Conrad Howard

Howard is the captain who hears from Internal Affairs that the department will be shut down if the heroin doesn't turn up within 72 hours. When Julie will only talk to Mike, he is the one who sends Marcus to pose as his partner, then forces the two to swap lives. Despite the transfer order, he delays shutting the team down and gives the detectives the time they needed. In the end the department is still standing. Howard has Mike and Marcus imitate each other, with Mike living in the Burnett house, which kicks off a life swap.

After a chase that wrecks much of downtown Miami, Howard reprimands Mike and Marcus. He is also furious to learn the DEA is investigating the city without telling him. Even so, he is the one who authorizes the joint operation with the DEA and the Coast Guard against Tapia's house and mortuary, once the duo gather enough evidence. The operation against Tapia brings together the DEA, the Coast Guard and his CIA contacts for the rescue in Cuba.

When Mike returns from the coma wanting revenge, Howard forbids him to investigate, but ends up letting him work with the tech-driven AMMO team. Shortly after, he tells Mike he plans to retire and advises the detective to find a direction in life. Minutes later, he is assassinated by Armando Aretas. The captain's death pulls Marcus out of retirement. Before that, he links Mike to the AMMO team, led by Mike's ex-girlfriend Lieutenant Rita Secada, only because he knows Mike won't obey.

After his death, Howard is tied to a cartel: someone moved money into his account and faked the records. Mike and Marcus believe he was innocent. Armando, who killed him, reveals that Howard wasn't corrupt and knew who was. A video recorded before his death, using the phrase "Coke bottle," leads the duo to the hacker Fletcher and a second video hidden in a QR code. In the end, Howard is cleared. For Judy, his daughter and a U.S. Marshal, the video stirs a desire for revenge on Armando, until her daughter Callie says he saved her life.

Joe Pantoliano has played Captain Howard since the first film. He came back for the fourth even though the character dies in the third, because Will Smith insisted on bringing him back, according to Wikipedia.