IIRC Hunter was a military veteran hence his different attitude. Most likely enlisted as opportunities were limited for a lot of people prior to the 1980's so quite a few people joined the service to take advantage of things such as ROTC. Howard would be out of place today because most cities take the approach of the cop being from a similar background as the citizens where he patrols or has authority over. I thought James B Sikking did a very good job portraying Hunter.