Lester Freamon

Lester Freamon
First appearance	"The Detail" (episode 1.02)
Last appearance	"–30–" (episode 5.10)
Created by	David Simon
Portrayed by	Clarke Peters
Information
Occupation	Baltimore Police Detective
Title	Detective
Spouse(s)	Shardene

Lester Freamon is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Clarke Peters. Freamon is a detective in the Baltimore Police Department's Major Crimes Unit. He is a wise, methodical detective, whose intelligence and experience are often central to investigations throughout the series, particularly with respect to uncovering networks of money laundering and corruption.

Freamon is a veteran of the force who establishes reputation as what Bunk Moreland calls "natural police" for his instincts, tenacity and intelligence. Before joining the force he served in the military. It is revealed in season 2 that he had fought in the Vietnam War. His first major unit was Homicide, but in 1989, acting against the orders of the Deputy Commissioner, he charged a politically connected fence to coerce his testimony in a homicide case. Though the case was successfully closed, the Deputy still had Freamon transferred to the Pawnshop unit as a punishment – after being told by Freamon that the Pawnshop unit was the one place he did not want to go. Freamon eventually spent thirteen years ("and four months") in the assignment, until he had been completely forgotten by management. Deskbound for more than a decade, Freamon began making dollhouse furniture, a hobby which provides him with a substantial supplemental income, but also contributes to his eccentric reputation among fellow police. At the end of the series it was revealed that Freamon had joined the department in 1974 or 1975, having worked 32½ years at his retirement. Coincidentally, Freamon had joined the department around the same time as Bill Rawls, Ervin Burrell and Howard "Bunny" Colvin (both of whom joined in 1973) yet had never obtained rank, focusing solely on police work.

When the initial Barksdale detail is formed, Freamon is one of those transferred in because he was viewed as a useless "hump", and the senior management have no intention of providing good detectives who would make a substantial case. When Polk and Mahon fail to find a good photo of Avon Barksdale, Freamon takes a cue from an offhand comment from Kima Greggs and tracks down a photo of Avon at a boxing gym, finally giving the unit a face to put to the name. He further impresses his colleagues when he locates D'Angelo Barksdale's pager number at an abandoned stash house. Impressed by Freamon's capabilities, Jimmy McNulty inquires about him in a conversation with Bunk who tells him Freamon is an ex-homicide detective. Later, while at the bar with Freamon, McNulty finds out that he was sent to the Pawn Shop unit for thirteen years (and four months) because he angered the then-Deputy Ops. Freamon then warns McNulty that he will probably suffer a similar fate at the conclusion of the case.

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