Stanislaus Valchek
Encyclopedia
Stanislaus "Stan" Valchek is a fictional character
on the HBO drama The Wire
, played by actor Al Brown.
suggests that Valchek was named commander of the Southeastern Police District because it is a position reserved for either Greek American
or Polish American
commanders in the department. His political savvy led to a quick and easy rise through the ranks, despite being disliked by commanding officers such as Commissioner Ervin Burrell
and Deputy Commissioner William Rawls
. Valchek is Roland Pryzbylewski's father-in-law.
, trying to smooth over Prez's drunken blinding of a fourteen-year-old. Valchek told Daniels that if Daniels helped Prez, Valchek would owe him a favor.
. Both men wanted to donate stained glass windows to a local church, and Sobotka refused to withdraw his larger, more expensive window which had been installed first. Valchek became curious as to how the struggling union could afford the expensive window. He ordered his subordinates (including Sergeant Ellis Carver
) to begin harassing Sobotka and his union, putting parking tickets on their cars and pulling them over for breathalyzer tests directly outside the bar they frequent. The union responded by stealing Valchek's valuable district surveillance van and shipping it from port to port, sending him photographs from each destination.
Valchek discussed the union with Krawczyk, who knew of Sobotka making numerous campaign contributions. Valchek felt there was a possibility of illegal activity, while at the same time noticing Deputy Commissioner Burrell
's nomination for Acting Commissioner. Knowing that Burrell had trouble finding support with the first district council members, Valchek offered Burrell political influence in exchange for a special unit devoted to investigating Sobotka, with Prez as the lead investigator. Burrell had Colonel Rawls send an investigative team from CID to Valchek, all "highly recommended" officers, who were in fact dead-weight "humps." When Valchek witnessed the task force's lack of work ethic, he demanded a real police detail led by Cedric Daniels
as commander (on Prez's recommendation and repaying the favor owed to Daniels from Season 1), threatening to derail Burrell's effort to become Commissioner if he did not agree. Burrell obligingly recreated Daniels' task force.
As the investigation expanded to cover Greek drug traffickers, Sobotka ceased to be the primary target, angering Valchek. Valchek went to the FBI to try to refocus the investigation, turning it into a racketeering case, but the bureau remained more focused on the union and port than Sobotka. Valchek confronted Daniels' team publicly, and after insulting and shoving Prez was punched in the face. Furious, he disowned his son-in-law and threatened to have him removed from the department. Daniels, pointing out that any official action would have to mention that Valchek provoked the attack (Daniels even offers to have the BPD rewrite the statements on Valchek's behalf but claims the FBI agents who witnessed the attack would not follow suit), convinced him to reduce Prez's punishment. Valchek grudgingly assigned Prez two months of duty on the midnight shift of the district's narcotics unit and accepted a letter of apology in exchange for not charging him.
At the close of the investigation, Valchek delighted in personally making the arrest of Sobotka, and held him in the union offices until he could be publicly dragged out in front of the press. Sobotka was ultimately killed, but the surveillance van was still being shipped around the world.
, a city councilman from Valchek's district, knowing that Carcetti was setting up deals behind the back of Mayor Clarence Royce
.
When the Mayor pressured the department to lower the crime rates, Valchek claimed he would put more foot patrols in his district's housing projects, use more of his flex squads, request more overtime and cheat the stats if he needed to (turning burglaries into larcenies, and downgrading assault charges amongst other things) in order to reduce the crime in the southeastern district. In the midst, Valchek was surprised and amused to hear remarks made by Bunny Colvin, the Western District commander, who stood up to Deputy Rawls
questioning how to "juke the stats" with regard to dead bodies. When talking with the other commanders, Valchek also overheard Colvin suggesting drug legalization (ostensibly as a joke) to decrease the felonies in his district.
Later, during the pursuit of a suspect, Prez accidentally shot and killed a plainclothes officer, a mistake further complicated by racial implications (the killed officer was black). Despite disowning him earlier Valchek used his influence to have the charges dismissed, and although Daniels and several other African-American officers were willing to testify (per Valchek's request) that Prez was not racist, Prez chose to leave the department.
