Detective Vic Mackey is an LAPD detective and leader of the Strike Team, a four-man anti-gang unit. Mackey is a corrupt yet extremely effective police officer; he steals from drug dealers, beats suspects and has committed murder on three occasions, including killing an undercover officer who was on the verge of uncovering Mackey and his team's illegal dealings and having them arrested. Mackey sees his tactics as a means to an end.Despite his misdeeds, he is a devoted father, a loyal partner to his teammates and will readily protect those he sees as innocent victims. At one point, he refuses to parade his autistic children in front of a department review board, despite knowing it could save his job. Vic has had an occasional sexual affair with Sgt. Danny Sofer, and is the illegitimate father of her son Lee. Mackey was married for a little over 12 years to his wife Corrine before they were divorced after years of problems and Vic's cheating.Vic's morality is a classic example of dualism. While he has a solid status as a family man, he has cheated on his wife with a number of women. He is sworn to uphold the law, yet regularly breaks it for professional and personal gain. Mackey's personality is often viewed as amoral or machiavellian, believing that the ends justify the means, which may lead to his downfall -- a fate he narrowly avoids regularly.Despite all of the crimes and immoral acts he has committed, Vic is ironically considered the show's hero. His brutality is usually directed toward dangerous criminals whom he considers deserving of their harsh treatment at his hands, including rapists, child molesters and mass murderers. Even when he's broken the law himself, it's often been in the course of solving even more serious crimes.Vic is always watching his back, even if it means blackmailing a fellow police officer to protect himself. He once threatened to out a cop he'd caught engaged in a homosexual act if the officer revealed having seen Vic and his team stealing drugs from a crime scene. Vic has a particularly rocky relationship with David Aceveda, the captain of The Barn the station where Mackey and his team are based. Aceveda's political aspirations complicate their relationship even more. But it is Vic's relationship with and inability to control his protege, Shane Vendrell, that could doom him.