Carlton Lassiter

Carlton Lassiter
First appearance	Pilot
Created by	Steve Franks & Andy Berman
Portrayed by	Timothy Omundson
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Santa Barbara Police Head Detective
Family	an ex-wife

Detective Carlton Lassiter is a character in the American dramedy Psych played by Timothy Omundson. Lassiter is a 10-year veteran of the Santa Barbara Police Department. He generally distrusts Shawn Spencer, but has come to have a grudging respect for his investigational skill. He does not believe that Shawn is a psychic, but is unable to otherwise explain his results.

In 2002, Lassiter was involved with the operation that captured two of the three men responsible for the Holby Bank robbery. The third man, David Wilcroft, presumably died in a car-crash before he could be apprehended, and the $3.6-million that had been stolen was not recovered. Lassiter considers these loose ends to be an indication of failure, because he feels that wrapping them up would "make [his] career."

At the opening of the series, Lassiter is five months out of a marriage and engaged in a relationship with his partner, a junior detective named Lucinda. This relationship was evidentally meant to be kept quiet, as Lucinda didn't want anyone to think that she was "climbing the ladder the hard way," but Shawn was able to determine the nature of the detectives' personal dynamic within minutes of meeting them for the first time. Soon after, however, Lucinda apparently got transferred; whether this was a result of their relationship becoming public, however, is still unknown. Lassiter's replacement partner is rookie Junior Detective Juliet O'Hara.

Lassiter appears to consider himself above the usual channels of authority and chain of command that restrict officers with less experience. He self-authorized several stake-outs in pursuit of David Wilcroft's former bank-robbery partners after they were parolled in 2006, and argued police-code minutia with O'Hara when she called him on it. Strangely, he also refuses to take credit for work he didn't do, even when that credit is offered to him and would benefit him.

Lassiter's relationship with Interim Police Chief Karen Vick seems to betray some kind of history between the two, either person or professional. Lassiter has no qualms with raising his voice to his boss, giving her direct orders, or addressing her by her first name. It seems possible that the two had a romantic relationship of their own at some point, likely when they would have been peers as detectives or officers, which ended badly. It is equally plausible that Lassiter may have been passed over for consideration when the Chief's position became available, with the less-experienced Vick getting the job instead. For that reason, he, as a 10-year vet, may consider his experience superior to Vick's, and therefore view her as a subordinate despite their job titles. Ultimately, both scenarios may be true.