List of fictional police detectives

Below is an alphabetical list of fictional police detectives and their creators (with, in many cases, the actor/actress most known for playing the character in a dramatisation).

A

• Detective Butch Ada — Saving Grace (played by Bailey Chase)
• Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg — Fred Vargas
• DCI Roderick Alleyn (later DCS) — Ngaio Marsh (played by Simon Williams and Patrick Malahide in The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries)

B

• DS John Bacchus — Inspector George Gently
• Kriminalhauptkommissar Balko — Balko (German, played by Jochen Horst and Bruno Eyron)
• Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks — Peter Robinson (played by Stephen Tompkinson in DCI Banks)
• Detective Carolyn Barek — Law & Order: Criminal Intent (played by Annabella Sciorra)
• Detective Inspector Charlie Barlow — Troy Kennedy Martin and Allan Prior (played by Stratford Johns in Z-Cars and Softly, Softly)
• DCI John Barnaby — Midsomer Murders
• DCI Thomas "Tom" Barnaby — Caroline Graham (played by John Nettles in Midsomer Murders)
• Detective Martin Beck — Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo
• Detective Kate Beckett — Castle, Andrew W. Marlowe (played by Stana Katic)
• Detective Cal Beecher — Person of Interest (played by Sterling K. Brown)
• Detective Mick Belker — Hill Street Blues (played by Bruce Weitz)
• Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac — Robert Banks Stewart (played by John Nettles in Bergerac)
• Detective G. Lynn Bishop — Law & Order: Criminal Intent (played by Samantha Buck)
• Blacksad from the comics series Blacksad.
• Detective Sexton Blake
• Detective Inspector Mike Bolt — Simon Kernick
• Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte — Arthur Upfield (played by James Laurenson in Boney)
• Detective Stella Bonasera — CSI: NY (played by Melina Kanakaredes)
• DS Camille Bordey — Death in Paradise
• Detective Harry Bosch — Michael Connelly
• Detective Lennie Briscoe— Law & Order (played by Jerry Orbach)
• Detective Commissario Guido Brunetti — Donna Leon
• Inspector Bucket — Charles Dickens (played by Stephen Rea in Dickensian) (played by Alun Armstrong in Bleak House)
• Detective Aiden Burn — CSI: NY (played by Vanessa Ferlito)
• Detective Lieutenant Peter Byrnes — Ed McBain

C

• Detective Jackie Curatola — Blue Bloods played by Jennifer Esposito
• Detective Inspector Jack Caffery — Mo Hayder
• Detective Christine Cagney — Cagney and Lacey (played by Sharon Gless)
• Inspector Harry Callahan — Harry Julian Fink and Rita M. Fink (played by Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry film series)
• Chen Cao — Qiu Xiaolong
• Detective 2nd Grade Stephen Louis ("Steve") Carella — Ed McBain
• Detective Sergeant Ray Carling — Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes (played by Dean Andrews)
• Detective Sergeant George Carter — Ian Kennedy Martin (played by Dennis Waterman in The Sweeney)
• Detective Jocelyn "Joss" Carter — Person of Interest (played by Taraji P. Henson)
• Agent Margaret "Peggy" Carter — Agent Carter (played by Hayley Atwell)
• Commissaire Henri Castang — Nicholas Freeling
• Detective Phil Cerreta — Law & Order (played by Paul Sorvino)
• Detective Inspector Hal Challis — Garry Disher
• Detective Elizabeth Childs — Orphan Black (played by Tatiana Maslany)
• Detective John Clark, Jr. — NYPD Blue (played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar)
• Inspector Clouseau — Blake Edwards' The Pink Panther (played by Peter Sellers)
• Detective Rustin Cohle — True Detective (played by Matthew McConaughey)
• Lieutenant Columbo — William Link (played by Peter Falk in Columbo)
• Sergeant Cork (played by John Barrie)
• Detective Inspector Henry Crabbe — Pie in the Sky (played by Richard Griffiths)
• DI Vincent Crane — Shaun Hutson
• DI Crawford in Dixon — Dock Green
• Sergeant Cribb — Peter Lovesey
• Detective James "Sonny" Crockett — Anthony Yerkovich (played by Don Johnson and Colin Farrell in Miami Vice)
• Sergeant Cuff — Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone
• Detective Rey Curtis — Law & Order (played by Benjamin Bratt)

