Friends, Family & Guests: Richard McGregor & Deryl Caitlyn (Unknown - Wayne Harding and Jamaal Evans), Patricia Forte (Mrs. Evans), Timothy Webber (Kyle Forbes), Todd Waite (Traynor), Peter Williams (Louis), Charles Payne (Morris), Lenno Britos (Lt. Garcia), Charlene Fernetz (Receptionist).

After discovering that some white officers are responsible for beating and harassing black teenagers, Hoffs, with Fuller's help, tries to convict them.

Opening Scene: Hoffs is visiting with three teenage boys, one of whom, Jamaal Evans, she used to baby-sit. They are in Jamaal's garage, with Mrs. Evans, and they tell Hoffs of their plans to get a record deal. Hoffs asks what they're doing in the meantime, and Jamaal shows her a business card - they're available for parties, clubs and discos. She's impressed. Jamaal starts rapping about having a dream, and she agrees when he says that's what it's all about - having a dream and not giving in for anything. They thank her for coming and joke with her about leaving police work to sing with them, and she says she'd rather chase the bad guys - it's a lot less scary. She leaves. Outside, she runs to her Jeep, glancing quickly up at the sky. She gets in, and the three boys pass her, talking excitedly about going to some record stores and clothing stores to put their business cards by some cash registers. Hoffs tries to start her Jeep, but all she hears is the starter clicking - it won't start. Behind her, the boys continue walking down the street, and a police car stops next to them. Two white cops get out and ask them where they were going, order them to bend over the car, yell at them, call them names, and accuse them of being in a gang and carrying weapons. Hoffs hears and sees what is going on and walks over to confront them. They physically shove her away and one of them, Traynor, is equally rude to her, calling her "Oprah" and saying that she's interfering with police officers - and she yells, "I am a police officer," flashing her badge at him. She tells him to read the badge number real good, just like she's reading his. They get back in their car and leave, and he flashes a smarmy grin at her as they drive off.

Hoffs is in Fuller's office telling him what happened, and he tells her she sure knows how to pick them - Forbes and Traynor are part of the most decorated anti-gang unit in the city and claim they had probable cause. Fuller asks her about the excessive force and tells her she doesn't know what went on before she got there, and she admits that she wasn't there. Fuller goes on to the racism issue, and Hoffs says that the boys said the cops called them "niggers." Fuller remains silent, and she admits that she also wasn't there to hear that either, but she did hear "Oprah" and "bunnies." Fuller agrees to call downtown and file charges of racist abuse. As he picks up the phone, she stops him and admits that she did interfere with them before she flashed her badge. Fuller says that doesn't excuse what they did. She's afraid that it might give a judge grounds to exonerate them and they'll get away with it and take it as approval, and she resignedly tells him to let it go this time, saying she'll flash her badge first the next time. He asks if she's sure, and she says no, but let it go anyway. She leaves, and Fuller looks down at the phone. Out in the Chapel, Mac asks how it went, and she says she decided not to press it. Mac asks if Fuller talked her out of it, and she says "no, I talked me out of it." She says that out of context it sounds silly and harmless and she felt silly enough telling it to Fuller - she doesn't want to even imagine how it would sound to a review board. Mac asks her, so now what? and she gets some coffee, saying she has to tell Jamaal that nothing is going to happen, all because of her. When she tells Jamaal, he's understanding. Hoffs asks how he has lived here and stayed out of the gangs, and he says that with gangs, you have to be for one or the other, and he and his friends are so into music that the gangs have seen and respected it, and left them alone. He says that the cops have messed with them so much that they call it "Operation Sledgehammer" and have written a song about it. He invites her to a picnic this coming Saturday to watch them do it. She says if her car is fixed, she will be there, and they mess around with a basketball.

