On his way to work, Hunter shoots a boy robbing a convenience store; Jablonski refuses to follow his doctor's orders about heart surgery ; the P.D.'s go on strike over job cuts by the city council; Belker struggles to protect senior citizens victimized by a violent mugger; and LaRue and Washington stake out a luscious young woman suspected of being a fence.

Goldblume is visited by an old friend, who is mugged and rejected by a publisher; Bernstein saves Joyce from an escaped prisoner and confesses he has a tremendous crush on her; Daniels warns Furillo that Calletano's station house is on the edge of a racial meltdown; and Russo loses an arrest in her undercover assignment because she slept with the subject.

A radio promotion spawns trouble for everyone; Hill and Renko are assigned to a computerized patrol car; Buntz helps Sid get out of an arm-breaking assignment for a shylock; Hunter's return to action as the EATer commander fizzles; and LaRue, Washington and Joyce work on opposite sides to protect the rights of a mentally disturbed young man and his frightened mother and sister.