Leander Sydnor is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

on the HBO drama ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...

'', played by actor Corey Parker Robinson. Sydnor is a young, married Baltimore Police detective who is a member of the Barksdale detail and later works in the Major Crimes Unit.

Biography

Season one

Sydnor is assigned to the Barksdale detail from the Auto Theft Department after

Cedric Daniels Cedric Daniels is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by Lance Reddick. Daniels is well regarded in the Baltimore Police Department by making his subordinates focus on decent police work and quality arrests. He occasionall ...

requests Sydnor's commanding officer, Lt. Cantrell, give him his best detective to balance out having to take "his worst" – the erratic Roland Pryzbylewski. Once in the detail, he is partnered with

Lester Freamon Lester Freamon is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Clarke Peters. Freamon is a detective in the Baltimore Police Department's Major Crimes Unit. He is a wise, methodical detective whose intelligence and experi ...

and the pair work on following the Barksdale organisation's paper trail. Sydnor also performs valuable undercover work, making hand-to-hand buys to build evidence, alongside

Kima Greggs Shakima "Kima" Greggs is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actress Sonja Sohn. Greggs is a determined and capable police detective in the Baltimore Police Department. Openly lesbian, she often displays a hardened, c ...

and her informant Bubbles. Sydnor's initial attempt to disguise himself as a "junkie" is not credible to Bubbles, but he proves responsible for identifying

Avon Barksdale Avon Randolph Barksdale is a fictional character in the American television series ''The Wire'', played by Wood Harris. Barksdale is one of the most powerful drug dealers in Baltimore, Maryland, and runs the Barksdale Organization. Stringer Be ...

at the annual West-Side versus East-Side basketball game. He later tells Freamon, who has become something of a mentor to the young detective, that the Barksdale investigation is the best police work he has ever done.

Season three

Sydnor returns to working in his old district after the dissolution of the Barksdale detail. When Daniels establishes the Major Case Unit, he is allowed to choose his own detectives and encourages Sydnor to transfer in, replacing one of the spots vacated by Herc and Carver transferring out. Sydnor takes up the offer and again works on investigating the Barksdale organization.

Season four

In Season four, the Major Case Unit starts investigating

Marlo Stanfield Marlo Stanfield is a fictional character on the HBO television drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Jamie Hector. Stanfield is a young, ambitious, intelligent and ruthless gangster and head of the eponymous Stanfield Organization in the Baltimore ...

in addition to the Barksdale money trail. With Daniels promoted to Major, Lester is now the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

commander of the unit, having been allowed to hand-pick their shift lieutenant Jimmy Asher, a soon-to-retire officer who takes an entirely hands-off approach to the unit's investigations. When the money trail leads the investigation to major political figures, Sydnor worries about the potential damage to his career; nonetheless, he personally delivers the

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

for financial records to State Senator Clay Davis. Davis angrily protests the subpoenas to Mayor

Clarence Royce Clarence V. Royce is a fictional character in the HBO series ''The Wire (TV series), The Wire'' played by Glynn Turman. Season 3 Clarence V. Royce is the Mayor of Baltimore whose first appearance is at the demolition of the Franklin Terrace hou ...

, who then orders Burrell to rein in the Major Crimes Unit.

William Rawls William A. "Bill" Rawls is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor John Doman. Over the course of the series, Rawls ascends through the higher ranks of the Baltimore Police Department, eventually becoming Deputy Comm ...

suggests that proper supervision is all the unit needs and replaces Asher with Lieutenant Charles Marimow. Marimow is a caustic commander with a reputation for being a "unit killer". Marimow's command style drives away Freamon and Greggs, leaving only Sydnor and Massey. Sydnor decides he wants to leave the unit at the first available opening. With the transfer in of

Herc Thomas "Herc" Hauk is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by Domenick Lombardozzi. The series introduces Herc as a detective in the Baltimore Police Department's Narcotics Unit, begrudgingly detailed to the initial Bark ...

and Kenneth Dozerman, Sydnor gets two allies in his desire to make cases (and who shared his dislike of Marimow). Ultimately the unit is unsuccessful at building a case against Marlo under Marimow's supervision. Over the course of the season, Sydnor mentors Dozerman, and also cautions Herc on the consequences of lying to Marimow. Herc nevertheless continues to act in an unprofessional and often counterproductive manner while in the unit. The unit is eventually reconstituted under the control of Freamon after Daniels gets promoted to CID colonel. Under Freamon's leadership, Asher is renamed Lieutenant again, and

Jimmy McNulty James "Jimmy" McNulty is a fictional character and the protagonist of the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by Dominic West. McNulty is an Irish-American detective in the Baltimore Police Department. While talented in his profession, McNulty's c ...

and

transfer back into the unit. Dozerman remains with the unit while Herc is suspended pending an internal investigations division investigation. As the season ends, a new investigative strategy is mapped out against Marlo.

Season five

After more than a year of investigation into the

Stanfield Organization On the fictional television drama '' The Wire'', the Stanfield Organization is a criminal organization led by Marlo Stanfield. The Organization is introduced in Season Three of ''The Wire'' as a growing and significantly violent drug syndicate. ...

the unit still does not have a strong enough case to file charges. When budget cuts in the department eventually lead to the unit being closed down, Sydnor is disappointed to find his work wasted and realizes that simply keeping Marlo under surveillance was effective in reducing crime. Sydnor and Freamon are detailed to the State's Attorney's office to prepare the corruption case against

Clay Davis R. Clayton "Clay" Davis is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Isiah Whitlock, Jr. Davis is a corrupt Maryland State Senator with a reputation for pocketing bribes. However, throughout the series Davis remains p ...

. Sydnor and Freamon first prepare the paperwork on Davis and then assist

Rhonda Pearlman Rhonda Pearlman is a fictional character on the HBO drama '' The Wire'', played by actress Deirdre Lovejoy. Pearlman has been the legal system liaison for all of Lieutenant Cedric Daniels' investigations on the show. Later in the series, she be ...

in a series of Grand Jury depositions. Sydnor uncovers evidence of Davis having committed a federal crime when he finds that Davis borrowed money from his mother for a mortgage deposit. Freamon realizes the significance of the crime and knows that it could mean a thirty-year jail term. The detectives present the evidence to State's Attorney Rupert Bond and he refuses to take the case federal as he wants to prosecute Davis himself for political reasons. In the series finale, Sydnor visits Judge Daniel Phelan in his chambers to apply back-channel pressure in order to advance an investigation, much like McNulty did in Season 1.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sydnor, Leandor The Wire characters Fictional African-American people Fictional Baltimore Police Department detectives Television characters introduced in 2002 Male characters in television