In the Chapel parking lot, Hoffs drives up in her Jeep, and Wayne Harding pulls up behind her - he's in charge of the West Division Anti-Gang Unit - the guys that hassled her. She says she doesn't have time to talk, and he says there is no way to excuse what happened, but he'd like to explain. She says she isn't pressing any charges, and he says that isn't the issue here - the issue is respect, courtesy and common decency. He says that Forbes and Traynor had just gotten a call about three guys shooting up a crack house two blocks away and simply made a mistake. Hoffs says mistakes are one thing, racial slurs are another, and he agrees that there is no excuse for what the officers said to her. He offers to suspend them both for a week because she is a fellow officer, and she says it won't be necessary. He says Adam Fuller is lucky to have her and if she ever decides to work gangs, she'd be a great addition to the unit. Mac is working on Hoffs' Jeep while she tells him about the conversation with Harding. She's frustrated and says that he was so smooth that he had her slip-sliding all over the place. She slaps the hood, and he tells her to take it easy while he's under it, and then she asks if she will make the picnic. He says the last half of it anyway and then says "Voila. Battery terminals cleaned." He asks if the picnic will cheer her up any. She says the thing that kills her is that she knows she was being hustled by Harding, but at the same time she was flattered that he offered her a job in his unit - even though she knows he didn't mean it. Mac asks what the point was, then, and she says she guesses Harding just wanted to hear that she wasn't going to do anything. He asks if she's having second thoughts, and she says she has been ever since leaving Fuller's office but didn't know what else to do. He says it's over now and why is she still bothered by it? She points out that he's working on her car and no one is going to come up to him and ask what he's doing or where he's from. "Because I'm white, right?" Mac asks softly, and she says yes - his skin protects him just like her shield protects her. Mac asks her one more time if she's sure she doesn't want to file charges, and she says she doesn't. He says to let him know if she has any more problems with her car, because at least he can help her with that. She thanks him and pats him on the shoulder. Later, in the kitchen, she is packing a picnic basket, and a knock comes on the door. It's Jamaal - all beaten up and wheezing. He says it was the same cops as the other day, plus two more. She tells him to sit down and goes to get him some water. He tells her that "this guy Harding" called him a "lying nigger," and Hoffs picks up on the name. She asks if he's sure, and he is - he grabbed his head and slammed it into the mud. Hoffs says, "He is going to be sorry. Very sorry."

In Fuller's office, Hoffs tells him that she drove the kids to the precinct and they filed a complaint. He says that's good - then downtown will handle it, it's an internal affairs problem now. Hoffs is outraged and points out that the kids don't have a chance against four decorated officers. Fuller says that she can't go off and run a separate investigation, and Hoffs says "I could, if you'd pull some strings!" Fuller says he can't do that, and she says he won't do that and says that she knows what they did. Fuller points out that she doesn't - that she wasn't there. She says she doesn't need to have been there, and he says that's not the way the system works. "It is their system, not ours!" she argues, and he says, smiling, "It's our system - we're cops." "Black cops," she snaps, and he chuckles and says, "Oh, you noticed, huh?" She says, "Yeah. Have you?" He watches her silently and finally says he knows she's upset. She replies that she has some leave time coming. He asks her stay out of the case, and she says she'd like to take that time now, leaving his office. Joey comments that she doesn't seem very happy for someone going on vacation, and she says she's in no mood for jokes. Mac says "We know, that's why we're doin' it." They agree that it's not working, and Joey asks her to let them help. She says "this is my war," and Mac says, "no no no, we think of it as our war, remember? You're the one who told us that's the way things work around here." She says she won't have them taking leave. Joey says that's fine - they've got off-hours. Elsewhere, Harding, Traynor and Forbes are conferring in two separate police cars about the IAD investigation, discussing why they have to testify individually. Harding says they just need to stick to the same story and it will be "us against a bunch of spooks." One of the others asks why he's so sure IAD will believe them, and Harding says, "because they want to." Traynor asks what about the kids, and Harding says he thinks they can take care of that. He hands them the police report from the park incident, and it has a list of the kids and their home addresses. - Jamaal Evans, Louis Jones, Morris Williams, Judie Dastoon, Allen Richards, Edward Wong, Junior Johnson.

At Jamaal's house, Jamaal and his two friends are there, but he says the rest of the kids couldn't make it, they're too scared. Hoffs introduces Mo, Louis and Jamaal to Joey and Mac. Joey says "Whassup" and says they'd like to get statements but first he'd like to hear about witnesses. Jamaal says it all happened so fast that he didn't see anyone. Hoffs says they will ask around, and Joey says after this he's going to go downtown and pick up the incident sheets. Jamaal asks what they're going to do, and Hoffs says they're going to get to know these guys - real good. In a locker room with Traynor, Forbes and Harding, Mac, pretending to be a uniform cop from a different precinct, tells a racist joke about a black suspect and a thermos, making them all laugh, Harding says, "So, Officer Monaco, tell me what we can do for you." Mac says that they have this numbers game running in North High School and need some help with finding out who's running it, because it's bigger than they thought - someone is using the numbers game to sell drugs, and it's all being run out of the 18th Street Gang, in this territory. He thought that they, being the experts, could help. Harding says they haven't heard anything like this and asks who Mac's source is. Mac says he's promised not to give "the burrito's" name out, and they say if they hear anything they'll let him know. As Mac starts to walk off, Harding asks him why he came all the way over here instead of just calling. Mac says he doesn't want them to think he's blowing smoke, and that they're the ones out there "busting rainbow lowlifes." He says it's the most important law enforcement being done, and frankly he just wanted to meet them because he admires their work. Harding thanks him for the kind words and says they'll be in touch.

