About

Lieutenant Dawson was, for a brief time, the lead detective at the Park County Police Station, a heavy smoker who favored getting everything done by the books, whether it's dealing with common criminals, meth labs or crooked cops. He briefly welcomed Eric Cartman, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski and Kenny McCormick to the force as Junior Detectives, quickly growing tired of their maverick streak, but forgiving them once they successfully cleaned up the force. He hasn't been seen in town since, but was present for Britney Spears' sacrifice.

Personality and Traits

See: Harrison Yates

Close Friends

Though Dawson never agree with their brutal methods, he came to approve of the South Park Junior Detectives and welcomed them to the force full-time, but they declined.

Stan Marsh

Kyle Broflovski

Eric Cartman

Kenny McCormick

Detective Hopkins

Rivals

Dawson prefers everything is done by the book, and resents corruption. When Murphy and Jenkins are nearly killed and revealed as corrupt, Dawson is glad that the force is clean.

Lieutenant Murphy

Detective Jenkins

Featured Episodes

• Lil' Crime Stoppers (s07e06)
• Britney's New Look (s12e02; cameo)

Behind The Scenes

Although he only ever made one notably appearance, Lieutenant Dawson played an important part in the transformation of the South Park Police.

After expanding the town's police force, series co-creator Trey Parker experimented with introducing a new, competent police chief with the Senior Detective character in the sixth season. This short-lived character was retooled into Lieutenant Dawson by the airing of "Lil' Crime Stoppers", now accompanied by a much more expansive Park County Police Station manned by dozens of detectives and police officers.

The same voice would later be reused by red-haired police officer alongside Officer Barbrady in "Casa Bonita", a character who would in the eighth season be shown commanding the Park County Police as lead detective, behaving in a similar manner to Dawson and using the same body shape and voice. Sergeant Harrison Yates made his official debut in "The Jeffersons" and becoming the show's main police character afterward, where he has remained ever since.

Both Dawson, Yates and Detective Murphey would make brief cameos in separate shots in "Britney's New Look", marking Dawson's final appearance in the series to date.