In honor of Patriots Day and the 13th anniversary of the September 11th attack on our country, I present you with my list of favorite TV firemen and police officers. There was a huge number of people I could have listed, but these are some of my favorites.

1. Tommy Gavin – Rescue Me, played by Dennis Leary. Gavin is a third generation New York City Firefighter. As one of the first responders, his house lost four men in the attacks on 9/11, including his cousin Jimmy.

2. Wayne Unser – Sons of Anarchy, played by Dayton Callie. When the series started, Unser was Chief of the Charming Police Department. While he was Chief, he worked with the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club to keep drugs and violence out of their small town.

3. Kate Beckett – Castle, played by Stana Katic. Beckett originally planned to be a lawyer, but decided to join the New York Police Department after her mother was murdered.

4. Lennie Briscoe – Law & Order, played by Jerry Orbach. The character is introduced in season three as a senior detective for the New York Police Department after Detective Logan’s partner was shot. He remained on the show for 11 seasons, until his character retired.

5. Marcus Burset – Orange is the New Black, played by Lavernce Cox’s brother, M. Lamar. Before transitioning to become Sophia, Marcus was a firefighter with the New York City Fire Department. Sophia is currently serving time at Litchfield Penitentiary for the credit card fraud that financed her sex-reassignment operations.

6. Frank Pembleton – Homicide: Life on the Street, played by Andre Braugher. A native of New York City, Pembleton had transferred to the Baltimore Police Department because he felt there was more room for advancement. He suffered a stroke in season four and eventually quit the force at the end of season six to became a college professor.

7. Teresa Colvin – The Chicago Code, played by Jennifer Beals. Colvin is the Chicago Police Department’s first female Superintendant. She grew up in Chicago and made it her personal mission to bring down the city’s corrupt government officials.

8. Keith Mars – Veronica Mars, played by Enrico Colantoni. When the show begins, Keith is the former Sheriff of Neptune. He got voted out of office after accusing Jake Kane of killing his own daughter and became a private investigator, but was reinstated following the death of Sheriff Don Lamb. He returned to being a private investigator after losing the next election.