Max Greevey

Sergeant Max Greevey was an investigative officer assigned to the New York City Police Department's 27th Precinct detective squad.

History[]

Greevey had served with the NYPD since 1968, placing his total time in service at 23 years. His squad commander at the 27th Precinct was his former partner and best friend Captain Donald Cragen. He mentions that he lost a previous partner during a traffic stop. (L&O: "A Death in the Family") Greevey's partner during his final year on the job was Mike Logan. Greevey and his wife Marie had three children, including a son named Matthew and a daughter named Eileen.

Greevey has a distrust of doctors due to seeing one in 1983 after a suspect gave him a head injury. The doctor said he had an inoperable brain tumor. After seeing a second doctor he was found to have a subdural hematoma and later recovered. (L&O: "Prescription for Death")

As capable a detective as Greevey was, he wasn't above letting his personal feelings and beliefs influence his work. A devout Irish Catholic, Greevey often voiced his displeasure when working cases in which the victim's lifestyle or activities contrasted with his beliefs. In one such case that involved a woman who was killed carrying a bomb into an abortion clinic, Greevey found himself in opposition of both Logan and EADA Benjamin Stone in the investigation and prosecution of the anti-abortion activist who gave the victim the bomb. (L&O: "Life Choice")

In another case in which the victim was a photographer known for taking sexually-suggestive art photos, Greevey asked Cragen to take him off the case due to his personal offense of the victim's work. However, Cragen refused, and Greevey later reconsidered his views on the victim after learning he too was a Catholic. (L&O: "Prisoner of Love")

On April 6, 1991, Greevey was shot to death outside his home by Daniel Magadan, Jr., who wanted to silence his grand jury testimony on construction industry corruption. Marie witnessed the shooting from her home's window while on the phone to Mike Logan. (L&O: "Confession")

Cragen continued to work on his and Greevey's open cases, including that of the murder of a college student and the disappearance of her infant son in 1989, nearly ten years following Greevey's death and well into his tenure as squad commander of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. Cragen later closed the case in 2001 when the killer and the victim's son were found in connection to an SVU case involving an illegal adoption agency. (SVU: "Stolen").

Officer-involved shootings[]

Greco (L&O: "Everybody's Favorite Bagman")

Trivia[]

Greevey is the only regular/former regular to be portrayed by two actors. Characters who are portrayed by younger actors do not count, such as when John Munch was portrayed as a teenager.
Though Greevey's final appearance was in "Confession" his death scene was performed by an uncredited double, since George Dzundza had already left the series prior to the filming of the episode. Dzundza's final appearance on the series as Max Greevey was in the final episode of the series' first season, "The Blue Wall".