Joe Fontana (Law & Order) - Personality

Personality

Detective Fontana's character brings considerable experience from a city other than New York to the world of the show. Hailing from the Little Italy neighborhood of Chicago, he was an officer of the Chicago Police Department (as was Farina himself) before coming to New York. He left his posting in Chicago because of conflict with a superior officer, although he refuses to elaborate further. He has never been married. Prior to partnering with Green, Fontana also worked with a homicide squad in The Bronx.

Beside his Chicago experience and background, Fontana's character also lends a noteworthy economic attitude to the depiction of police officers in Law & Order. He is known on the show for his flashy lifestyle — he drives a silver Mercedes-Benz SL500, is fond of impeccably tailored suits, and often carries a 'walking-around' money roll of several thousand dollars. That is initially cause for suspicion with his new coworkers, who wonder how he can afford those expensive things on his salary; however, apparently they are later satisfied of his honesty. Fontana's penchant for fancy things even escalates to a character shtick throughout several episodes. On multiple occasions he bemoans job-related damage to expensive articles of clothing. In the episode "License to Kill", he says, "Ugh, there goes a perfectly good pair of Gucci loafers" as he tramples through the snow to investigate for evidence. Although Fontana is shown paying a great deal of attention to his appearance, he does have his limits; in one episode, for example, when he sees a woman who died after having liposuction, he says he would rather go on the South Beach Diet.

Fontana was originally portrayed as a very dry character, but this made him unpopular with fans, so he was given a more lively sense of humor.