James Kent

James Kent is a corrupt SWAT commander and the true main antagonist of the 2009 comedy/action film Paul Blart: mall cop. He is revealed to have been the true mastermind behind the credit card heist in the film. He is portrayed by Bobby Cannavale.

"3, 2, 1...I'm in charge."
After Veck Sims and his men hijacked the mall and took hostages, Kent along with his SWAT team appear and muscles his way into the situation, preparing to take control of the situation as any SWAT team normally would but repeatedly refuses to listen to any intel the police already have. He forcefully attempts to communicate with Blart and it is revealed that he used to be a childhood bully to Blart as he "set him on fire at the pancake festival". He tries to discourage Blart from continuing his mission but gives him time anyway. Despite being a bully he appears to be an ally to Blart but continually taunts his superiors, driving them crazy. As Blart slowly begins to win against the terrorists, Kent threatens to takeover but recognizes that Blart is winning and when he drives the mall's display minivan, Kent stops the other cops from shooting and hops in with Blart and the two began pursuing Veck, who had kidnapped Blart's daughter and his girlfriend.

Betrayal
Kent appears again after Blart had defeated Veck in a fist fight and at first appears to congratulate Blart but pulls his gun on him, leaving Blart speechless and Veck gleeful. Seemingly triumphant, Kent demands the phone containing the credit card codes but Blart destroys it. Kent then demonstrates that he can simply use the codes that were written on the terrorists arms. He then goes on a rant, threatening to kill the three of them but the gun is shot of his hand by Blart's boss and he is arrested.