Best Maverick Cop Movies & TV Shows

Sledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the standard "cop on the edge" character. Al Jean and Mike Reiss, best known for their work on The Simpsons, wrote for the show and worked as story editors.

A detective chief inspector from 2006 is investigating a serial killer when he is knocked over by a speeding car. Waking up, he finds himself mysteriously transported back in time to 1973. Initially struggling to come to terms with his situation, he has to come to terms with the old-fashioned technology and attitude of the day, while figuring out how he came to be trapped in the past.

American Police officer Jack Hazard heads for South America after being ordered to take time off by his boss after a raid goes bad. Once there, however, he finds himself caught up with a stranger wanted by the government, and soon ends up in prison. He and his unwanted companion escape, and now Jack must try to get back to safety while being hunted down by an iron-fisted tyrant.

L.A. Heat is an American action series starring Wolf Larson and Steven Williams as Los Angeles police detectives, in the tradition of films like Lethal Weapon. The series aired on TNT from March 15, 1999.

Crime drama series featuring Life On Mars' DCI Gene Hunt. After being shot in 2008, DI Alex Drake lands in 1981, where she finds herself in familiar company.

Jack Frost is a gritty, dogged and unconventional detective with sympathy for the underdog and an instinct for moral justice who attracts trouble like a magnet. Despite some animosity with his superintendent, Norman “Horn-rimmed Harry” Mullett, Frost and his ever-changing roster of assistants manage to solve cases via his clever mind, good heart, and cool touch.

Hannah plays DI Jack Cloth, who is called in to investigate an apparent series of serial killings alongside his new partner, DC Anne Oldman, described as a "plucky, no-nonsense sidekick". Playing with the cliches and conventions of British police dramas, subplots include Cloth dealing with visions of his dead wife and the bisexual DC Oldman coming to grips with her feelings for both her female fiancee and Cloth.

It's not 1985 anymore...it's 1986, and Chuck Steel is 'the best God damn cop on the force' according to his long suffering boss, Captain Jack Schitt. But even this maverick, renegade, loose cannon, lone wolf, cop on the edge, who doesn't play by the rules has his work cut out when the Governor of LA decides to reduce the licensing hours for clubs and bars triggering a sudden, inexplicable spate of high profile disappearances in the city. The disappearances all have the same thing in common, a crime scene covered in blood but with no sign of the victim. The police are perplexed until they get a break in the case when one of the victims manages to escape. Chuck goes to interview the victim at the hospital but is confronted by a crazed old man who introduces himself as Abraham Van Rental. He warns a disbelieving Chuck that an evil scourge is about to descend on the city of Los Angeles - the scourge of the TRAMPIRES - a mutated hybrid of vampire and tramp.

Veteran buttoned-down LAPD detective Roger Murtaugh is partnered with unhinged cop Martin Riggs, who -- distraught after his wife's death -- has a death wish and takes unnecessary risks with criminals at every turn. The odd couple embark on their first homicide investigation as partners, involving a young woman known to Murtaugh with ties to a drug and prostitution ring.

A freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills.

Marcus and Mike are forced to confront new threats, career changes, and midlife crises as they join the newly created elite team AMMO of the Miami police department to take down the ruthless Armando Armas, the vicious leader of a Miami drug cartel.

Senator Walter Chalmers is aiming to take down mob boss Pete Ross with the help of testimony from the criminal's hothead brother Johnny, who is in protective custody in San Francisco under the watch of police lieutenant Frank Bullitt. When a pair of mob hitmen enter the scene, Bullitt follows their trail through a maze of complications and double-crosses. This thriller includes one of the most famous car chases ever filmed.

Police Inspector Paul Fein copes with family troubles while also dealing with the possibility of advancement to police chief. Meanwhile, his son is investigating the murder of a banker.

Paul Fein is a veteran police detective whose son Eddie is also a cop. Paul is assigned to investigate the murder of a prominent businessman, and he soon learns that the field of suspects has been narrowed down to two—the victim's sexually freewheeling wife Anna, and Paul's wild-child daughter Jackie. Neither Paul nor Eddie believe that Jackie could have committed the murder, and soon Paul is using himself as a decoy in a bid to find out more about what Anna does and doesn't know about her husband's death.

In the opening chase, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh stumble across a trunk full of Krugerrands. They follow the trail to a South African diplomat who's using his immunity to conceal a smuggling operation. When he plants a bomb under Murtaugh's toilet, the action explodes!

