Ellis Carver is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Seth Gilliam.
While initially matched to the simple-minded and brutish policing of his loyal partner and unfailing friend Thomas "Herc" Hauk, under the counsel of Major Colvin in the Western District, Carver incrementally matures into a reflective and generally upstanding officer, often drawing the ire of his Western District colleagues.
They get into trouble early on in the investigation when they and Roland Pryzbylewski drunkenly raid a Barksdale-controlled high rise tower and nearly incite a riot.
When one of the young dealers, Bodie Broadus, punches the elderly Patrick Mahon, Carver, Herc and Greggs give him a beating on the spot.
Unaware of this Carver and Herc angrily pick him up the next time they see him, but after finding that he had been legitimately released they give him a lift home.
When they intercept the Barksdale crew's profits for a day by tailing Wee-Bey Brice, Herc considers keeping some of the money, but Carver realizes that figures mentioned on the wiretap might leave them exposed.
Although Herc scores better on the exam, Carver gets placed ahead of him on the promotion list because he's been relaying information about the detail's activities to Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell.
With the detail disbanded, Carver is moved to the Southeastern District, where he works as a traffic sergeant under Major Stanislaus Valchek.
His dissatisfaction with the post is apparent when Valchek assigns him to ticket dock workers' vehicles and he openly voices his opinions of his commander to Frank Sobotka.
After being left out in the rain waiting for Nick Sobotka to return home, despite his having already turned himself in, Herc convinces Carver that they will never be respected in Daniels' unit.
With Dennis "Cutty" Wise, a (now reformed) former soldier in Avon Barksdale's crew, he helps divert the young hoppers into boxing and basketball programs, that have some success until the "Hamsterdam" project is shut down.
Over the season, Carver's DEU team are shown to be making statistically motivated arrests rather than performing real police work and building serious cases.
Colvin feels that this was one of the reasons behind Dozerman's shooting and then claims that Carver's stat-based arrests are of little use to the district without adequate information about what really goes on in the neighborhood.
When he returns he gives them a warning, telling them that he knows their names and addresses and if he learns that they are involved with stolen cars again he will arrange alleyway beatings for each of them.
He has a plainclothes car put outside Randy Wagstaff's house when neighborhood kids start harassing him after he is labelled as a snitch.
His offer is rejected due to the lengthy screening process involved, and after dropping Randy off at his group home, Carver angrily beats on his car horn, frustrated that he could not have done more.
Carver faces dissent and abuse in his roll-call briefing and is told there is no point breaking up a fight between officers that occurs in the parking lot.
Carver's officers are able to use rental vehicles to follow Lester Freamon's lead in finding the source of drug distribution amongst Stanfield crew members.
When Kima Greggs questions Carver about the "homeless killer", he claims that he is happy to see his officers doing real police work and getting paid overtime for it.
Carver's development in the series and his ending draws comparisons to Daniels; both men had skimmed drug money early in their career, both had matured from these experiences over time and both eventually climbed the police ranks as respected, hard-working and honest policemen, with Carver representing the next generation of this type of officer.