officer donald leslie "don" orville is a fictional character in the nbc sitcom "3rd rock from the sun". he is portrayed by wayne knight and works as a police sergeant in the fictional town of rutherford, ohio, though he is consistently referred to as "officer" throughout the series, much like real-world police sergeants and others are referred to as officer by lay-persons, despite their actual rank. the character is first introduced to the series late in the first season, in the episode "assault with a deadly dick", in which the solomon family go to the police for help after they fall victim to crime.