William Rawls
| William A. Rawls | |
|---|---|
 |
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| First appearance | "The Target" (episode 1.01) |
| Last appearance | "–30–" (episode 5.10) |
| Created by | David Simon |
| Portrayed by | John Doman |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Baltimore Police Department Major (season 1) Baltimore Police Department Colonel (season 2) Baltimore Police Department Deputy Commissioner of Operations (seasons 3-5) Acting Commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department/MSP Superintendent (season 5) |
| Title | Acting Commissioner/MSP Superintendent |
William A. "Bill" Rawls is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor John Doman. Over the course of the series, Rawls ascends through the higher ranks of the Baltimore Police Department, eventually becoming Deputy Commissioner of Operations and, at the end of Season 5, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police. His career pre-occupation is often portrayed as detrimental to both effective law enforcement and those under his command; seen, for example, in his repeated attempts to renegotiate his responsibility for case-work.
When Rawls is promoted to Deputy Commissioner, he is put in charge of the weekly ComStat meetings. During these meetings, he often berates and chastises his Majors when they make mistakes or are unable to control crime rate in their respective jurisdictions. He proves to be a no-nonsense leader, although his tough demeanor is usually aided by his obstinance and crude wit, typically down-speaking and dismissing suggestions he finds unsuitable. Little is disclosed of Rawls' personal life aside from allusions to his closet homosexuality and his wife and children.
Rawls is a Major and commanding officer of the Homicide unit in Season 1. He is a careerist, concerned only with maintaining the case clearance record of his unit, and is extremely demanding of his detectives. He is upset when Jimmy McNulty bypasses him to Judge Phelan to encourage further investigation of the Barksdale organization. He confronts McNulty about his insubordination. At the request for manpower and instruction of Burrell, Rawls send McNulty and Michael Santangelo to the Barksdale detail as they are the two "humps" he no longer wants (Burrell does not want to see good police work in the case, so he's told the unit commanders to dump their squads of detectives that were either useless or unwanted). Santangelo is picked for failing to meet his clearance quotas and is then used as Rawls' inside man in Cedric Daniels' Barksdale detail. McNulty is a capable detective but was deemed insubordinate and disloyal due to the back-channeling. Rawls relies upon Sergeant Jay Landsman to handle much of his communication with the men under his command in homicide.
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