Cedric Daniels
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| Cedric Daniels | |
|---|---|
 |
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| First appearance | The Target (episode 1.01) |
| Statistics | |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 45 |
| Occupation | Colonel in Baltimore Police department and commander of Baltimore Criminal Investigations Unit |
| Title | Colonel |
| Spouse | Marla Daniels (Separated Wife), Rhonda Perlman(Girlfriend) |
| Portrayed by | Lance Reddick |
| Created by | David Simon |
Cedric Daniels is a fictional Police Major for the Baltimore Police Department played by Lance Reddick on the HBO drama The Wire.
Daniels has a law degree from the University of Baltimore and was considered by the department as a potential precinct commander (or major) depending upon his performance in investigations. He led the investigations on the Barksdale case in Seasons 1 and 3 and on the Sobotka case in Season 2. Although he is well regarded, he is not given a great supporting cast in Season 1 to help with the investigation as the Department is interested in seeing more of his individual performance than anything else. He tends to have disagreements with some of the higher ranking officers at times but for the most part pulls through completing the task at hand.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Season 1
Daniels was a narcotics lieutenant in season one and shift commander for Detectives Kima Greggs, Ellis Carver and Thomas "Herc" Hauk. Daniels' commanding officer was Major Raymond Foerster.
When Detective McNulty prompted Judge Phelan to start asking questions about the Barksdale drug dealing organization Major Foerster came to Daniels for more information. He wasn't able to offer much as the narcotics division were unaware of Barksdale. He had Kima write a report and soon after Daniels was given command of the Barksdale Detail. He nominated Kima as lead detective and described her as the best he had to Foerster. He met with Deputy Commissioner Burrell who told him the case should be made with buy busts in a fast, straightforward investigation.
Daniels discussed his new assignment with his ambitious wife, Marla. They worried that it might slow his progression and he promised that he would run the investigation that his superior wanted. Marla's own ambitions drove her to pursue a career in politics and Daniels attended political fundraisers with his wife. At one such function he found himself hiding with the politicians drivers in the kitchen. He met Senator Clay Davis' driver Day-Day who was obviously involved with Baltimore's criminal element.
Daniels has a difficult relationship with the insubordinate McNulty that began at their first meeting. Foerster warned Daniels that McNulty was responsible for Phelan's sudden interest. For his part McNulty was warned by his partner Bunk Moreland that Daniels was a career officer and next in line for his own division as soon as a position with a Major's rank opened up. McNulty's FBI contact also alerted him that Daniels had several hundred thousand dollars of questionable liquid assets; it is later implied that these were picked up during Daniels' tenure in the poorly-supervised Eastern district. Daniels initially tried to follow Burrell's advice that the operation should be fast and simple. He shot down McNulty's suggestions of a surveillance operation at their first meeting.
Daniels also had difficulties with several other detectives on the detail. He was initially assigned detectives that other districts wanted to get rid of. Augustus Polk, Patrick Mahone and Lester Freamon appeared to be ageing detectives happy to see out their careers. Mahone was injured in a raid and took early retirement; following this his partner Polk took to drinking more heavily and missed several days work. Daniels insisted that Polk either clean himself up or sign off sick, Polk opted for the latter. Freamon was a different story and proved to be quietly capable and a huge asset to Daniels detail.
Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski was a trigger happy detective who had once shot up his own patrol car when he joined Daniels' detail. Daniels was able to convince Prez's commanding officer, Lieutenant Cantrell, to balance taking the difficult officer out of his hands by assigning him Leander Sydnor, a promising young detective. Prez continued his self destructive behaviour conducting an unsanctioned, drunken late night raid on the Barksdale tower operations with Daniels' long standing men Herc and Carver. Prez injured a young boy and Daniels was left to deal with the consequences. He stood by Prez despite his history of problems and defended him to his superiors. In the process he gained the respect of Prez's father-in-law, Major Valchek. Under Daniels supervision and Freamon's tutelage Prez developed into an effective investigator. Sydnor was also a valuable asset to the Daniels' detail performing undercover work and gelling well with the dependable Freamon.
Herc and Carver continued to be problematic for Daniels. He suspected them of stealing seized money when the cash they turned into evidence did not match a reported amount. He remained loyal to his men, leniently giving them one day to return it rather than turning them in immediately.
As the investigation progressed Daniels' attitude towards the case changed. He risked his career several times in order to protect the case. When Major Rawls wanted to issue a murder warrant for D'Angelo Barksdale based on flimsy evidence, the Barksdale detail was dismayed, since arresting D'Angelo would tip off Avon to the investigation. McNulty and Greggs pleaded with Daniels to fight for their case. Daniels appealed to Rawls and then to Foerster to hold off on arresting D'Angelo, without success. Finally he bypassed the chain of command and met directly with Burrell and an angry Rawls. After a heated argument, Daniels managed to persuade the deputy commissioner to delay the warrants.
