Clancy Wiggum

**Chief Clarence "Clancy" Wiggum**, is the head of police of the Springfield Police Department. He is an extreme stereotype of a lazy police officer. Chief Wiggum is morbidly obese, straightforwardly indecent, ignorant, incompetent, and lazy, with a fondness for doughnuts and "Chintzy Pop" (a fictional popcorn that is based on Jiffy Pop). While he pretentiously feigns authority, he has little regard for individual rights or even public safety. He is disturbingly uninformed and flaunts his power, albeit with good intentions most of the time. He is part Irish.[5] He is a major character in The Simpsons and the tritagonist of The Simpsons Movie.

He, along with most of Springfield's government and its police force, is also corrupt, having asked for or taken bribes several times. When Bart bribed him with stolen wedding presents, he told him to read his badge and, at the bottom of the badge, was the caption "Cash Bribes Only".[6] He has a strained friendship with Mayor Quimby. This strained relationship may help to explain why Wiggum has retained his job, despite his inability to do any of his duties.

He is often assisted by his more intelligent "top cops", Eddie and Lou. He is completely ignorant of Springfield's laws and even makes up his own laws on the fly, and often quotes sayings from the police handbook which cannot actually be found in the book. According to The Bart Book, Clancy is also in the SPD Bomb Squad, which is in fact just him in a hockey mask.

## Biography

It is possible Clancy Wiggum was born in Ireland.[7] However, he also seemed to spend some part of his early childhood in Maryland, as he mentioned that he used to sell ribbons there with his father, Iggy Wiggum. Iggy was a WWII veteran who died in a parade float accident in 1979, along with Arnie Gumble, Sheldon Skinner, Etch Westgrin, and Griff McDonald, who were all members of Abe Simpson's Flying Hellfish.[8] He did, however, grow up in Springfield and was among the same class and age group as Homer Simpson, Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson, Barney Gumble, and possibly Marge Simpson.

At an early age, Wiggum played cops and robbers with Homer and other kids his age, showing a clear ambition to become a police officer. At the age of 16, he was a hall monitor at high school, and possibly had a part-time security guard job at Springfield State University. Wiggum was present at the University's germ research labs (of which Prof. C. Montgomery Burns was chairman at the time) when Mona Simpson and the hippie activist group she was part of sabotaged the germ experiments. Wiggum, who had suffered from asthma prior to that, was cured by antibiotics that the group released to kill the germs, and helped Mona Simpson escape the police when she was on the run twenty-five years later to return the favor. Near the beginning of the school year in 1978, Wiggum, then a drug officer, was investigating Lenny, Carl, and Homer for taking marijuana, and had his sniffer dog, Sergeant Scraps, and was successful in the case.

In 1985, Chief Wiggum was involved in the barbershop quartet called the "Be Sharps". Wiggum was a member with Homer Simpson, Seymour Skinner, and Apu. However, a talent scout, who showed interest in the Be Sharps, didn't like Wiggum as a performer, saying the idea of a cop in the group was "too Village People." Consequently, he was thrown out of the group. When auditions were held to find a replacement for Wiggum, he attempted to be reselected for the quartet, wearing a disguise similar to Dr. Doolittle, but was found out and was rejected from the audition.[9]

Early attempts to get into the Police Force when he was a teenager were unsuccessful on account of his asthma, so when it had been cured he could then pursue his ambition to become a professional police officer. Having entered the Police Academy by age 24, Wiggum managed to work around his many shortcomings and finally become a full fledged officer. By the age of 34, he had managed to work his way up to the position of Police Chief of Springfield. He eventually was promoted to Commissioner after Bart's hoax kidnapping case. It is implied that Wiggum managed to overcome his shortcomings with coaxing methods such as great skills with back massages and charm to get the position of Chief, but he actually received the position when the frustrated former Chief resolved to give it to the next person he met, which was Wiggum. Another explanation is when Mayor Quimby said that he made Wiggum the police chief so that the law would not be enforced to the letter, and he could get away with all his corrupt activities. This may also explain why Chief Wiggum has somewhat of a feud with Mayor Quimby, such as getting into a serious argument with him in regards to Marge's arrest,[10] blackmailing him with incriminating photos,[11] and even trying to arrest Quimby for corruption charges.[12] Regardless, Wiggum had accomplished his childhood dream.

Wiggum weighs about 350 pounds and is 5'9" tall.

Other than his job as Police Chief, he is also the coach for the Mighty Pigs Hockey team. He is also implied to have a gambling problem, with a tendency to bet on the other team even when his team won.[13] He is also a participant in the Annual Chili Cook-Off, where it is implied that he holds a grudge against Homer Simpson due to his scathing reviews of various chili. One year, he briefly got his revenge on Homer by including in his chili Guatemalan Insanity Peppers, which he added to his chili specifically in anticipation of Homer tasting his. However, Homer eventually got his revenge by tasting multiple tastes of chili while having coated his mouth with wax after drinking hot wax from a candle container, leaving Wiggum stunned and horrified while Homer tauntingly told him to "not quit his day job, whatever that is". However, Wiggum ultimately got the last laugh as the Insanity Peppers ended up causing Homer to undergo a psychotic break.

Wiggum is also worryingly dismissive of basic firearm safety and uses his gun for various tasks that continuously put his life in danger. Examples include selling pieces of it to feed his family after being fired from his position as chief of police, using it as a nutcracker, and eating donuts off its barrel. When it goes off and nearly shoots him through the head (instead going through the peak of his cap), he merely remarks on what a close call it was and resumes eating.

### Personality

   Wiggum capitalizes the negative aspects of the police force and service, especially within Springfield and perhaps the judicial system in general. His badge actually states in fine print, "cash bribes only". In addition to the stereotype Wiggum embodies, like Homer Simpson, he often eats donuts. He can barely walk up a flight of stairs without running out of breath, let alone chase a suspect. His walk has gradually become a waddle because of his legs having difficulty withstanding his weight.

Multiple times, Wiggum displays an ignorance for the law, usually making up his own arbitrary reasons for arresting people rather than an actual crime, although sometimes Wiggum has had a clear view of the law, at ties butting heads with Mayor Quimby, who is willing to break legal laws just to retain his position as mayor of Springfield. In some cases, he tries to avoid stopping crimes, such as claiming the caller has the wrong number (912 rather than 911), or is in disbelief when someone is reporting a crime.

Despite this, there have been instances where Wiggum proves to be a good cop at times. For example, he successfully located the missing Maggie Simpson and helped Homer chase Marge and Ruth Connors when they became convicts. He showed an uncharacteristic level of dedication to his police work when trying to find the shooter who gunned down Mr. Burns. In the episode Chief of Hearts, he is seen to have a brief friendship with Homer.