned as Garcia on the November 13, 2014 episode of @midnight, where it is revealed he transferred to Carson City, and his death was a prank to mess with Wiegel.
Deputy Sergeant Class I Clementine "Clemmy" Johnson (seasons 1–5, 7–8; played by Wendi McLendon-Covey) is a promiscuous, trashy, drug-friendly blonde who always wears her uniform partially unbuttoned, exposing her ample cleavage.
Before joining the Reno Sheriff's Department, Johnson was a magician's assistant in Branson, Missouri, an exotic dancer, a Wiccan and a Steely Dan groupie.
She returned claiming she had been promoted, in which case she would be classified as a Sergeant Class I if everyone else (except Dangle and his second-in-command, Garcia, and third-in-command, Jones) is a Deputy.
Deputy Raineesha Williams (born Megan Linderman; played by Niecy Nash) is a boisterous woman who enjoys abusing the power over men that her police authority affords her.
Williams' proudest possession is her enormous posterior (a prosthetic that Nash wears under the uniform), which was featured in a pornographic magazine called "Strong Sistas".
Deputy Travis Junior (played by Robert Ben Garant) is a stereotypical redneck cop who loves beer, buffalo wings, NASCAR, guns, Ernest movies and—perhaps most of all—his moustache, which he confesses he feels makes him look gay when standing next to Dangle.
Deputy Cherisha Kimball (seasons 3–5, 7–8; played by Mary Birdsong) is a pious, tough, no-nonsense police officer, the polar opposite of Johnson.
Hailing from Shreveport, Louisiana, Kimball joins Reno Sheriff's Department early in Season 3, winning a competition among top police academy graduates; however, she was only chosen after the two frontrunners withdrew for various reasons.
In one instance, after Kimball states she would be making some major changes in her life after receiving a jet ski, Dangle asked, "You're finally coming out as a lesbian?"
"[3] When she is the first to arrive at the scene of Junior's "officer down" radio call, and thinking that his gunshot wound was near-fatal, she eventually admits to having had erotic fantasies of women.
In the course of what she thinks is a conversation with someone about to die, the two exchange information on their family backgrounds; Kimball and Junior gradually realize that they share a common uncle in Louisiana.
At the end of that episode, Junior is seen secretly admiring a wedding ring, seemingly about to propose to Kimball before shooting her ineffective kevlar vest.
He has a long history in law enforcement, working in many cities across the country and is infatuated with Wiegel (on one occasion, they engaged in sexual activities in a trailer being pulled by an unsuspecting perpetrator and were left across the Mexican border).
On one occasion, he solicited prostitutes to perform oral sex on him and Jones during a narcotics sting, half-jokingly suggesting the two split the drug money impounded in the bust.
In addition, the principal cast members frequently play recurring roles of criminals or otherwise dysfunctional characters (with pixelated or blurred faces).