Jay Landsman (The Wire)
| Jay Landsman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First appearance | "The Target" (episode 1.01) |
| Last appearance | "–30–" (episode 5.10) |
| Created by | David Simon |
| Portrayed by | Delaney Williams |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Jaybird |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Baltimore homicide Sergeant |
| Title | Sergeant |
Jay Landsman is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Delaney Williams.
Landsman's role in the police department is that of a supervisory detective sergeant who rarely participates in investigative work. Landsman generally acts in the best interests of his subordinates especially those who give him the necessary clearances (closed cases). As a supervisor, Landsman acts in accordance with the wishes of his superior officers even though in some cases, he does not necessarily agree with specific commands. Examples of this are when he is ordered to have Bunk Moreland find Kenneth Dozerman's missing firearm in Season 3 and when a dead state's witness becomes an electoral issue in Season 4. Throughout the series, he is shown as a commander attempting to strike a balance between loyalty to subordinates and superiors, most often favoring the latter. Landsman has only been called to solve a few murders on his own as a supervisor. Landsman is generally jovial and provides a degree of comic relief in the series. He also possesses a shrewd understanding of the subtle politics in the chain of command, almost always successfully acting in self-preservation and self-promotion without making many enemies. He states that clearly to McNulty, during the first episode of season 2, by saying its all about self-preservation and it is too bad that McNulty never learned that. Overall, under Landsman's supervision, the homicide unit ends up often clearing many of the more challenging "whodunit" homicides occurring in Baltimore city proving him to be an effective sergeant within the department. However, he can be mildly bullying and tends to derive his good humor from schadenfreude though he is not generally malicious.
He has the duty of ministering in the informal "detective wakes" held in honor of the deceased at Kavanaugh's, the bar frequented by many in the department. Wakes take place in Season 3 (for Ray Cole), Season 4 (for Raymond Foerster) and Season 5 (for the ostracized, but still-living Jimmy McNulty).
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