Erik Estrada is back in uniform.

But this time the 57-year-old actor, who rose to fame in the late 1970s as Officer Francis Llewellyn (Ponch) Poncherello in the TV series CHiPs, is licensed to kill.

As part of the cast of CBS' new reality TV show, Armed and Famous, Estrada has become a sworn police officer in the Midwestern U.S. town of Muncie, Ind., which means he can carry a gun and use it.

"It's like day and night. We never drew our guns on CHiPs -- it was more of a show where children were taught lessons about having respect for law enforcement," says Estrada, just hours after coming off shift.

"I never had my gun, in six years, in my hand and it's not that way in the real world."

Estrada says the celebrities on the show, which include himself, singer La Toya Jackson, TV personality Jack Osbourne, professional skateboarder and Jackass star Jason (Wee-Man) Acuna and former WWE champion wrestler Trish Stratus, were not given any special treatment.

After being put through Police Academy, they were partnered with real-life officers and worked patrol on the dangerous graveyard shift.

"We had two stings that were very dangerous and I did have to draw my weapon one time," he says, adding he had a close call after pulling over a burglar's car.

"When we asked him to put his hands outside the vehicle and only one hand came out, for eight seconds my heart was in my throat because I didn't know what was in the other hand."

While Estrada is not giving away many secrets about the show, he says viewers can be assured everything is real, including the episode in which the cast is tasered as part of their training.

"It blew -- big time. Just imagine sticking a fork in an outlet and holding on to it -- every muscle contracts. It's just not fun at all."

That, however, was not enough to stop Estrada from fulfilling his commitment to the Muncie P.D.

"My first passion as a young man was to be a New York police officer. As luck had it, I ended up becoming an actor and I ended up on a television series in which I played a cop.

"Now I'm a cop working it for real and for me it's a life-long dream."

Aside from starring on Armed & Famous, Estrada is hoping to land a bit part in the upcoming CHiPs movie in which Wilmer Valderrama will play his famous role.

"I have talked to (the producers) ... and I have said to them it would really be fitting if you had a 90-second scene where I'm chewing out Ponch junior because he's not sticking to the grind -- he's chasing the girls, he's playing with the toys. It's sort of like Ponch senior handing over the baton to Ponch junior," he says.

Armed & Famous premieres Wednesday at 9 p.m. followed by a special original broadcast at the same time Thursday on CBS.

The series then moves to its regular night, Wednesdays, on Jan. 17.