He receives support from his former partner Detective Randall Patterson (Gary Dourdan) and his father Al Swift (Len Cariou).

Critics noted Swift Justice's emphasis on violence, specifically in the pilot episode's opening sequence, comparing it to the crime drama The Equalizer (1985–1989) and the 1988 film Die Hard.

[1][2] He is aided by his best friend and partner, Detective Randall Patterson (Gary Dourdan),[1][3] but is frequently reprimanded by his police sergeant father Al Swift (Len Cariou) and other superiors, including Andrew Coffin (Giancarlo Esposito).

[1][2][3] The pilot episode focuses on Mac's attempts to arrest a man (Skipp Sudduth) who runs a prostitution ring as part of a honey trap involving extortion, drugs, and credit card information.

[2] According to a publicity note from United Paramount Network (UPN), Mac relies on "technology, intellect, charisma[,] and muscle" to solve cases.

[2] Storylines include a rock singer who is denied a divorce from her abusive husband, a woman whose son is kidnapped by her ex-husband, and a man who ties up and tortures his victims by driving them with golf balls.

[2][5] Guest appearances include Jennifer Garner,[6] Drea de Matteo,[7] and Ice-T.[8] Many commentators noted the show's use of violence,[3][9][10] particularly that the pilot's opening sequence involves nine deaths.

[11] Critics compared the violence in Swift Justice to the crime drama The Equalizer and the 1988 action movie Die Hard,[1][3][4] and the Orlando Sentinel's Hal Boedeker identified it as an "urban western".

[12] He based Mac on the gunfighter Paladin from Have Gun – Will Travel[13] and compared his friendship with Randall to Martin Riggs' partnership with Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon films.

[21] Mediaweek's Scotty Dupree wrote that Swift Justice and The Sentinel were meant to attract a male audience, saying they were the only shows, aside from JAG, marketed to men on Wednesday nights.

[26][27] During a 2013 interview with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Wolf referred to the decision to end Swift Justice as a "cancellation error", particularly since UPN did not have a drama with comparable ratings at the time.

[9] The San Francisco Chronicle's John Carman described Swift Justice as a "competent action show", but felt that "it isn't good enough to compensate for its excesses".

[1][4][44] In their 2007 book Season Finale: The Unexpected Rise and Fall of The WB and UPN, Susanne Daniels and Cynthia Littleton dismissed Swift Justice as a "run-of-the-mill gumshoe drama".