Police procedural drama set in New York City during the 1970s. Rookie cop Beauregard Bo Lockley is assigned to the 16th detective squad in the New York Police Department. He is honest, humane, thoughtful and a bit inexperienced. Being college-educated and long-haired he could pass for a hippie or an anti-Vietnam War activist. His candid demeanor and revolutionary and innovative ideas about what police work should be like amuse his colleagues. His new partner, veteran detective Richard Crunch Blackstone even makes fun about Lockley's first name. He privately reveals to other detectives that he doesn't think Lockley will last in the detective career as he isn't armed with the skills necessary to survive the violent, crime-ridden, dog-eat-dog world of New York City. Nevertheless, detective Blackstone accepts the task to train the rookie. Ironically, they both have things they could learn from one another as they have different approaches to solving problems. At the same time, their squad is after a notorious drug dealer and illegal weapons trafficker named Thomas 'Stick' Henderson. This case is assigned to a skilled undercover female detective named Patty Butler. She plans to ingratiate herself with Henderson in the hope that he will court her, become her lover and entrust her with his secrets concerning his criminal activities. Her suggestion is met with reluctance by her superiors who fear that she could get killed and make the department look bad. Not to mention the fact they could lose their jobs or pensions. However, detective Patty Butler persuades them to give her permission for her plan. They agree, but they warn her not to fall in love with him for real. Promising to be professional, Patty Butler gets to work. The real tragedy occurs when rookie Beauregard Lockley notices Patty Butler on the streets and is attracted to her without knowing who she is. No one from the squad informs Lockley that Patty Butler is a cop, for fear of blowing her cover. But Lockley often thinks about her. When Patty fails to contact her superiors and disappears for more than two weeks, the squad superiors send rookie Lockley to look for her without telling him who she is. They only tell him that the girl is a person of interest to the police and that her nickname is 'Chicklet'. When Lockley finds her, he realizes that she is the attractive girl he has previously seen on the streets while training with his veteran partner. Lockley is determined to save 'Chicklet' from her criminal boyfriend, still not knowing that she's an undercover cop on assignment. Lockley follows her, talks to her and tries to take her away with him. However, Patty Butler aka 'Chicklet' is determined to finish her undercover assignment. She refuses to go with Lockley or to reveal to him her real identity. She only promises to secretly meet him the next day in a pub. Lockley informs his superiors he found 'Chicklet' but they tell him to forget all about her. Unfazed, detective Lockley goes to her 'boyfriend's' apartment in Times Square and that's where the first tragedy strikes. Furthermore, a chase on foot ensues and a Mexican stand-off in an elevator of the Saks Fifth Avenue department store occurs. That's the second tragedy. An Internal Affairs - DA Office investigation follows and a third tragedy brings everything to a conclusion.