A reporter accuses Mannion of committing a war crime in Vietnam 22 years ago by ordering 18 innocent people to be killed, and one of the chief's fellow soldiers confirms the story. Also: Temple and Debreno search for a 15-year-old boy they suspect is planning to carry out a murder in order to join a gang.

The wife of a heavyweight boxing champion is found murdered in her hotel room, and Temple, the first officer on the scene, comes under suspicion because of a past relationship with the victim, who was habitually abused by her husband. Also: a custodial worker at the police department is discovered to have a false identity.

While in L.A. Mannion unexpectedly meets up with Vanessa Cavanaugh and offers her a ride. Unfortunately the rental care is carjacked and the pair find themselves stranded in a deserted part of town after they get carjacked. Back in Washington, Deputy Mayor Lockhart asks Debreno to help her find a blackmailer who has a scandalous videotape that could destroy her career; Kendall is threatened by her ex-boyfriend; and Ella is offered a job by the mayor.

After a shrinking budget forces Mannion to lay off officers, he takes on a powerful city commissioner he believes is partly responsible for the cutbacks. But the move upsets the mayor, who then looks for an excuse to fire the chief. Also: a congressional witness in a fraud trial claims key case documents were stolen from his hotel room; and Nancy and Brander are injured in an accident while pursuing a suspect.

The mayor is more determined to remove Mannion from office after a man is arrested and dies while in custody, apparently, due to an officer's failure to follow proper procedures. Things get even more intense between the two rivals when the mayor's mentally disturbed son goes missing after being taken to a hospital by two cops.

After a video where Brander arrests a drug addict is made public and turned into a abuse of power issue, the Mayor demands that Mannion fires Brander, which he refuses to do giving that the man was found innocent. Instantly, a major riot breaks out in the city, with the citizens protesting and attacking the police, demanding that Brander gets fired. Several police cars are bombed and set on fire, and Nancy rescues an officer from an angry riot. He's badly injured, and asks her out when he comes by to pick up his dog. Meanwhile, Temple witnesses his friend Reese die while trying to find the man who shot him. Mannion is trying to save Brander, but when he can no longer live with his guilt he turns in his badge. Unfortunately, the mayor taped Mannion's conversation with Brander over the phone and fired him for obstruction of justice. Late at night, Clive calls him up, saying that Ella died unexpectedly.

Back from his Arizona vacation and determined to get his job back, Jack starts campaigning for being Chief of police, even though it's not an elected position. He chooses not to use the illegal taping card that might get him back in the office in no time for a future use and moves into a poor neighborhood. Meanwhile, Brander decides to go back to the force and teams up with Nancy to investigate Lester Richard's death, for which Temple got arrested. They discover that Maria ""Cashmere Brown"" Rodriguez was lying, which frees Temple – but doesn't exactly prove he didn't kill Lester vindictively.

After Chief Strickland causes the death of an innocent old lady due to having inaccurate information on the whereabouts of a dangerous drug lord, Mannion decides to catch the guy himself. He uses the help of his best men, who put their jobs at steak and work parallel to Strickland's orders. Mannion's house is burnt down after he keeps stopping kids from selling drugs. When Mannion finally catches the guy, Mayor Douglas won't give his job back, so Jack is forced to reveal that he knows the phone wire was illegal, which ultimately forces Douglas to give him his job back. Meanwhile, Temple investigates two cops whom he thinks are abusing their authority and beating the people they arrest, while Debreno sleeps with Maria Rodriguez, which causes some conflict on his friendship with Temple.