They originally met during a court trial when Furillo was recently divorced and still a Lieutenant; their first date was to a (free) classical music concert, followed by pizza.
He exhibits a number of eccentricities, such as usually dressing in torn and dirty clothing, rarely shaving and frequently consuming onions, sardines and other pungent foods.
Belker addresses friends and foes alike with insults such as "dog breath" or "hair bag", and will threaten them with violence (for example, to "rip out [their] kidneys" or "collapse a lung") as an assertion of strength (his sister Luana, who appears in one episode, speaks the same way).
In the early years especially, he is portrayed as meek (emphasized by his wearing of a bow tie and his reluctance to draw his gun) and liberal, placing him at odds with Howard Hunter and his distinctly right-wing view of the world.
Hunter is a very capable officer, skilled in unarmed combat (e.g., taekwondo) and an expert in weaponry; nevertheless, his handling of many an inanimate object (e.g., a paper towel dispenser) often results in comic situations.
His attempts to acquire sophisticated weaponry (such as the PANDA "urban tank") often fail spectacularly and only serve to hinder his career ambitions (one such incident directly resulted in him being placed dead last on the captaincy list).
He joined the police department directly following his service in Vietnam, wearing badge 1146 in the Midtown Precinct; while there, he was compelled to serve as a bagman for dishonest officers, and the later revelation in season 4 of that activity embarrassed Hunter to the point of attempting suicide (an act circumvented by J.D.
An effective officer, she occasionally encounters conflicts of conscience in her work (including one episode in season 2 where her compassion for a prostitute she was about to arrest caused her to turn her back while the girl shot up heroin and overdosed).
(Kiel Martin, 1981–87) A talented undercover officer whose great detective skills are constantly marred by his poor choices: heavy drinking, womanizing, and frequent get-rich-quick schemes (such as "Saloondromat" — a bar and laundry — and his promotion of narcoleptic comic Vic Hitler).
LaRue is an inveterate practical joker, sometimes targeting Hunter's paramilitary escapades, but in one episode (season 5, "Washington Deceased") when the tables are turned on him, he is shown to be a poor sport.
(He even feels compelled to remind LaRue on several occasions about the penalties for sex with minors, once when he facetiously said he had three words for his partner, "statue tory rape".)
When frustrated by LaRue, he usually turns his head and mutters "Ohh, maaaaann..." He develops a promising relationship with a young woman during the sixth season, only to be shot in the back by her pre-teen son during an argument (an attack that he survives).
(Rene Enriquez, 1981–86) Colombian-born but a naturalized American citizen and former Marine, Calletano serves as Furillo's "right-hand man" and he has responsibility for staff and day-to-day precinct administration.
He holds the unusual distinction of being killed twice during the course of the series; his first death was changed into a severe injury when the producers decided to make him Bates' regular partner.
In Season 6, Bernstein is part of Captain Furillo's commission on corruption, which secures indictments against more than three dozen officers and lays blame on Chief Daniels as well.
Originally introduced as the commander of the powerful Midtown Precinct, Cleveland was also the president of the Black Officers' Coalition, and he nominated Bobby Hill to the vice-presidency of the BOC.
The widow of Chief of Detectives Sam Gardner, Grace is hired to improve the appearance of the Hill Street stationhouse and immediately falls for Phil Esterhaus.
Serves time in jail after he uses a government grant to play the futures market, loses all the money, and tries to recoup his losses by stealing the police payroll.
Despite Martinez's long list of violent crimes, Furillo develops a thinly concealed respect for his big ideas and his clever readings of people.
Introduced as a sleazy and unscrupulous attorney who occasionally hangs around the Hill Street precinct, Wachtel attended law school with Joyce Davenport, where he was one of the best students in the class.
After a period of wearing dresses to "explore his gender identity", he eventually becomes a judge courtesy of political patronage and, after a rough start, quickly becomes more "by-the-book," but also more cynical.
Bobby Hill wants him to take a more active role in the Black Officers' Coalition, but Alf declines and politely lectures him on how long he has waited for advancement and how many movements dedicated to affirmative action he has seen come and go.
Sid wears loud clothing and is constantly broke and seeking any amount of money from Hill Street officers in exchange for information.
Despite his friendliness with Joyce, however, he publicly (and with vitriol) berated her from the bench in the third season premiere episode "Trial by Fury" for improper conduct, and threatened to have her jailed if it ever happened again.
Though he is mostly a comic character and is treated mercifully by the officers and by judges, he can also display a frightening side when he does not get his way; in one instance taking Fay Furillo hostage at a soup kitchen serving Thanksgiving dinner.
Though Nydorf is polite to visiting police officers and infuses gallows humor into his conversation, he can turn on a dime and become loud, impatient, and irascible.
Several storylines related to gang life, and the different approaches to negotiation, in particular by officers such as Furillo, Goldblume, Hunter, and to a lesser extent those of the uniform or plain clothes detective ranks.
Interactions included multiple gang meetings held at the precinct to negotiate "turf" boundaries and truces in exchange for facilitating a presidential visit that did not come to pass or the return of a governor's pet dog.
David Caruso had a recurring role (1981-1983) as Tommy Mann, the leader of Irish street gang Shamrocks, in the early years of the series.
[1] Danny Glover had an early career appearance in the first four episodes of season two as Jesse John Hudson, erstwhile leader of the Black Arrows, whose stated aim to "go straight" turned out to be hypocritical when he attempted to take back control of the gang with violence and murder.