When Tommy Carcetti ran for Mayor, Valchek supported his campaign, leaking him information such as the murder of a state's witness named Braddock. When Valchek later leaked Burrell's replacement of a veteran detective with a rookie on the Braddock case, the fallout led to the Mayor deciding to replace Burrell as commissioner. Before this happened, Carcetti was elected Mayor, and Burrell managed to keep his appointed position for the time being.
Carcetti informed Rawls that Valchek will be promoted to Deputy Commissioner of Administration as a reward for his loyalty, but described him as a "hack" and asks Rawls to keep him from doing any damage. At the promotion ceremony, Valchek's wife and daughter are present while Prez is conspicuously absent. As departmental power shifted, and Carcetti began plotting to oust Burrell, Valchek pointed out to Deputy Commissioner Rawls that newly promoted Colonel Daniels
was more likely to be the next Police Commissioner than Rawls, if only because Daniels is African American
.
. He urges that both Burrell and Rawls should be fired for two straight quarters yielding a 4% increase in violent crime. He also suggests that Carcetti should promote him to Acting Commissioner at least until Cedric Daniels
or another African American
is named to the permanent post. Carcetti and assistant Norman Wilson both agree that Valchek is unfit to deal with the city council president and minister's alliance, even on an acting basis, but keep the statistics nonetheless. It is later revealed that Valcheck is a prime source for Baltimore Sun reporter Roger Twigg.
Unable to take disciplinary action for a crime increase due to the department's lack of funding, Carcetti decides he will give Burrell a free pass assuming honest statistics are delivered. When Burrell delivers juked stats showing no increase or decrease in the crime rate, he is unaware of the crime stats Valchek has leaked to the Mayor. With the clean and juked statistics in his possession, Carcetti has ammunition to fire Burrell and leaks a story to the Baltimore Sun with Cedric Daniels
' photograph in an effort to appease the city's African American
voters about the consideration for a change of Police Commissioner.
In the series finale, Cedric Daniels is named commissioner but resigns to prevent an FBI case against him from going public. Valchek is then promoted to the position of Police Commissioner (with a full five-year term) by new mayor Nerese Campbell. Valchek is not well regarded for his police work throughout the department as mentioned by Detective Leandor Sydnor who speaks with Judge Daniel Phelan about a case and how the current police commissioner "doesn't have an idea of what police work is".
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the HBO drama The Wire
The Wire (TV series)
The Wire is an American television drama series set and produced in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon, the series was broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States...
, played by actor Al Brown.
Biography
Valchek is the Polish-American commander of the Southeastern district, home to many of the remaining white ethnic neighborhoods in Baltimore. A politician more than a policeman, he is well-connected and is on good terms with various Democratic organizations close to City Hall, most notably the politically influential developer Andrew Krawczyk. In Season 4 Tommy CarcettiTommy Carcetti
Thomas J. "Tommy" Carcetti is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Irish actor Aidan Gillen. Carcetti is an ambitious Baltimore politician who rises from a seat on the city council to the office of the Mayor of Baltimore, and to the office of the Governor of Maryland by the...
suggests that Valchek was named commander of the Southeastern Police District because it is a position reserved for either Greek American
Greek American
Greek Americans are Americans of Greek descent also described as Hellenic descent. According to the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimation, there were 1,380,088 people of Greek ancestry in the United States, while the State Department mentions that around 3,000,000 Americans claim to be of Greek descent...
or Polish American
Polish American
A Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...
commanders in the department. His political savvy led to a quick and easy rise through the ranks, despite being disliked by commanding officers such as Commissioner Ervin Burrell
Ervin Burrell
Ervin Burrell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Frankie Faison. Burrell was an officer in the Baltimore Police Department who ascended from Deputy Commissioner of Operations to Commissioner over the course of the show...
and Deputy Commissioner William Rawls
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 he ascends to the rank of Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.-Season 1:...
. Valchek is Roland Pryzbylewski's father-in-law.
Season 1
Valchek only appeared once, in a meeting with Deputy Commissioner Burrell and Lieutenant DanielsCedric Daniels
Cedric Daniels is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Lance Reddick. He is a well regarded officer in the department whose focus is on good police work and quality arrests...
, trying to smooth over Prez's drunken blinding of a fourteen-year-old. Valchek told Daniels that if Daniels helped Prez, Valchek would owe him a favor.
