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I ran into this old 80′s TV series on YouTube the other day and thought I’d share it you. David Rasche played in Sledge Hammer! Quoting Wikipedia, Sledge Hammer TV series is about:
Inspector Sledge Hammer of the Los Angeles Police Department is a violent, sadistic, insensitive, yet oddly likable detective. His best friend is a .44 Magnum with a customized grip featuring a drawing of a sledgehammer. Hammer sleeps and showers with his gun, and even talks to it. Hammer believes in shooting first and asking questions never. In the pilot episode, he deals with a sniper on a roof by blowing up the entire building with a rocket launcher, then turns to the uniformed cops on scene and says “I thinkI got ‘em”; he also mentions that his favorite charity is “Toy Guns for Tots”. Hammers father was Jack Hammer, a legendary carnival trick shooter whose repetory of shooting tricks included catching a bullet in his teeth, which saved his son’s life in one episode. His mothers name was Armin Hammer.
His partner, Detective Dori Doreau (played by Anne-Marie Martin) has some karate skills evidenced by the perfectly executed chicken kick the the best of Sledge Hammer part 1. Inspector Hammer does what normal cops might like to do sometimes but cannot. He is kind of a funny Dirty Harry. Here is a clip I found. Afterwards I’ll examine police work a bit as it relates to self-defense and why cops use more non-lethal weapons today.
I guess I am easily amused! Did you see the crossing guard bit? Real life cops might like to dispense justice in the same manner but they are bound by laws and rules. The bad thing about the rules is it favors the criminals.
Any good martial artist can attest to their ability to rapidly take advantage of someone stepping into their distance albeit a officer trying to lawfully dispose his or her duty. What I am talking about is stepping next to another person and getting sucker punched (meaning the bad guy strikes first)!
What martial arts taught me way back when I was a green belt was the first one that connected with a powerful strike (hand, foot, knee, elbow…) and followed through – won the fight easily. Before I took karate I did not know that and thought it was safe for cops to grab and handcuff a bad guy.
I am happy to see cops using tasers more and more nowadays because I see that as a safe choice for a non-compliant person to be taken into custody. When I was younger I wanted to be a cop but later saw the true danger cops faced every day and decided against it. As a private citizen I do not have to get right next to someone that is aggressive. Rather I can step back and tell the guy to stay out of my face! If he tries to attack I can take him down but a cop might not have that luxury.
I kind of got off on a tangent but this is why I think many cops might like the idea of really getting the bad guys. It is a fun diversion to watch a show like Sledge Hammer was and suspend normal rules. I hope you liked this glimpse of Sledge Hammer and my view point of the logical difficulties of being a cop dealing with trained fighters. I’ll do a post later to point out karate and police work in a future post.