NYPD Blue (season 4)
Table:
Actor
Character
Main cast
Recurring cast

Jimmy Smits
Bobby Simone
entire season
—

Dennis Franz
Andy Sipowicz
entire season
—

James McDaniel
Arthur Fancy
entire season
—

Nicholas Turturro
James Martinez
entire season
—

Sharon Lawrence
Sylvia Costas
entire season
—

Gordon Clapp
Greg Medavoy
entire season
—

Kim Delaney
Diane Russell
entire season
—

Andrea Thompson
Jill Kirkendall
—
episodes 6-8,10-14,17-18,20

Drawing on the given table together with the supporting text below.

Give the answer to the question: What did the NYPD 's fictional person portrayed by Jimmy Smits do before being a cop ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Base your answer solely on the given information.

Jimmy Smits ( born July 9 , 1955 ) is an American actor best known for playing attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s legal drama L.A. Law , NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s police drama NYPD Blue and Matt Santos on the political drama The West Wing . He also appeared as Bail Organa in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and as ADA Miguel Prado in Dexter . From 2012 to 2014 , he joined the main cast of Sons of Anarchy as Nero Padilla . Smits also portrayed Elijah Strait in the NBC drama series Bluff City Law .
Robert Bobby Simone is a fictional character in the television series NYPD Blue . Played by Jimmy Smits he was introduced in the fifth episode of the second season remaining until the fifth episode of the sixth . Simone was introduced to the squad after Andy Sipowicz 's former partner , John Kelly , was forced to leave the NYPD in the face of an IAB witch hunt . His previous job had been as a driver for the police commissioner , a role that initially riled Sipowicz . However , Simone explained that he had asked for the job so he could spend more time with his wife as she was dying from cancer . An early bond and friendship between them was strong enough that Andy asked Simone to step in after John Kelly could n't make it back to New York for Sipowicz 's wedding to Sylvia Costas . Bobby and Andy became great friends and partners , although Bobby did not let Andy get away with making racist comments around him . It is later learned that Bobby was a quiet kid whose passion for raising racing pigeons came from his friendship with a retired boxer ( who later showed early signs of Alzheimer 's ) , and that he had a flashy older friend named Ray DiSalvo whom he idolized - which came back to haunt him when Ray became a petty criminal and tried unsuccessfully to sell Bobby out to IAB for giving him an implicit warning to avoid a drug bust . In the episode Prostrate Before The Law , season five episode 19 , Simone is dealing with a suspect who assumes he is Puerto Rican . Simone retorts that he is of French and Portuguese descent and that his parents met in Belize . Early on in his time in the squad Simone started a relationship with Diane Russell , another detective at the 15th Precinct . According to NYPD guidelines the police department did not allow such couplings for officers who worked in the same precinct , so the couple kept it quiet up until the point that they were married by a justice of the peace ( Lt Arthur Fancy also knew they were dating , but never officially notified the higher-ups about it ) .
Dennis Franz Schlachta ( /frɑːnz/ ; born October 28 , 1944 ) , known professionally as Dennis Franz , is a retired American actor best known for his role as Detective Andy Sipowicz in the ABC television series NYPD Blue ( 1993-2005 ) , a role that earned him a Golden Globe Award , three Screen Actors Guild Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards . He also portrayed Lt. Norman Buntz in the similar NBC series Hill Street Blues ( 1985-1987 ) and its short-lived spinoff , Beverly Hills Buntz ( 1987-1988 ) .
Andrew Sipowicz is a fictional character and protagonist on the popular ABC television series NYPD Blue . Dennis Franz portrayed the character for its entire run .
James McDaniel ( born March 25 , 1958 in Washington , D.C. ) is an American stage , film and television actor . He is best known for playing Lt. Arthur Fancy on the television show NYPD Blue . He created the role of Paul in the hit Lincoln Center play Six Degrees of Separation . He played a police officer in the ill-fated 1990 series Cop Rock , and a close advisor to the director Spike Lee regarding the activist Malcolm X in the 1992 film Malcolm X . He also played Sgt . Jesse Longford in the ABC television series Detroit 1-8-7 .
Capt . Arthur Fancy is a fictional character and protagonist in the television series NYPD Blue . He was played by James McDaniel from season one through eight .
Nicholas Turturro ( born January 29 , 1962 ) is an American actor , known for his roles in New York City based films and on the television series Blue Bloods and NYPD Blue . Nicholas is the younger brother of John Turturro and the cousin of Aida Turturro .
Sharon Elizabeth Lawrence ( born June 29 , 1961 ) is an American actress , singer , and dancer . She is best known for the role of Sylvia Costas Sipowicz in the ABC drama series NYPD Blue . The role garnered her three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series .
Sylvia Costas-Sipowicz is a fictional character from the American television drama NYPD Blue , in which the character was married to Detective Andy Sipowicz , played by Dennis Franz . She was played by Sharon Lawrence .
Gordon Clapp ( born September 24 , 1948 ) is an American actor , best known for portraying the role of Det . Greg Medavoy for all 12 seasons on the television series NYPD Blue , winning an Emmy Award in 1998 .
Gregory Medavoy is a fictional character ( as well as a protagonist ) in the television series NYPD Blue . He was played by Gordon Clapp from the third episode of the 1st season to the last episode of the series . Aside from Andy Sipowicz , he was the longest running regular character in the series .
Kim Delaney ( born November 29 , 1961 ) is an American actress known for her starring role as Detective Diane Russell on the ABC drama television series NYPD Blue , for which she won an Emmy Award . Early in her career , she played the role of Jenny Gardner in the ABC daytime television drama All My Children . She later had leading roles in the short lived TV drama Philly , part of the first season of CSI : Miami , and the first six seasons of Army Wives .
Diane Russell is a fictional character in the television series NYPD Blue . She was played by Kim Delaney in Season 2 as a recurring character , from Seasons to 3 to 8 as a primary character , and a recurring character again in Seasons 10 and 11 .
Rebecca Andrea Thompson ( born January 6 , 1960 ) is an American actress , known for her roles on the television series Falcon Crest , Babylon 5 , JAG , 24 , and NYPD Blue .