D

• Commander Adam Dalgliesh — P. D. James (played by Roy Marsden)
• Lieutenant Eve Dallas — J. D. Robb
• Detective Chief Superintendent Andrew Dalziel — Reginald Hill (played by Warren Clarke in Dalziel and Pascoe)
• Detective Jo Danville — CSI: NY (played by Sela Ward)
• DI De Cock — A. C. Baantjer
• Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond — Peter Lovesey
• Detective Inspector Alex Drake — Ashes to Ashes (played by Keeley Hawes)
• Lt. Frank Drebin — Police Squad! (played by Leslie Nielsen)

E

• Detective Alexandra Eames (later Lieutenant) — Law & Order: Criminal Intent (played by Kathryn Erbe)
• Detective Javier Esposito — Andrew W. Marlowe (played by Jon Huertas in Castle)

F

• Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón — Robert Wilson
• Detective Nola Falacci — Law & Order: Criminal Intent (played by Alicia Witt)
• Detective Don Flack — CSI: NY (played by Eddie Cahill)
• Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes — Terence Feely (played by Jill Gascoine in The Gentle Touch)
• DCS Christopher Foyle — Anthony Horowitz (played by Michael Kitchen in Foyle's War)
• DI Stuart Fraser — Taggart
• Inspector Joseph French — Freeman Wills Crofts
• Detective Sergeant Joe Friday — Jack Webb (played by Jack Webb in Dragnet)
• Detective Inspector Jack Frost — R. D. Wingfield (played by David Jason in A Touch of Frost)
• Detective Bobby Fulbright — Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
• Detective Lionel Fusco — Person of Interest (played by Kevin Chapman)

G

• Detective Harry Garibaldi — Hill Street Blues (played by Ken Olin)
• Dirk Gently — Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
• Inspector George Gently — Inspector George Gently
• Inspector Ganesh V. Ghote — H. R. F. Keating (played by Naseeruddin Shah in The Perfect Murder)
• DSI Stella Gibson — The Fall (played by Gillian Anderson)
• Commander George Gideon — John Creasey (played by John Gregson in Gideon's Way)
• Detective James Gordon — Gotham (played by Benjamin McKenzie)
• Detective Sergeant Rinus de Gier — Janwillem van de Wetering
• DI Humphrey Goodman — Death in Paradise
• Inspector Goole — J. B. Priestley (An Inspector Calls; first played onstage by Ralph Richardson)
• Detective Robert Goren — Law & Order: Criminal Intent (played by Vincent D'Onofrio)
• Detective Superintendent Roy Grace — Peter James
• Inspector Alan Grant — Josephine Tey
• Detective Kima Greggs — The Wire (played by Sonja Sohn)
• Detective Ed Green — Law & Order (played by Jesse L. Martin)
• Adjutant Henk Grijpstra — Janwillem van de Wetering
• Inspector Grim — The Thin Blue Line
• Marshal Guarnaccia — Magdalen Nabb
• Detective Dick Gumshoe — Ace Attorney
• DI Gunnarstranda — Kjell Ola Dahl

H

• Detective Grace Hanadarko — Saving Grace (played by Holly Hunter)
• Inspector Hanaud — A. E. W. Mason
• DI John Handford — Lesley Horton
• DI Alec Hardy - Broadchurch (played by David Tennant)
• Detective Martin Hart — True Detective (played by Woody Harrelson)
• Detective Sergeant James Hathaway — (played by Laurence Fox in Lewis)
• DS Barbara Havers — Elizabeth George (played by Sharon Small in The Inspector Lynley Mysteries)
• Detective Cotton Hawes — Ed McBain
• Harry Hole – Jo Nesbø
• Detective Chief Inspector Gene Hunt — Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes (played by Philip Glenister)
• Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson — William Blinn and Ryan Blinn (played by David Soul in Starsky and Hutch)

I

• CBI Officer Sethurama Iyer — (played by Mammooty in the Indian CBI film series)

J

• Inspector Jacobson — Iain McDowall
• DCI James Japp (later Assistant Commissioner) — Agatha Christie (played by Philip Jackson in the British TV series Agatha Christie's Poirot)
• Inspector Javert — Les Miserables
• Detective Baldwin Jones — NYPD Blue (played by Henry Simmons)
• Detective Chief Inspector Richard Jury (later Superintendent) — Martha Grimes

