Pounder), but only because it yielded results, and, frankly, there was no other method to deal with the dirty job at hand. Vic's self-serving, cold-blooded tactics (and blatant graft-taking) were tolerated by his comparatively honest partner Det.
Undeniably efficient when it came to rounding up perps and cracking tough cases, Mackey was also relentlessly sadistic and foul-mouthed - not to mention corrupt to the bone. police precinct and an elite team of troubleshooters headed by hard-bitten Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis, light-years removed from The Commish). The emphasis was on a tough, crime-infested L.A. Created by Shawn Ryan, the weekly, 60-minute cop drama The Shield may well have been the most cynical and uncompromising series ever developed for 'basic' cable.