Later Freamon began to investigate the Barksdale's money trail and found campaign contributions to Baltimore political figures. Daniels team arrested his acquaintance, Day-Day the senator's driver, collecting cash from the Barksdale crew. Rather than seizing the money Daniels' superiors forced him to return the money with no further investigation to avoid the senator's ire. When Burrell, in order to shut the case down, threatened to reveal the source of Daniels' liquid assets Daniels responded by threatening to reveal unspecified dirty information about Burrell. Burrell used Detective Carver to provide him with inside information. Daniels recognised Carver's betrayal.
Over the course of the investigation Daniels worked closely with Assistant State's Attorney Rhonda Pearlman. She was instrumental in using her judicial connections to provide Daniels with the warrants and affiodavits needed for his teams surveillance efforts.
The Barksdale investigation ended with the arrest of leader Avon Barksdale and his nephew D'Angelo along with soldier Wee-Bey Brice and several other members of the organization. Convictions were secured against all three and Wee-Bey confessed to several unsolved homicides to prevent fallout reaching other members of the organization. The result was unsatisfying for Daniels because Avon Barksdale's conviction was for minor offences and second-in-command Stringer Bell escaped uncharged to continue the organization's drug trade. Much better results were within Daniels' grasp when his team convinced D'Angelo to testify against the Barksdale organization, however, D'Angelo's mother Brianna talked him out of this course and he ended up taking a twenty year sentence for his family.
Daniels' work on the Barksdale case certainly hurt his career; at the end of the first season, he is seen exchanging pleasantries with a newly-minted major, a position that he had been on the fast track for. However, he has won the respect of his unit for a dedication to their cases which surpasses that of their other commanding officers.
[edit] Season 2
Daniels was reassigned to the evidence division following the dissolution of the Barksdale detail. He was given the post as punishment for defying Burrell, despite the investigation producing several arrests. Trapped in what seemed to be a dead-end job, Daniels planned to leave the department and become a lawyer.
He was given a second chance when Major Valchek insisted (on Prez's recommendation) that Daniels be given command of a special detail he had requested to investigate union leader Frank Sobotka. Daniels realised Valchek had asked for him personally in exchange for offering Burrell political support and used this fact to leverage several promises from Burrell. Daniels stood his ground even though Burrell had the DEA file on Daniels unexplained income. Daniels later confided to his wife that Burrell "knew" confirming that the allegations against Daniels were correct. Daniels insisted on picking his own detectives this time and forced Burrell to agree that if the investigation was successful then Daniels would become commander of a permanent unit.
Daniels detail initially consisted of Prez, Greggs and Herc. Rhonda Pearlman again acted as Daniels' courthouse liaison. Daniels allowed Carver the chance to rejoin the team despite his previous treachery. Daniels told Carver he believed that after his previous actions Carver would be the last to betray him again, but insisted that Carver's promotion to sergeant would be in name only as he felt he had not earned his stripes. Daniels campaigned for McNulty to rejoin the team but was denied by a vengeful Colonel Rawls, McNulty's old commander. Daniels did convince Rawls to let him have Freamon, who had been assigned to homicide after the Barksdale detail. Sydnor had returned to his district and could not be detailed. Daniels' detail worked closely with Bunk Moreland who was investigating multiple homicides at the docks and Officer Beatrice Russell who was detailed to Bunk's investigation from the Port authority. Russell blossomed into a capable investigator with Daniels team and was instrumental in coming up with the idea of cloning the ports computers to monitor smuggling. Daniels finally persuaded Rawls to let McNulty return by agreeing to take on Rawls' murders from the docks.
The investigation progressed and the detail linked Sobotka's union to a smuggling operation run by a mysterious figure called "The Greek", Sobotka's nephew Nick was proven to be involved in drug dealing and Sobtoka's son Ziggy was arrested for a homicide during the investigation. Ziggy killed George "Double G" Glekas in a warehouse involved in the Greek's smuggling. Daniels detail was not informed of Ziggy's arrest and this gave The Greeks time to clear out the warehouse. Valchek became disillusioned with Daniels when he learned that the focus was shifting away from Sobotka onto "The Greek" and he involved the FBI. Valchek insulted the detail and Prez in a heated meeting and Daniels was forced to once again defend Prez after he punched Valchek. Daniels quickly collected statements from all the officers and agents present and successfully convinced Valchek it would be best to accept an apology from Prez.