K

• Detective Kane — Person of Interest (played by Anthony Mangano)
• Detective John Kelly — NYPD Blue (played by David Caruso)
• Detective Jill Kirkendall — NYPD Blue (played by Andrea Thompson)
• Detective Bert Kling — Ed McBain
• Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak — Abby Mann (played by Telly Savalas in Kojak)

L

• Detective Mary Beth Lacey — Cagney and Lacey (played by Tyne Daly)
• Detective Meyer Landsman — Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policeman's Union
• Detective Chief Inspector James Langton — Lynda La Plante (played by Ciarán Hinds in Above Suspicion)
• Detective J.D. LaRue — Hill Street Blues (played by Kiel Martin)
• Detective Carlton Lassiter — Psych (played by Timothy Omundson)
• Commissaire Claude Lebel — Frederick Forsyth (played by Michael Lonsdale in The Day of the Jackal)
• Inspector Lestrade — Arthur Conan Doyle (played by Dennis Hoey and Colin Jeavons in adaptations of Sherlock Holmes stories)
• Detective Inspector Mike Lewis — Lynda La Plante (played by Shaun Dingwall in Above Suspicion)
• Detective Sergeant Lewis (later Inspector) — Colin Dexter (played by Kevin Whately in Inspector Morse and Lewis)
• Detective Superintendent Tom Lockhart (later Detective Chief Superintendent) — (played by Raymond Francis in No Hiding Place)
• Detective Mike Logan — Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (played by Chris Noth)
• Detective Inspector Sarah Lund — Søren Sveistrup (played by Sofie Gråbøl in The Killing)
• DI Thomas Lynley — Elizabeth George (played by Nathaniel Parker in The Inspector Lynley Mysteries)

M

• Detective Vic Mackey — Shawn Ryan (played by Michael Chiklis in The Shield)
• Sergeant Ivor Maddox — Elizabeth Linington
• Commissaire Jules Maigret — Georges Simenon (played by Jean Gabin, Gino Cervi and Rupert Davies)
• Detective Patsy Mayo — Hill Street Blues (played by Mimi Kuzyk)
• Detective Lieutenant John McClane — (played by Bruce Willis in the Die Hard film series)
• Detective Connie McDowell — NYPD Blue (played by Charlotte Ross)
• Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett — Leonard Freeman (played by Jack Lord in Hawaii Five-O)
• Detective James "Jimmy" McNulty — The Wire (played by Dominic West)
• Lieutenant Luis Mendoza — Elizabeth Linington writing as Dell Shannon
• Detective Danny Messer — CSI: NY (played by Carmine Giovinazzo)
• Detective Meyer Meyer — Ed McBain
• Ellie Miller — Broadchurch
• Detective Robert Monday — Premium Rush
• Detective Lindsay Monroe — CSI: NY (played by Anna Belknap)
• Comisario Salvo Montalbano — Andrea Camilleri (played by Luca Zingaretti in Inspector Montalbano)
• Detective William "Bunk" Moreland — The Wire (played by Wendell Pierce)
• Detective Inspector Morse — Colin Dexter (played by John Thaw in Inspector Morse)
• Detective William Murdoch — Murdoch Mysteries (played by Yannick Bisson)

N

• Detective Zack Nichols — Law & Order: Criminal Intent (played by Jeff Goldblum)
• Detective Inspector Saga Norén — Hans Rosenfeldt (played by Sofia Helin in The Bridge)

O

• Detective Juliet O'Hara — Psych (played by Maggie Lawson)
• Inspector Michael Ohayon — Batya Gur
• Detective Rita Ortiz — NYPD Blue (played by Jacqueline Obradors)
• Superintendent Otani — James Melville (pseudonym of Roy Peter Martin)

P

• Detective Inspector Charles Parker — Dorothy L. Sayers
• Detective Inspector Peter Pascoe — Reginald Hill (played by Colin Buchanan in Dalziel and Pascoe)
• Detective Inspector Charlie Peace — Robert Barnard
• Comisario Achille Peroni — Timothy Holme
• Detective Lucky Piquel — Disney Television Animation production Bonkers
• DI Richard Poole — Death in Paradise
• Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman — Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell (played by Amanda Redman in New Tricks)
• Detective Inspector Walter Purbright — Colin Watson
• Assistant Commissioner of Police Pradyuman; Shivaji Satam

