Plot
Three rookie cops, Roy Fehler, Gus Plebesly, and Sergio Duran, report for duty with the Los Angeles Police Department. Roy is married with a daughter and intends to eventually become a law student. Gus is a father of three. Sergio is a native of East L.A., who never expected to end up patrolling its streets.
Each is assigned a veteran partner. Roy's is the greatly experienced Andy Kilvinski, who has been on the force for nearly a quarter-century and has his own unique style of law enforcement. For example, he drives hookers Alice, Gloria, Wilma and others –who he has supplied with liquor –around the city streets for hours, in a paddy wagon, simply to keep them off the streets for a night.
Gus rides with Whitey Duncan. As they answer a burglary call at a market, Gus opens fire on an armed figure in a dark alley, only to discover, to his horror, that he has killed the owner of the store, who was pursuing the robber.
Roy begins to frustrate his wife, Dorothy, by becoming obsessed with police work, neglecting his family, and dropping out of law school. He likes the life on the street. But during a convenience store holdup, Roy tells a couple in a parked car to move. Because he was careless, he does not realize that they are the get-away crew for the robbers. Without warning, the man shoots Roy with a sawed-off shotgun before escaping, leaving him gravely wounded on the sidewalk.
Gus and Sergio discuss their fear of being shot. Sergio temporarily partners with Andy, and together they handle a call involving a slumlord. During this encounter, Andy becomes enraged and threatens the landlord for exploiting the "wetbacks" living in the apartment, in deplorable conditions. Roy gradually recovers and later encounters a shootout, but doesn't flinch.
As the rookies mark a year on the job, Andy reaches his 25th anniversary and mandatory retirement. He discusses the difficulties of police work with the younger men.
As their careers progress, Roy is assigned to the vice squad, where the job is anything but glamorous—mostly arresting "fruits" for homosexual behavior in public parks. Dorothy has had enough, saying she does not care about him anymore. She leaves for San Francisco (where she meets a real estate agent) and takes their daughter, Becky, with her.
Time passes, and Roy is back on car patrol. The cops are delighted when Andy pays an unexpected visit to the police station; Andy had retired to Florida but misses police work. He regrets never having spent more time on his personal life. Sometime later, after speaking with Roy on the telephone, Andy puts his service revolver in his mouth and commits suicide.
Depression gets the better of Roy, who begins to drink on the job. He answers a burglary call and the victim turns out to be Lorrie, a nurse who helped him after he got shot. Later on patrol, a prostitute named "Silverpants" speeds off with Roy hanging from her car door. He barely avoids serious injury and Lorrie helps patch him up, but he draws a three-week suspension for being drunk on the job.
Roy begins seeing Lorrie socially and comes to his senses, appreciating the need for personal relationships, remembering what led Andy to end his life.
Roy, Gus and Sergio each answer a wide call out to a large street brawl, which leads to banding together in a car chase, followed by a foot chase. Exhausted after booking the suspects, the trio are on the way to ending their shifts, when they are waved down by a woman who appeals for help with her threatening husband. Reluctantly, they decide to investigate. As Roy takes the back stairs, the husband suddenly appears and, without warning, fires a single shot from a handgun. Roy dies in Gus' arms, with Sergio at their side.
