re: On this date back in 2002, The Shield premiered on FX .....

Vic swings between antihero and dirty cop depending on the situation.

They get a cut of dealing in Farmington but he sells it to himself as it being a way to control violence in the area by preventing turf wars. When those happen anyway, he figures out who would handle things the way he wants and arrange a “change in management”.

And OTOH, he arranges several crimes to benefit the Strike Team which have repercussions for the rest of the series such as robbing a bunch of mobsters, which causes its own set of problems when they start trying to figure out who got their money.