Detective Vic Mackey, portrayed by Michael Chiklis, is a fictional Los Angeles Police Department detective and leader of the Strike Team, a four-man anti-gang unit in the FX crime drama series The Shield. Mackey is a corrupt yet extremely effective police officer; he steals from drug dealers, beats suspects and has committed murder on three occasions. Two of the victims were violent gangsters, though the first was an undercover officer trying to put Mackey and his team behind bars, despite their service to the community. Mackey sees his tactics as a means to an end.