Detective Sgt. David Gabriel

Detective Sgt. David Gabriel
First appearance	Pilot episode
Created by	James Duff
Portrayed by	Corey Reynolds
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Police Officer

Detective Sergeant David Gabriel is a fictional character featured in TNT's The Closer, portrayed by Corey Reynolds. Gabriel is a Sergeant in of the Los Angeles Police Department's (LAPD) Priority Homicide Squad, and was promoted to Detective during Season Five. He is seen as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson's right hand man.

Sgt. Gabriel is a bright young police officer who is looking to make his mark in the department. One of his strengths is that he can defer to someone else when provided with a well-thought-out reason to do so. As a consequence of this, he was one of the first to accept Brenda. Commander Taylor has tried to recruit him from Deputy Chief Johnson at least once.

Sgt. Gabriel confessed to Deputy Chief Johnson in the second season that he and Detective Daniels are dating; Brenda initially did not receive this well, but she seems to have mostly come to terms with it. In the third season, Sgt. Gabriel has expressed an interest in going into politics, and he deftly provided a solution to avoid budget cuts and loss of a member from Priority Homicide. Despite being told he is Deputy Chief Johnson's favorite, Sgt. Gabriel has become confrontational with Brenda in a case regarding a former gang member turned politician and from beating a confession out of a suspected pedophile. The latter event caused Brenda to suspend him for 10 days without pay.

Personality and traits

Friendly and polite, Gabriel is one of the few officers who was kind to Deputy Chief Johnson when she first joined the LAPD. He is highly organized, ambitious and extremely intelligent. Although Gabriel is eager to please Deputy Chief Johnson now that she is his superior, he's extremely outspoken and not afraid to tell her exactly what he thinks. Sgt. Gabriel can be polite and loyal to a fault, and many of the detectives accuse him of being a "suck-up". He doesn't take criticism well, and he craves constant reassurance and recognition from his superiors.

Personal life

Gabriel started off as a rookie cop with the LAPD and moved on to work in Robbery-Homicide under then-Captain Taylor. With Taylor's encouragement, he received a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. He enthusiastically campaigned to gain his current position on the newly formed Priority Homicide Division. Before Johnson joined the LAPD, Sgt. Gabriel was staunchly loyal to Commander Taylor. However, the Commander's attempts to undermine Johnson have caused Gabriel to lose respect for him.

Gabriel admires Deputy Chief Johnson's interrogation skills and looks to her as a mentor, although he accuses her of not complimenting him enough. He goes above and beyond to please the Deputy Chief, whether that means driving her around Los Angeles or caring for her cat's newborn kittens while she's out of town.^[1]

References

1. ^ TNT The Closer: Squad Profiles