California Cops on Junkyard Wars

The Law Dawgs, three Modesto, Calif., police officers, will compete Wednesday night in the semi-finals of The Learning Channel’s Emmy nominated TV show Junkyard Wars. The Law Dawgs are taking on three NASA employees from Houston, Texas. Their challenge is to build a torpedo, navigate it through an underwater obstacle course, and hit a target on their opponents’ boat. Although each team can row their boat to try and avoid the torpedo, the final test takes place in a swimming pool so they don’t have much room for evasive maneuvers. Each team gets five tries to see whose torpedo will both sink and swim. The winner of the “Naval Warfare” challenge will move on to the Junkyard Wars Championship airing on Wednesday, November 14, to face The Miami Gearheads, who last week built a Glider in their semi-final challenge. The Law Dawgs consist of Mike, Tom and Dave. Mike, of Modesto, Calif., worked as a firefighter before his current job as a police officer (K-9 unit) on the Modesto Police Department. He earned the nickname “Mike-Gyver” for his ingenuity in reconstructing cars. Tom, of Ceres, Calif., has served on the Modesto police force for 15 years as its only motorcycle cop. The father of three also finds time to teach at the local police academy and fix cars. Dave of Manteca, Calif., joined the Modesto Police Department seven years ago after having worked as a carpenter and a water well driller. Dave also works in the Modesto K-9 unit where he has won over 30 awards.