Season 2
Valchek was the impetus behind the investigation into corruption at the docks, due to a petty feud he had with Dockworker Union Treasurer Frank SobotkaFrank Sobotka
Francis "Frank" Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Chris Bauer.-Biography:Frank is a respected Polish-American secretary treasurer for the International Brotherhood of Stevedores at the Baltimore docks...
. Both men wanted to donate stained glass windows to a local church, and Sobotka refused to withdraw his larger, more expensive window which had been installed first. Valchek became curious as to how the struggling union could afford the expensive window. He ordered his subordinates (including Sergeant Ellis Carver
Ellis Carver
Ellis Carver is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Seth Gilliam. Carver is an African American lieutenant and formerly in command of the Baltimore Police Department's Western District Drug Enforcement Unit...
) to begin harassing Sobotka and his union, putting parking tickets on their cars and pulling them over for breathalyzer tests directly outside the bar they frequent. The union responded by stealing Valchek's valuable district surveillance van and shipping it from port to port, sending him photographs from each destination.
Valchek discussed the union with Krawczyk, who knew of Sobotka making numerous campaign contributions. Valchek felt there was a possibility of illegal activity, while at the same time noticing Deputy Commissioner Burrell
Ervin Burrell
Ervin Burrell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Frankie Faison. Burrell was an officer in the Baltimore Police Department who ascended from Deputy Commissioner of Operations to Commissioner over the course of the show...
's nomination for Acting Commissioner. Knowing that Burrell had trouble finding support with the first district council members, Valchek offered Burrell political influence in exchange for a special unit devoted to investigating Sobotka, with Prez as the lead investigator. Burrell had Colonel Rawls send an investigative team from CID to Valchek, all "highly recommended" officers, who were in fact dead-weight "humps." When Valchek witnessed the task force's lack of work ethic, he demanded a real police detail led by Cedric Daniels
Cedric Daniels
Cedric Daniels is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Lance Reddick. He is a well regarded officer in the department whose focus is on good police work and quality arrests...
as commander (on Prez's recommendation and repaying the favor owed to Daniels from Season 1), threatening to derail Burrell's effort to become Commissioner if he did not agree. Burrell obligingly recreated Daniels' task force.
As the investigation expanded to cover Greek drug traffickers, Sobotka ceased to be the primary target, angering Valchek. Valchek went to the FBI to try to refocus the investigation, turning it into a racketeering case, but the bureau remained more focused on the union and port than Sobotka. Valchek confronted Daniels' team publicly, and after insulting and shoving Prez was punched in the face. Furious, he disowned his son-in-law and threatened to have him removed from the department. Daniels, pointing out that any official action would have to mention that Valchek provoked the attack (Daniels even offers to have the BPD rewrite the statements on Valchek's behalf but claims the FBI agents who witnessed the attack would not follow suit), convinced him to reduce Prez's punishment. Valchek grudgingly assigned Prez two months of duty on the midnight shift of the district's narcotics unit and accepted a letter of apology in exchange for not charging him.
At the close of the investigation, Valchek delighted in personally making the arrest of Sobotka, and held him in the union offices until he could be publicly dragged out in front of the press. Sobotka was ultimately killed, but the surveillance van was still being shipped around the world.
Season 3
Valchek set up a meeting between acting Commissioner Burrell and Tommy CarcettiTommy Carcetti
Thomas J. "Tommy" Carcetti is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Irish actor Aidan Gillen. Carcetti is an ambitious Baltimore politician who rises from a seat on the city council to the office of the Mayor of Baltimore, and to the office of the Governor of Maryland by the...
, a city councilman from Valchek's district, knowing that Carcetti was setting up deals behind the back of Mayor Clarence Royce
Clarence Royce
Clarence V. Royce is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Glynn Turman-Biography:Mayor of Baltimore Clarence V. Royce is a deft political figure and is fixated on remaining in power. Royce is the incumbent Mayor of Baltimore who was elected into office in 1998 and is in the...
.
