Character Analysis
Who Is the Man Who Would Risk His Neck for His Brother Man?
Aside from Detectives Mills and Somerset, all of the rest of the cops are flat characters who exist purely for some local color. The captain (and his fluffy eyebrows!) is your stereotypical yell-at-things-until-they-get-done police captain, which is perfect since he's played by R. Lee Ermey: the voice of Sarge in Toy Story.
We also have an officer named California, played by Dr. Cox from Scrubs. Like Dr. Cox, he's kind of a hotheaded jerk but this time without any extra charm. He tells an emaciated Victor Allen, "You got what you deserved," illustrating the point that no one actually cares about any of John Doe's victims.
Finally, there's the district attorney, Martin Talbot, played by Shaft himself, Richard Roundtree. He only has a handful of lines, one of them talking about "swift justice." We guarantee the justice dealt in this movie is not what the D.A. expected.