Pete Malloy is a seven year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department working out of the Rampart Division. Unfortunately, after his young partner is killed while investigating a warehouse robbery, Malloy is ready to hand in his resignation. However, on what was supposed to be his last night on the force, he is given the task of breaking in a young rookie officer named Jim Reed. After their first night on patrol, Malloy sees potential in the young rookie and decides to not resign after all, and the two begin a seven year partnership in which the two officers handled cases from the serious (murder, robbery, rape, and drug abuse) to the humorous (children getting caught in awkward situations and the odd husband getting kicked out of the house by his wife. The officers also worked various details from S.W.A.T., and even flew on helicopter patrol. Also, during the next seven years, Reed went from probationary to full fledged officer, and Malloy got promoted to the rank of officer three plus one, just one rank below Sergeant. Other officers that were seen working with Reed and Malloy were Seargent "Mac" MacDonald, cynical, by the book Officer Ed Wells, good-natured officer Jerry Woods and Lew Walters.