With the wealth of evidence collected against Sobotka he was arrested along with several other people identified by the team. The warrant for Double G revealed his empty shop and warehouse with all evidence disposed of. Daniels people noticed the bloodstain from the shooting and he went to violent crimes to find out what had happened. Daniels was enraged that Sergeant Landsman had not realized the significance of the murder and told him of Ziggy's arrest. With several of Sobotka's family in jeopardy Daniels' team convinced him to act as an informant on "The Greek" and arranged for him to return with a lawyer the next day. Sobotka was murdered before the detail could take his testimony. "The Greek" himself escaped before the detail could locate him. The investigation was disappointing for the detail but seemed a tremendous success for the department. Bunk and Freamon secured evidence that solved the homicides, but the suspect was already dead, so no conviction was made. Several prominent East side drug figures were arrested, including "White" Mike McArdle, along with some of The Greek's men including Sergei "Serge" Malatov and Eton Ben-Eleazer. Daniels was seen to have delivered on his promises and was once more in the department's good books.[1]
[edit] Season 3
Daniels success in the Sobotka investigation meant that Burrell had to honour his promise to let Daniels form a permanent Major Case Unit. His Unit initially consisted of Detectives McNulty, Greggs, Freamon, Sydnor and a new officer named Caroline Massey. The detail returned to investigating the Barksdale organization and their association with Proposition Joe, an East side drug kingpin with links to "The Greek" from the Sobotka investigation.
Daniels separated from his wife, Marla, partly because of her dissatisfaction at his failure to progress in the Police Department. He found that her attempt to enter politics after their separation further hindered his climb through the ranks, as she was running in opposition to a close ally of the mayor's. Nonetheless he continued to support her through her political career, attending functions in uniform and acting the part of a devoted husband. After his separation from his wife, Daniels started a relationship with Rhonda Pearlman. At the end of season three, he was finally promoted to major when the fallout over Major Colvin's "Hamsterdam" zone caused the Mayor to throw his support behind Marla.[2][3]
[edit] Season 4
In an interview, Lance Reddick described the direction his character would take in the fourth season. He stated that his promotion would give him the added responsibility of a district to command, less dealings with the day to day running of the Major Case Unit, friction with the unit's replacement lieutenant, and the difficulties of being more open about his relationship with Rhonda Pearlman.[4]
Daniels was given the post of Western district commander with Dennis Mello acting as his administrative lieutenant. Lieutenant Asher replaced him as commander of the major case unit. Daniels hoped to convince McNulty into returning to detective work but had little success, he realised that on a personal level McNulty was better off in patrol.
Kima Griggs meets with Daniels to discuss a transfer after Lieutenant Charlie Marimow takes over major crimes. Daniels suggest a move to homicide, and successfully meets with Deputy Commissioner William Rawls to facilitate the transfer.
After finding out that Randy knows information about Curtis “Lex” Anderson's murder, Prez meets with Major Daniels. Daniels suggests Ellis Carver as the person Prez should consult about the matter. Daniels questions Prez’s interest and Prez tells him he cares about Randy because he is one of his students.
Following the mayoral election, Major Cedric Daniels attends a COMSTAT meeting chaired by commissioner Ervin Burrell and his deputy William Rawls. He tells his commanders that the homicide rate has dropped while other felony rates have risen. Primary victor Carcetti arrives to observe the meeting, later discussing the possibility of removing Burrell from commissioner, and possibly replacing him, however he is warned that he would not be able to due to racial issues. Carcetti next encounts Daniels while riding along with Baltimore police officers, who are called to a shooting. Daniels is the duty officer and is proficient in controlling the crime scene. Carcetti is impressed and learns from his accompanying officers that Daniels is not as bad as some officers. Carcetti decides to have lunch with Daniels at the meeting Daniels is offered the title Colonal of criminal investigations division under Rawls and decides to accept only if Carcetti keeps his word about reformation of the City and Department. Daniels was officially promoted at the same ceremony and Major Valcheck with Commissioner Burrell becoming suspicious of the recent change of rank in the department and starts wondering about his future.
As C.I.D. colonel, Daniels clears Detective Hauk of a racial profiling incident and then assists Lester Freamon in helping him take down Marlo Stanfield's crew. Freamon then discovers evidence of dead bodies in abandoned row houses where he then asks Daniels for more manpower in finding other dead bodies. As Daniels gives Freamon more patrolmen, the city's homicide rate increases dramatically with the discovery of many more people killed by Stanfield's crew. Daniels is then finally seen letting Jimmy McNulty back into a C.I.D. detail from a Western patrolman position targeting Marlo Stanfield.
[edit] Casting
Lance Reddick was cast in the role after auditioning for the parts of Bunk Moreland and Bubbles. He was told that they were looking for "a name" to fill the Daniels role. Reddick has described the character as serious, intense and committed. [4]
[edit] References
- ^ Dan Kois (2004). Everything you were afraid to ask about "The Wire". Salon.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-12.
- ^ Org Chart - The Law. HBO (2004). Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
- ^ Character profile - Lieutenant Cedric Daniels. HBO (2004). Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
- ^ a b Joel Murphy (2005). One on one with... Lance Reddick. Hobo Trashcan. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.
