Police Squad! and Wiliams were the only ones who returned and portrayed their original characters in "The Naked Gun" film series. Captain Ed Hocken was portrayed by George Kennedy in the film series, while O. J. Simpson played Officer Nordberg (slightly renamed from 'Norberg'). The show's opening sequence was a satire on traditional opening sequences of crime dramas at that time, and of the 1960s, particularly "M Squad" and various Quinn Martin shows such as "The Fugitive" and particularly "The New Breed" (which also starred Nielsen). Hank Simms, who had worked as an announcer for some of Quinn Martin's programs, announced the
Police cadets in the United Kingdom aired The Squad, a drama series which followed the fictional adventures of Metropolitan Police Cadets. The twelve episodes were produced by Thames Television. Most of these precursor schemes were disbanded by the 1990s. The present form of Police Cadets began in 1988. It was a community initiative that was supported by Commissioner Peter Imbert, who wanted to engage with young people. The first documented Volunteer Police Cadet unit started in South Norwood (Lambeth) in March 1988. All of the territorial police forces of England and Wales have a corresponding VPC branch, as does the British Transport Police. These are subdivided