Hill and Renko arrest councilman Detweiler for drunken driving; Belker is joined by actor Jon Gennaro on his undercover job; Fay goes to work as a crime reporter for an advertising weekly; and Furillo looks into the charges made against his men by a bitter Lou Hogan.

Gennaro accompanies Belker on a drug buy; LaRue and Washington set up two patrolmen accused by Hogan of stealing from burglary victims; Renko's birthday is less than happy; and Furillo uses his favor to Detweiler to save Goldblume's job when Hogan's accusations prove partially correct.

At a condemned building site, Hill and Renko try to persuade a black grandmother that she has to move while Goldblume tries to keep an old man afraid of his new living arrangements from jumping off; Belker thwarts a robbery while applying for a bank loan; and LaRue and Washington butt heads with a special narcotics undercover cop dealing with the same cocaine peddler.

Belker goes undercover to investigate a scam using bums to collect injury insurance benefits; Coffey tries to relate to a Vietnam vet suffering from traumatic stress; and Daniels orders Furillo to cut off Fuchs from the Maizel homicide investigation.

LaRue and Washington open Maizel's safety deposit box and find evidence of his corruption; Bates and Coffey try to help an abused child with her baby; Belker ends his insurance scam investigation with a visit to Hill's doctor; and Daniels pressures Furillo to keep quiet about Maizel.

Mayo and Garibaldi investigate when Councilman Detweiler's mother shoots an intruder; Hill and Renko catch a notorious loan shark with over $300 in outstanding parking fines; a distraught man threatens to set fire to his wife and child; and Belker is kidnapped and abused by a group of winos.