Blue Thunder is a 1984 ABC television series based on the movie of the same title featuring the Blue Thunder helicopter. The series uses the converted Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopter and large portions of stock footage from the 1983 film. A ground unit named "Rolling Thunder" backed up the helicopter in the television series. This was a large support van with a desert camouflage off-road vehicle stored inside. The television series cast includes James Farentino, Dana Carvey, and former professional American football players Bubba Smith and Dick Butkus. The series was canceled by ABC after they felt the similar Airwolf on CBS would win the ratings battle. Also, the series aired at the same time as the CBS soap opera Dallas on Friday nights, and lost. Eleven episodes were made before the series was cancelled.

Hobbs has Dominic and Brian reassemble their crew to take down a team of mercenaries; Dominic unexpectedly gets sidetracked with facing his presumed deceased girlfriend, Letty.

Dirty Harry Callahan returns again, this time saddled with a rookie female partner. Together, they must stop a terrorist group consisting of angry Vietnam veterans.

Archetypal buddy cops Riggs and Murtaugh are back for another round of high-stakes action, this time setting their collective sights on bringing down a former Los Angeles police lieutenant turned black market weapons dealer. Lorna Cole joins as the beautiful yet hardnosed internal affairs sergeant who catches Riggs's eye.

A hard-nosed cop reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal temporarily paroled to him, in order to track down a killer.

Simon Phoenix, a violent criminal cryogenically frozen in 1996, escapes during a parole hearing in 2032 in the utopia of San Angeles. Police are incapable of dealing with his violent ways and turn to his captor, who had also been cryogenically frozen after being wrongfully accused of killing 30 innocent people while apprehending Phoenix.

Officers Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh of the Los Angeles Police Department must stop a dangerous crime lord from China from getting his brother out of jail.

Uptight and straight-laced, FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn is a methodical investigator with a reputation for excellence--and hyper-arrogance. Shannon Mullins, one of Boston P.D.'s "finest," is foul-mouthed and has a very short fuse, and uses her gut instinct and street smarts to catch the most elusive criminals. Neither has ever had a partner, or a friend for that matter. When these two wildly incompatible law officers join forces to bring down a ruthless drug lord, they become the last thing anyone expected: buddies.

Fastlane is an American action/crime drama series that was broadcast on Fox from September 18, 2002 to April 25, 2003.

Following the death of his father, young Danny Madigan takes comfort in watching action movies featuring the indestructible Los Angeles cop Jack Slater. After being given a magic ticket by theater manager Nick, Danny is sucked into the screen and bonds with Slater. When evil fictional villain Benedict gets his hands on the ticket and enters the real world, Danny and Jack must follow and stop him.

An American with a Japanese upbringing, Chris Kenner is a police officer assigned to the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles. Kenner is partnered with Johnny Murata, a Japanese-American who isn't in touch with his roots. Despite their differences, both men excel at martial arts, and utilize their formidable skills when they go up against Yoshida, a vicious yakuza drug dealer with ties to Kenner's past.

Coogan, an Arizona deputy sheriff goes to New York to pick up a prisoner. While escorting the prisoner to the airport, he escapes and Coogan heads into the city to recapture him.

Dempsey and Makepeace is a British television crime drama made by London Weekend Television for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham. The leading roles were played by Michael Brandon and Glynis Barber, who later married each other on 18 November 1989. The series combined elements of previous series such as the mis-matching of British and American crime-fighters from different classes as seen in The Persuaders! and the action of The Professionals.

A Los Angeles detective is sent to New York where he must solve a case involving an old Sicilian Mafia family feud.

Police officer Tom Sharky gets busted back to working vice, where he happens upon a scandalous conspiracy involving a local politician. Sharky's new 'machine' gathers evidence while Sharky falls in love with a woman he has never met.

An LA detective is murdered because she has microfilm with the recipe to make cocaine cookies. Two cops partner to find and stop the fiends before they can dope the nation by distributing their wares via the 'Wilderness Girls' cookie drive.

A Chicago cop is caught in the middle of a gang war while his own comrades shun him because he wants to take an irresponsible cop down.

Frank Penny is a disgraced cop looking for a shot at redemption. When the police chief's 11-year-old daughter is abducted, Frank goes rogue to try and save her. But to find the girl, Frank will need the help of Ava Brooks, whose live-streaming news channel is broadcasting Frank's every move.

