3. Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry, 1971)
Say hello to the prototype for the American badass police officer. With his Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver Inspector Harold Francis "Dirty Harry" Callahan personifies everything this list is trying to convey. He is a genuine, bonafide inspiration for guys like Dredd and his shoot now ask questions later attitude became the formula for just about every cop movie for the last 4 decades. Callahan's strong sense of what is right and what is wrong works both ways. Sure he'll blow your head clean off if the moment calls for it he also shows compassion for perps such as with Jennifer Spencer in Sudden Impact (1983) who he lets go free despite being responsible for the deaths of several people after he finds out she's actually a victim of rape acting out of revenge. In his eyes he her retribution was justified. Likewise he shoots a guy he believes is planning on committing a rape. When asked how he could possibly have known the man's intentions without speaking to him he coolly replies"When a naked man is chasing a woman through an alley with a butcher knife and a hard-on, I figure he isn't out collecting for the Red Cross." There's simply no question about Harry Callahan's credentials which make him number 3 on our list of 10 totally badass cops you wouldn't want to mess with. And if you think you're man enough to take him on there's only one thing you have to ask yourself: "Do I feel lucky?". Well, do you, punk?