Ervin Burrell
| Ervin H. Burrell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First appearance | "The Target" (episode 1.01) |
| Last appearance | "Transitions" (episode 5.04) |
| Created by | David Simon |
| Portrayed by | Frankie Faison |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Mayoral crime committee advisor |
| Spouse(s) | Arlene |
Ervin H. Burrell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Frankie Faison. Burrell was an officer in the Baltimore Police Department who ascended from Deputy Commissioner of Operations to Commissioner over the course of the show. He was fired by Mayor Tommy Carcetti for falsifying crime statistics.
Burrell is a careerist who believes in the BPD's chain of command and stores knowledge of corrupt activities of officers below him to maintain his authority. Burrell is a statistical bureaucrat who cares more about reducing crime on paper than building strong cases. He is conscious of the media coverage of the BPD and is very sensitive to the newspaper headlines concerning its progress. Throughout the series, he struggles to direct the BPD to make an adequate impact on crime reduction and is constantly engaged in conflict with the city's politicians, some of whom blame him for the department's problems.
Burrell attended Dunbar High School and was a member of the school's glee club. He was a year ahead of "Proposition Joe" Stewart, who described Burrell in high school as "stone stupid."
An ambitious Deputy Commissioner at the start of season 1, Burrell plans to ascend to Commissioner, a post held by Warren Frazier throughout the second season. Burrell's primary responsibility is to ensure that Frazier's directives are obeyed throughout the department. He consistently shows more interest in making good headlines rather than good cases.
When D'Angelo Barksdale beats a murder charge by buying off a witness, Burrell faces criticism from the presiding judge, Daniel Phelan, over the BPD's failure to investigate D'Angelo's uncle Avon. Burrell hastily assembles a task force to placate Phelan, under the command of Lieutenant Cedric Daniels. From the beginning, Burrell is unsupportive of the unit, giving Daniels the worst officers available. He orders premature seizure raids that tip the Barksdale organization off to the detail's efforts and prompts them to change their operating structure, hindering further investigation.
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