A serial killer is stalking New York. Inspector Edward X. Delaney is an NYPD detective, nearing retirement, who is trying to put together the pieces of the case. Are the victims somehow linked? What does the brutal method of death signify?

Ten years after the original Robocop, Delta City is city owned and operated by OCP. RoboCop finds himself nearly obsolete and his former partner, John Cable, has returned to Delta City as its new Security Commander. But slowly, new enemies arise, and Murphy and Cable begin an investigation into a mysterious villain known as the Bone Machine.

Elijah Kane leads a hardcore undercover team of Seattle based cops who take on the local criminal element with a high-octane style of enforcement.

Chris O'Brien, devote Catholic and rookie cop with LAPD, is assigned to partner with the hard-edged, street-smart Nora Hugosian. A serial killer is loose, and all the victims are low-life guys whom Nora has dealt with. So, when the tire tracks of a police car are found at a murder scene, she's the prime suspect of internal affairs investigator Simon Hertzel...

A rash of bizarre murders in New York City seems to point to a group of grotesquely deformed vagrants living in the sewers. A courageous policeman, a photo journalist and his girlfriend, and a nutty bum, who seems to know a lot about the creatures, band together to try and determine what the creatures are and how to stop them.

Jack Regan, a hardened cop who doesn’t play by the rules, is confronted with a criminal from his past. With sidekick George Carter they are put on the case of a jewellery store heist that ends in a killing. But is that killing really an execution in disguise? With pressure from his boss and the fact that Regan is having an affair with that boss’s wife, it’s not going to be easy for him to stay out of trouble.

When a local drug dealer shoots a dishonest cop in self-defense, lawyer and renegade undercover cop join forces to clear him. But when their investigation leads them into a maze of greed and corruption, they learn that in a town where everything is for sale, anything can happen.

China O'Brien; big city police woman; martial arts trainer, is forced to hand in her badge and head home to her father and the small town where she grew up. The peaceful town she knew is now struggling against the clutches of organized crime. When her father, the town sheriff, is killed China decides to run for his position and clean up the town. The poll results spark a series of confrontations that finally decide who runs the town . . .

A spoof of buddy cop movies where two very different cops are forced to team up on a new reality based T.V. cop show.

The wife of a wild Los Angeles police detective becomes a hostage of the heroin ring he and his partner have exposed.

The Walking Tall legacy continues with Bo Svenson as Sheriff Buford Pusser, a one-man army trying to rid his town of corruption. Out to avenge his wife's death at the hand of the mob, Sheriff Pusser blows up their moonshine operation. With Buford breathing down their necks, the syndicate hires two hitmen; one a maniacal race car driver, the other a deadly gunslinger. Any other man would've hightailed it out of there, but then Pusser is no ordinary man.

Vengeance drives a tough Detroit cop to stay on the trail of a power hungry auto magnate who's systematically eliminating his competition.

It's the final chapter in this chilling, real-life story of Sheriff Buford Pusser, a good-hearted lawman set on keeping his town safe. Still distraught over his wife's death, he blows up every moonshine still in McNairy county and burns the brothels and whiskey joints to the ground. Having gone too far, he's voted out of office, but that doesn't stop the mob from seeking their revenge. Buford soon discovers how small his town is when he runs out of highway with the mob on his trail.

Frank Gannon, a veteran cop, is being hunted by his fellow police officers after they learned he has betrayed the brotherhood and exposed to the feds wide scale corruption of the LAPD. He has one day left to prove his case and survive.

Two police officers discover an island laboratory where a madwoman is turning martial artists into superkillers.

An out-of-control robot is inadvertently set loose in a small community, and a crack squad of soldiers are sent to hunt it down. Gradually, the members of the squad begin to suspect that some of them are robots.

Amiable con man Jack Cooper is on a westbound stagecoach, headed for the next batch of suckers who will mistake him for an easy mark. Fiery Sarah O'Rourke rides the same coach, handcuffed to lawman Bill Speakes and headed for the hangman. In a few hours, all should reach their destinations. But the trail they travel takes an unexpected turn: Cooper and O'Rourke are soon off the stage and running for their lives. The law ends and the chase begins in a very alive tale of wanted-dead-or-alive fugitives (Linda Fiorentino and Craig Sheffer) pursued by a marshal (Sam Elliott) who's a law unto himself.