She arrives in Baltimore and quickly impresses Lieutenant Al Giardello, and after a rocky start wins over Detective Frank Pembleton as well.

Ballard has an adult-onset allergy to shellfish, but she does not discover this until she goes into anaphylactic shock following a crab dinner with Gharty and is rushed to the hospital in the episode "Saigon Rose".

At the end of Season 6, Ballard and Gharty are both wounded during a shootout with Nathaniel Lee Mahoney, also known as "Junior Bunk", in the homicide unit's squadroom.

In the episode "Bones of Contention", Falsone questions Ballard about her ethnic heritage prior to bringing her home to dinner with his Italian mother, shortly after the start of their relationship.

Still, the two detectives work smoothly together on a case involving girl gang members, and are pleased that they don't have to call on their male colleagues to come in and "save the day".