R

• Detective Inspector John Rebus — Ian Rankin (played by John Hannah and Ken Stott in Rebus)
• Detective Danny Reagan — Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green (played by Donnie Wahlberg in Blue Bloods)
• Detective Inspector Jack Regan — Ian Kennedy Martin (played by John Thaw in The Sweeney)
• Detective Jane Rizzoli — Tess Gerritsen (played by Angie Harmon in Rizzoli & Isles)
• Commissioner Mihai Roman (played by Ilarion Ciobanu in five Romanian films)
• Sub-inspector Max Romero — P.J. Brooke
• Detective Lilly Rush — Meredith Stiehm (played by Kathryn Morris in Cold Case)
• Detective Diane Russell – NYPD Blue (played by Kim Delaney)
• Detective Kevin Ryan — Andrew W. Marlowe (played by Seamus Dever in Castle)

S

• Detective Gloria Shepherd — The Protector (played by Ally Walker)
• Private Detective Eddie Shoestring in Shoestring ; BBC One TV series; played by Trevor Eve
• Detective Bobby Simone — NYPD Blue (played by Jimmy Smits)
• Detective Andy Sipowicz (later Detective Sergeant) — NYPD Blue (played by Dennis Franz)
• Detective Constable Chris Skelton — Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes (played by Marshall Lancaster)
• Inspector Slack — Agatha Christie
• Detective Danny Sorenson — NYPD Blue (played by Rick Schroder)
• Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope — Ann Cleeves (played by Brenda Blethyn in Vera)
• Detective David Starsky — William Blinn and Ryan Blinn (played by Paul Michael Glaser in Starsky and Hutch)
• Detective Serena Stevens — Law & Order: Criminal Intent (played by Saffron Burrows)
• Police Chief Jesse Stone — Robert B. Parker (played by Tom Selleck)
• Detective Milo Sturgis (later Lieutenant) — Jonathan Kellerman
• Chief Inspector Ukyō Sugishita — Aibō (played by Yutaka Mizutani)
• Detective Sunday — American Gigolo
• Detective Bill Szymanski — Person of Interest (played by Mike McGlone)

T

• Detective Chief Inspector Jim Taggart - Taggart
• Detective Mac Taylor — CSI: NY (played by Gary Sinise)
• DCI Jane Tennison — Lynda La Plante (played by Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect)
• Detective Raymond Terney — Person of Interest (played by Al Sapienza)
• Detective Inspectors Thomson and Thompson (original French: Dupont et Dupond) — Hergé (played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn)
• Detective Inspector Tom Thorne — Mark Billingham (played by David Morrissey in the Sky One series Thorne)
• DI Fred Thursday — Endeavour
• Detective Inspector Anna Travis — Lynda La Plante (played by Kelly Reilly in Above Suspicion)
• Inspector Frederick Troy — John Lawton
• Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs — Anthony Yerkovich (played by Philip Michael Thomas and Jamie Foxx in Miami Vice)
• Detective Inspector Sam Tyler — Life on Mars (played by John Simm)

V

• Commissaris Piet van der Valk — Nicolas Freeling (played by Barry Foster in Van der Valk)
• DCI Van Veeteren — Håkan Nesser
• Detective Van Zwam from the comics series The Adventures of Nero.
• Detective Vic Varallo — Elizabeth Linington writing as Leslie Egan

W

• Kriminalkommissarie Kurt Wallander — Henning Mankell (played by Krister Henriksson and Kenneth Branagh)
• Detective Neal Washington — Hill Street Blues (played by Taurean Blacque)
• Detective Sergeant John Watt — Troy Kennedy Martin and Allan Prior (played by Frank Windsor in Z-Cars and Softly, Softly )
• Detective Joe West — Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Geoff Johns (played by Jesse L. Martin in The Flash)
• Inspector Roger West - John Creasey
• Detective Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford — Ruth Rendell (played by George Baker in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries)
• Detective Megan Wheeler — Law & Order: Criminal Intent (played by Julianne Nicholson)
• Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe — W. J. Burley (played by Jack Shepherd in Wycliffe)

Z

• Comisario Aurelio Zen — Michael Dibdin (played by Rufus Sewell in Zen)