<Tr> <Td> Hugh O'Connor </Td> <Td> Played the role of Lonnie Jamison, an officer and senior investigator on the Sparta police force . Lonnie eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant and Acting Chief of Detectives . Lonnie was a very capable officer and took his job seriously . He usually had a serious and straightforward personality, with a dry humor that always fit the moment, and he was an amiable and friendly person overall . One of the many facets of Lonnie's character was fierce, never - give - up loyalty to his friends . A prime example of that loyalty occurred over several episodes as Lonnie's friendship with Harriet DeLong's son Eugene . Lonnie was Eugene's track team coach at Sparta High, and it was Lonnie Jamison who was able to get through to the young man when Eugene's father was being tried for murder, episode "No Other Road ." Later, in "A Small War," when Eugene's friend was killed in a drive - by at a drug pusher's house, Lonnie tried to convince Eugene to talk about what he had witnessed . Eugene resisted, testing Lt. Jamison's patience, but when Eugene agreed to help the police identify the shooter, it was Lonnie who drove him up to Jackson . Actually, Lonnie let Eugene drive, and they took Jamison's Corvette . That scene was another example of Lonnie helping to get through to Eugene . Lonnie was a crack shot with a rifle and was often selected by Chief Gillespie to handle a situation requiring a long range rifle shot, as in episodes "My Name is Hank," "An Eye for An Eye," and "CrackDown ." Along with Bubba, the Sparta Police had a very lethal sniper team . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Carl Weathers </Td> <Td> Joined the cast in the final season as Police Chief Hampton Forbes . He was picked to lead the department after the controversial firing of Bill Gillespie . Forbes was the first black chief of the department and a 20 - year veteran of the Memphis, TN, police department, serving in one of the four police districts in the city of Memphis . He retired from the MPD to become the new Police Chief in Sparta . Forbes became friends with Gillespie and often worked closely with him when Gillespie became county sheriff . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Crystal R. Fox </Td> <Td> Played Luanne Corbin . After the first black woman to join the force, Officer Christine Rankin, died in the line of duty on her first day on the job, Corbin was recruited to take her place . Crystal was featured in the episode "Singin' the Blues," which gave her the opportunity to display her talent as a singer as well as a fine actress . Her beautiful singing voice was also featured in the episode "Odessa," where she sang the Gospel song "Jesus Savior, Pilot Me ." </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Denise Nicholas </Td> <Td> Played Sparta City Council woman Harriet DeLong . Harriet's relationship with Chief Gillespie was deeply adversarial in the beginning, and the two clashed often when she first appeared on the show . But over the course of the series, Harriet saw Gillespie's softer, more caring side and began to think more fondly of him . By the time Denise Nicholas became a series regular, Harriet and Gillespie were becoming a couple, much to the disapproval of her son, Eugene . In the two - part episode, "Citizen Trundel," Harriet's sister, Natalie was the mistress of conniving businessman, V.J. Trundel, who later had her murdered . They had a son named Eric from their illicit affair, and Harriet eventually gained custody of him after Trundel committed suicide by deliberately crashing his private airplane after a confrontation about the murder with Gillespie . Emily Trundel, V.J.'s estranged widow, attempted to gain custody of Eric in the following season, but only succeeded in gaining visitation rights, something Harriet deeply opposed . </Td> </Tr>

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