The
American television
Television is one of the Mass media in the United States, major mass media outlets in the United States. In 2011, 96.7% of households owned television sets; about 114,200,000 American households owned at least one television set each in August ...
police procedural
The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...
and
legal drama
Legal drama, also called courtroom drama, is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in wh ...
''
Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...
'' (1990–2010 & 2022–present) follows the fictional cases of a group of police detectives and prosecutors who represent the public in the criminal justice system. ''Law & Order'' is known for its revolving cast, as most of its original stars had left the show within the first five seasons.
The progression of the record for longest serving main cast members of the series is: Jerry Orbach as Det. Lennie Briscoe (1992–2004, 12 seasons), S. Epatha Merkerson as Lt. Anita Van Buren (1993–2010, 17 seasons) and Sam Waterston as EADA/DA Jack McCoy (1994–2010 & 2022–2024, 19 seasons).
Characters
Main characters
Police officers
Sergeants
Senior detectives
Junior detectives
Supervising officers
Prosecutors
Executive Assistant District Attorneys
Assistant District Attorneys
*In the 1997
season 7 episode "We Like Mike", Caleb Duff is listed as Assistant District Attorney beneath Adam Schiff as District Attorney and John J. McCoy as Executive Assistant District Attorney at the New York County District Attorney's Office, though he never appears on screen.
Manhattan District Attorneys
Other main characters
Recurring characters
NYPD personnel
NYPD officials
27th Precinct support detectives
Crime Scene Unit investigators / crime lab technicians
Assistant Medical Examiners
Defense attorneys
Judges
Arraignment judges
Trial judges
Appellate judges
Guest characters
Defense attorneys
See also
*
''Law & Order'' (franchise)
*
List of ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' characters
*
List of ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' characters
*
List of ''Law & Order: LA'' characters
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Law and Order characters
Law & Order (franchise)
Lists of American crime television series characters
Lists of American drama television series characters