Assistant Chief Russell Taylor was a fictional character featured in TNT's The Closer, portrayed by Robert Gossett. Commander Taylor is the Commanding Officer of the Los Angeles Police Department's (LAPD) Robbery-Homicide Division. He is also one of two characters on the show who have real-life equivalents on the LAPD, although his rank is one step higher. A hard worker who has risen through the ranks, he is extremely resentful of Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson's status and the respect she receives from the officers working with her. He does what he can to undermine her at every turn, under the guise of trying to assist in the case. In The Closer spin-off, Major Crimes, Taylor becomes the Assistant Chief of Operations for the LAPD. In the episode "White Lies, Part I," Taylor is killed in the line of duty during a courtroom shooting. Career history He worked his way up to Captain after 21 years with the LAPD. Before Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson transferred to Los Angeles, Taylor headed up the Priority Homicide Division. He was removed from that position when too many celebrity cases were handed to the DA with "less than compelling" evidence. At the end of season 1, Taylor was promoted to the rank of Commander by Chief Pope in return for dropping a "conduct unbecoming an officer" complaint against Deputy Chief Johnson. Since his promotion, Taylor appears to be more willing to work with Johnson and even has asked for her help in a few cases, however he is still a vocal opponent of her condescending attitude. When Tommy Delk is named Chief of Police Chief of Police, Taylor is about to be named the new Assistant Chief of Operations until Delk's untimely death. After Assistant Chief Pope was appointed Chief of Police and it became clear that Chief Johnson was unfit for the position, Commander Taylor was promoted to Assistant Chief. In Major Crimes, he introduces a new policy of making deals with criminals rather than going to trial to save money. While this is initially unpopular with the squad, except Captain Sharon Raydor, they have adapted to the changes. When giving Raydor the job as head of Major Crimes, both Taylor and Pope promised her a promotion to Commander, but this is revealed to have been a lie due to a hiring freeze. Instead, Taylor states that her taking over Major Crimes is