‘Detroit’ cop show has strong character

And yet something engaging emerges from the procedural cliches in “Detroit 1-8-7,’’ thanks to strong casting and a tone that’s flexible and alive enough to veer easily from black comedy to romantic tension to suspense to somber hopelessness in the course of the hour. The show, filmed with a hand-held camera, is very much in the vein of “NYPD Blue,’’ but of course with a different and perhaps more depressed city nipping at the cops’ heels. The cops don’t always win the day, and there’s a complicated, Sipowicz-like male figure at the center of the action. He is Detective Fitch, and he is as emotionally unaware and crusty as he is brave.

I think Imperioli, as Fitch, is the best thing about “Detroit 1-8-7.’’ He’s truly formidable in a scene that requires Fitch to calmly stare a confession out of a perp, and then he’s funny when Fitch insists on phoning new partner Damon to complain — while Damon is sitting right next to him. “Nobody understands the guy,’’ another cop tells the mystified Damon, “but he gets results.’’ If Imperioli’s talent weren’t already so well-known from his time as Christopher on “The Sopranos,’’ his subtle work on this show would feel like a breakout performance. And he’s surrounded by a distinctive ensemble, including Natalie Martinez as the squad’s rising star and James McDaniel (from “NYPD Blue’’) as the seen-it-all cop closing in on retirement. I could imagine spending more time with this crew.

The original concept of “Detroit 1-8-7’’ was to film the cops as if they were appearing in a documentary. At times, the characters would acknowledge the cameramen, including a scene in which Fitch grabs a camera to smash a car window. But that faux documentary approach was edited out of the premiere and nixed from the series, when the city of Detroit began prohibiting media ride-alongs after a kid was killed during the filming of a reality show. And “Detroit 1-8-7’’ is better off without the gimmick. In sitcoms that tend toward the outrageous, the mockumentary style works, but in a show aiming for realism, the method feels forced and artificial. Now, the show benefits from a jagged but inviting flow, and a less obtrusive lens through which to see a city struggle.

Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com. For more on TV, visit www.boston.com/ae/tv/blog.