Anita Van Buren is a fictional character on NBC's long-running police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order, portrayed by S. Epatha Merkerson. The character of Van Buren was an "authoritative lieutenant" in the New York Police Department, who supervised teams of detectives who worked out in the field, and originally served as "commander of the 27th Precinct Detective Squad." The fictional Van Buren achieved the rank of NYPD lieutenant before any actual policewoman in New York did so, creating a "dissonance" with reality. Van Buren appeared in 390 episodes of Law & Order. When she crossed the 300-episode mark in 2008, Lt. Van Buren became the longest-running African-American character in television history.