John Taggart

Taggart is the sergeant alongside Billy who is ordered to watch Axel, the Detroit cop. He hates Axel's style, which goads the two with pranks. The relationship changes when they foil a club robbery together. When Maitland takes Jenny, Taggart tracks Axel and Billy to the estate and joins the shootout. At the end he and Billy pay Axel's hotel bill and share a farewell drink.

In the sequel, Taggart investigates the robberies with Billy and Bogomil until the new chief Lutz suspends the captain. When Axel returns to Beverly Hills, the two join him without hesitation. Taggart shoots Karla Fry when she tries to kill Axel at the oil field. At the end he and Billy face Lutz, who berates them, and prove Dent was the mastermind. The mayor fires Lutz.

In the third film, Taggart is absent. The script explains he retired and moved to Phoenix. In early drafts he and Billy went to London to rescue Bogomil, but John Ashton's and Ronny Cox's schedules got in the way, and the part went to Flint. Taggart appears only in passing, in a fishing photo on Billy's desk, next to Axel and Bogomil.

Decades later, Taggart is Beverly Hills police chief and has fallen out with Billy, who resigned. He introduces Axel to Captain Cade Grant, whom he mentored from cadet, and defends him fiercely, suspending Detective Abbott. Later he witnesses the setup Grant stages against Axel and Abbott and is convinced of the corruption. In the final shootout he fights beside Axel and Billy again. The three go out for a steak.

John Taggart was built to contrast with Axel's humor. John Ashton played him in three films. In Axel F (2024), it was his final role.