Brooklyn bad boy Rico Amonte was sliding into a life of crime. Then his policeman brother caught him in the act ‚ and hauled him off to Southern California to get him on the straight and narrow. Two years later, Rico is a graduate of the Los Angeles Sheriff's academy ‚ a Deputy Sheriff trainee about to hit the streets in uniform, and with a gun and a badge.

New York's streets were dangerous, but nothing has prepared Rico from the hazing he gets from his own department. His training officer, John Henry Barnes, is the meanest, toughest veteran on the force and is determined to hammer Rico into a by-the-book officer of the law -- or break him in the process.

In spite of Barnes' warning to not get emotionally involved, a genuinely concerned Rico goes beyond the call of duty to search for an abused boy's real father; and although Valero and Williams fear the worst after seeing a white woman get into an SUV with four gang members, the outcome is certainly not what they expect.

The booking of a drunk clown and a mishap involving airplane lavatory ""residue"" pale in comparison to what becomes the day's priority for the sheriffs—finding a ruthless murderer. Barnes hopes an ex-con now in the business of gang intervention can lead them to the killer, and, during a frightening confrontation, Rico's respect for his training officer increases.

As Rico just gets used to being tourmented by Barnes; Barnes suffers from a dizzy spell, he is put on desk duty. Amonte gets a new temporary Training Officer, a tough, brassy senior deputy Ryan Layne - a twelve-year veteran.

With his evaluation date looming, Barnes and Briggs warn Rico that he needs to stop letting emotion rule his work. Meanwhile, Rico's squad car is stolen.

Before the public's trust in law enforcement fades any further, Rico, Barnes and the other deputies must find a group who are posing as cops and committing home invasion robberies. Meanwhile, Jablonski is baffled when the same criminal keeps escaping his grasp, and Layne and Williams are grossed out when they find the source of a strange odor emanating from a janitor's apartment.

After Rico and Barnes find an abandoned baby girl, the mother shows up to claim her daughter; and even though she accepts responsibility for what she has done, the sheriffs must still press charges against her. Meanwhile, Lopez has to confront her gang past when she sees two homegirls from her old neighborhood making the same mistakes she did.

Rico's sheriff's training gets into full swing as he and Barnes handle a melee of calls around the city of Los Angeles, from rescuing a little girl who got stuck in a refrigerator to helping a woman whose mother thinks she's possessed. Meanwhile Williams gets assigned a tough new T.O., and Jablonski is given a new trainee after his first one quit. And, in order to join the department's boxing team, Rico has to first fight Jablonski.