Doakes was a strong-willed sergeant within Miami Metro Homicide. He acted as both a detective and a supervisor at any given crime scene. He often partnered with Sergeant Angel Batista and Officer Debra Morgan, while dealing with forensics on scene, namely Dexter Morgan and Vince Masuka. His direct supervisor (and close friend) was Lieutenant Maria LaGuerta, with whom he had previously been partners for over two years.
Doakes was an African-American who kept his head shaved and had a mustache. He stood roughly at 5 foot, 8 inches, weighed about 200 pounds, and has a defined, muscular build.

His attire usually consisted of corporate casual clothing, such as dress pants and polo T-Shirts, which he kept tucked in. When the occasion called for it, he'd don a full suit or a fine dress jacket in attending events. Doakes often wore gun straps over his shirt. A couple of times, he wore a black sleeveless undershirt and a red open shirt over top. Almost all of his dress pants were dark in color, usually gray to pure black. Occasionally, he wore khakis.