Character History
Van Buren joins the cast in the 1993 episode "Sweeps", succeeding Capt. Don Cragen (Dann Florek) as commander of the 27th Precinct Detective Squad after Cragen transfers to the Anti-Corruption Task Force. Throughout her run on the show, she oversaw the work of detectives such as Lennie Briscoe, Mike Logan, Rey Curtis, Ed Green, Joe Fontana, Nick Falco, Nina Cassady, Cyrus Lupo, and Kevin Bernard. When her detectives make mistakes, Van Buren focuses on salvaging investigations rather than focusing on their failures.
Van Buren is known for her toughness, but she often pays a price for it. In the 1994 episode "Competence", for example, she shoots and wounds a would-be mugger who attacks her at an ATM, and kills the mugger's partner, who turned out to be a mentally retarded teenager. She was investigated, and absolved, by the Bureau of Internal Affairs. In the 1997 episode "Burden", she nearly loses her job when she sues the NYPD for promoting a white woman with less seniority ahead of her. In the episode "Monster", the Chief of Detectives tells her she will have to resign to get her squad the resources it needs to apprehend a child rapist. A judge eventually dismissed her discrimination suit.
During a murder case, Van Buren learns that the case that led to her promotion to lieutenant was tainted by a dishonest fingerprint examiner's report. The expert, a friend of Van Buren's, had been falsifying various other reports and is tried for her actions, saying that she was just doing what Van Buren wanted. No action is taken against Van Buren, but the scandal continues to haunt her.
In the 2006 season, she is forced to accept Nina Cassady as the replacement for Det. Joe Fontana upon his retirement. Van Buren believes that Cassady is too inexperienced to be a homicide detective, creating a risk to her partner. Van Buren had a "hand-picked" replacement for Fontana who was much more experienced than Cassady. She eventually learns to tolerate (and perhaps accept) Cassady as a member of her squad; however, this acceptance does not seem to last long and in the seventeenth season finale "The Family Hour", Van Buren berates the detective for her inability to keep her temper in check and suggests that Cassady has no future in the 27th Squad.
Van Buren appeared in 390 episodes of Law & Order and is the longest-running regular character in any of the Law & Order franchises.
Merkerson was also seen in the first season of the show in the episode "Mushrooms", where she played Denise Winters, a murder victim's mother.
Read more about this topic: Anita Van Buren
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