New to the show this season, we don't actually know a lot about Ballard. Her first appearance was during a news conference, celebrating a successful arrest in a redball. She called G "Loot", but hasn't done it since. Based on what we've seen, Ballard is incredibly naive for a homicide detective. She transferred from Seattle to Baltimore, just to be somewhere new. Frequently comparing Baltimore to Seattle, one gets the impression that being homicide in Seattle is a peice of cake. According to her, she has been awarded many commendations in the past, making her the whiz kid of Homicide. She relates cases to herself, bringing her own skewed-feminist approach into things. More than a career as murder police, she wants to be married and have children. Apparently, she spends a good deal of time going to meat-market bars on her own, looking for a mate. We can surmise that her sexual habits aren't always safe, as she obsessed over getting an AIDS test over Christmas. She and her partner Stu Gharty seem to share an intimate but distant relationship; they seem to relate to one another in conversation, but they really don't have much in common. She calls him honey, and he frets over her like a spouse. She is not above dating out of the office; she's had one date with Bayliss, and it's implied that she's had several with Falsone. Important character weakness; she's deathly allergic to crab.

Speaking for Laura Ballard: Writing for Ballard is easy, because she's been designed as very sterotypically "female, sweet but tough". She simpers and giggles, takes umbrage at percieved sexism, and waxes poetic on putting right what once went wrong. (Sorry Quantum Leap!). Her dialogue is meandering, and frequently winds up as a discussion about herself and her experiences. Rather than react with words, she often resorts to eye-rolling, and other facial expressions. She will ask others for guidance, but usually ignore it. Her dialogue is often syrupy, but she has no particular vocabulary distinctions at this point.

Vital Statistics: (Dyed) black hair, brown eyes. Very short, probably even slightly shorter than Stivers. She tends to wear black or neutral slacks and vibrant or earth tone tight-fitting knit shirts to work; this is apparently what she wears in her free time as well.

Personal Note: I thought this character was so badly drawn in the show, that trying to salvage her would be a waste of my and my readers' time; so I killed her. Makes for great drama.