John Kelly (David Caruso) was a police detective with the NYPD 15th Precinct. He was promoted to Detective when he was only 28 years old. His father, John Kelly Sr. was a heroic police officer who was killed in the line of duty.
Background[]
Personality[]
Physical Description[]
Throughout the Series[]
John always managed to stay on the right side of the law and kept his partner, Andy Sipowicz under control. In the 1st season, John met a uniform cop named Janice Licalsi. Janice murdered a mob boss named Angelo Marino, who was ordered to kill John. Janice murdered Marino to protect her father, who was also a police officer and was on Marino's payroll.
Janice was investigated for Marino's murder and John allowed her to destroy the evidence that would've pointed to Janice's involvement in Marino's death. After Janice confessed to Marino's murder, she was convicted and sentenced to 2 years in jail for manslaughter.
Internal Affairs investigated John for trying to cover up for Janice, but they couldn't find any evidence to end John's career. John was demoted to radio dispatch work which he refused to do and he later resigned from the police force.
John was last heard to be acting as a bodyguard and security expert. He was married to lawyer Laura Michaels, but they later divorced. He was also a mentor to a young Anti-Crime cop, James Martinez.