When the Mayor pressured the department to lower the crime rates, Valchek claimed he would put more foot patrols in his district's housing projects, use more of his flex squads, request more overtime and cheat the stats if he needed to (turning burglaries into larcenies, and downgrading assault charges amongst other things) in order to reduce the crime in the southeastern district. In the midst, Valchek was surprised and amused to hear remarks made by Bunny Colvin, the Western District commander, who stood up to Deputy Rawls
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 he ascends to the rank of Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.-Season 1:...
questioning how to "juke the stats" with regard to dead bodies. When talking with the other commanders, Valchek also overheard Colvin suggesting drug legalization (ostensibly as a joke) to decrease the felonies in his district.
Later, during the pursuit of a suspect, Prez accidentally shot and killed a plainclothes officer, a mistake further complicated by racial implications (the killed officer was black). Despite disowning him earlier Valchek used his influence to have the charges dismissed, and although Daniels and several other African-American officers were willing to testify (per Valchek's request) that Prez was not racist, Prez chose to leave the department.
Season 4
Valchek mentored Herc in political maneuvering, after the officer stumbled across Mayor Royce being fellated by one of his secretaries. Acting on Valchek's advice, Herc was promoted to sergeant.When Tommy Carcetti ran for Mayor, Valchek supported his campaign, leaking him information such as the murder of a state's witness named Braddock. When Valchek later leaked Burrell's replacement of a veteran detective with a rookie on the Braddock case, the fallout led to the Mayor deciding to replace Burrell as commissioner. Before this happened, Carcetti was elected Mayor, and Burrell managed to keep his appointed position for the time being.
Carcetti informed Rawls that Valchek will be promoted to Deputy Commissioner of Administration as a reward for his loyalty, but described him as a "hack" and asks Rawls to keep him from doing any damage. At the promotion ceremony, Valchek's wife and daughter are present while Prez is conspicuously absent. As departmental power shifted, and Carcetti began plotting to oust Burrell, Valchek pointed out to Deputy Commissioner Rawls that newly promoted Colonel Daniels
Cedric Daniels
Cedric Daniels is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Lance Reddick. He is a well regarded officer in the department whose focus is on good police work and quality arrests...
was more likely to be the next Police Commissioner than Rawls, if only because Daniels is African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
.
Season 5
Valchek is shown early in the season leaking the department's real police statistics over the increased crime rate to Mayor Tommy CarcettiTommy Carcetti
Thomas J. "Tommy" Carcetti is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Irish actor Aidan Gillen. Carcetti is an ambitious Baltimore politician who rises from a seat on the city council to the office of the Mayor of Baltimore, and to the office of the Governor of Maryland by the...
. He urges that both Burrell and Rawls should be fired for two straight quarters yielding a 4% increase in violent crime. He also suggests that Carcetti should promote him to Acting Commissioner at least until Cedric Daniels
Cedric Daniels
Cedric Daniels is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Lance Reddick. He is a well regarded officer in the department whose focus is on good police work and quality arrests...
or another African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
is named to the permanent post. Carcetti and assistant Norman Wilson both agree that Valchek is unfit to deal with the city council president and minister's alliance, even on an acting basis, but keep the statistics nonetheless. It is later revealed that Valcheck is a prime source for Baltimore Sun reporter Roger Twigg.
Unable to take disciplinary action for a crime increase due to the department's lack of funding, Carcetti decides he will give Burrell a free pass assuming honest statistics are delivered. When Burrell delivers juked stats showing no increase or decrease in the crime rate, he is unaware of the crime stats Valchek has leaked to the Mayor. With the clean and juked statistics in his possession, Carcetti has ammunition to fire Burrell and leaks a story to the Baltimore Sun with Cedric Daniels
Cedric Daniels
Cedric Daniels is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Lance Reddick. He is a well regarded officer in the department whose focus is on good police work and quality arrests...
' photograph in an effort to appease the city's African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
voters about the consideration for a change of Police Commissioner.
In the series finale, Cedric Daniels is named commissioner but resigns to prevent an FBI case against him from going public. Valchek is then promoted to the position of Police Commissioner (with a full five-year term) by new mayor Nerese Campbell. Valchek is not well regarded for his police work throughout the department as mentioned by Detective Leandor Sydnor who speaks with Judge Daniel Phelan about a case and how the current police commissioner "doesn't have an idea of what police work is".