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Katherine "Kay" Howard is a fictional character in the American TV series . She was played by actress Melissa Leo. In the first two seasons of the show her character was the only female detective or member of the main cast. However, NBC president Warren Littlefield felt that the lack of other female characters was alienating the audience, so Megan Russert was added to the show. It was stated in a special edition of , the non-fiction book that the show was based on, that the character of Kay Howard was based on Baltimore Police detective Rich Garvey. Howard is also influenced by Detective Bertina Silver, referred to as 'Bert' by her colleagues, thought by many in the unit to be the exception to the 'Secretaries-with-guns' female officer stereotype. The end result of the real-life influences was that Howard combined Garvey's superb and persistent work and sky-high clearance rate and Silver's complete acceptance by the male-dominated Homicide unit (which was not the case with all real-life female cops, nor amongst female cops over the run of the series).
During Season 3, she and fellow detectives Stanley Bolander and Beau Felton are shot on a suspect. Howard is struck in the heart, but eventually makes a full recovery and returns to work. Her family comes in from the coast to visit her in the hospital; her father is especially concerned over how little information the doctors are willing to share.
In the Season 4 premiere, Howard passes a promotion exam and is elevated to Sergeant. Most of her fellow detectives had encouraged her to go up for the position, but on actually assuming the role she becomes alienated from them. This happens in part because she seems at first to "micromanage" them, and also simply because her new position changes her relationship with them. Her friendship with Det. Meldrick Lewis, for example, grows especially stormy after she is promoted.
It was implied in the fourth season that her intense privacy, combined with her toughness and style change to masculine clothing, had led to some speculation that she might be a lesbian; upon seeing Kay with a mystery date, Det John Munch said as much, although this may have just been a tactic to get her to tell him who the man is. The DVD commentaries for the show reveal that the producers were aware that the character was extremely popular in the LGBT community.
She is generally "one of the team", although her being female was occasionally remarked upon by the squad. The crime scene photographer J. H. Brodie expressed his infatuation with her, but due to a miscommunication she felt his expression of affection was a way to make fun of her. Mike Kellerman also stated she was attractive "because of the hair." In certain episodes she expressed concern about her sister and gender issues. In general she dislikes both being deemed masculine and being treated "like a lady."
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