Columbo a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. He is a friendly, verbose, disheveled-looking police detective (of Italian descent) who is consistently underestimated by his suspects. Most people are initially reassured and distracted by his circumstantial speech, then increasingly irritated by his pestering behavior. Despite his unprepossessing appearance and apparent absentmindedness, he shrewdly solves all of his cases and secures all evidence needed for indictment. His formidable eye for detail and meticulously dedicated approach, though apparent to the viewer, often become clear to the killer only late in the storyline.