At night, Louis drives past a police car, and Traynor & Forbes begin to follow. Louis is listening to rap and driving along, and the police car's lights flash behind him. Louis reluctantly pulls over, and Traynor demands his license. He hands it to him, protesting that he didn't do anything, and he's told that he was clocked at 47 mph. He says no way, and Traynor yells, "You arguing with me, boy?" and orders him out of the car. He frisks Louis and shines the flashlight in his face, and Louis says he remembers him, and he says, "That's why I'm here, Jones." He says that Louis had better think twice about testifying against police officers - it could be dangerous. Louis bravely says "I saw what I saw, and I felt what I felt, man." Traynor punches him hard in the stomach and tells him that he could dust him right now and no one would be the wiser. He asks if he's made his point clear, and Louis gasps out, "yes, sir." Traynor punches him one more time and walks off, telling him to give the message to his friends. Louis collapses by the side of his car. It's late at night - off hours - and the Chapel is deserted - except for Mac, Joey, Hoffs, Mrs. Evans, and the three boys. Louis tells Hoffs what happened, and she asks if he saw the badge number, since he recognized them. Louis says that the badge wasn't on the shirt like it usually is. Mac paces and says it's just perfect - no badges and they didn't give him a ticket, so they have no evidence, only Louis' word. Louis says he's scared and he doesn't think he can go through with it. Joey says he has to, otherwise it's going to happen over and over. He says he doesn't know. Hoffs suggests that they call it a night and meet again in the morning. Everyone leaves except Jamaal, who stops to look back at Hoffs. Hoffs gives him a thumbs-up, but he just nods and walks away. Hoffs walks over to Mac and Joey, who are at the coffee machine. Mac pours himself a cup of coffee and asks how she stays so calm - he got angry just having to say those things in the locker room. She tells him to try having to hear them. Joey says that Louis heard them, and now he isn't going to testify and he personally can't say as he blames him. Mac says Mo looks a little shaky too. Mrs. Evans steps out of the shadows, saying they can forget about Jamaal as well. She strongly orders Hoffs to stop what she's doing right now, Jamaal is her son and she doesn't plan to bury him to the gangs or to the police. Hoffs is taken aback by this, but Mac asks her if she has talked to Jamaal about it. She says he'll understand, when he's older, what every young black man has to know: "trying to fight cops like that bunch will almost always get you killed!" She turns to Hoffs, adding, "Now stay away from him! Please!" She leaves.

At Hoffs' house, Fuller holds a glass of wine and asks why he's getting fed dinner. Hoffs says it's part of the apology and reminds him of what he said - that he believes in the system, but does he also believe that the system can get screwed up? He says of course he does - he's an optimist, not a fool. Hoffs tells him that Harding has taken control of the investigation by physically threatening the kids. Fuller still thinks the system can handle it, and Hoffs argues that it won't happen if no one is left to testify. Fuller sets down his wine glass and asks what's really eating at her, and she tells him about Jamaal's mother, saying that she doesn't blame her, but she still thinks she's wrong. Fuller points out that from Mrs. Evans' point of view, she's not wrong. Hoffs asks how she (Hoffs) is going to live with it if she lets it go, and how can Fuller accept working alongside people like that? Fuller says it didn't start when he joined up, it started the day he was born. "Racism isn't unique to the police. It's the whole damn country we live in. Or maybe you hadn't noticed," he says pointedly. She smiles and says she guesses she had that coming. He says he felt he had two ways to change it - mediation or intimidation, and he chose the first. She asks if he's happy with that choice, and he says most days, adding that he can't tell her what to do, she has to decide for herself. Then he asks what kind of sauce she has for the spaghetti and suggests that they eat.

Outside Jamaal's house, Jamaal tells Hoffs that his mother told him what she did. Hoffs says Jamaal has a right to speak his own mind, too. Jamaal thinks it's just his mother's generation's way of looking at things, and Hoffs points out that his mother has a reason to be concerned, admitting that it's true - even if he testifies, the racist officers may still walk, there are no guarantees. He says it doesn't matter, he wants to do it anyway. He says that the things they were saying and doing reminded him of the old history films they used to show in school, only it's now, and it's him and his friends. He says the worst thing is doing nothing, and she says she just wanted to make sure that he was sure, and he says he is. They hug. In the background, about half a block away, a police car drives up, and Traynor & Forbes see her hugging him and hear her telling him to call if he needs something. She leaves, and the police car drives off. At IAD, Harding gives his version of the story about the park, saying that they had baseball bats and were belligerent, though there were no weapons. Forbes and Traynor tell essentially the same story. Outside the office, they meet up, and one of them smugly says he used the line about keeping the parks free from gangs. Harding says they should leave and not talk anymore in there. They get on an elevator, and after it leaves, Hoffs arrives on a different elevator, telling the receptionist that she has an appointment with Detective Garcia. She sits at his desk. Traynor remembers that he left his hat upstairs and goes back up to get it. Garcia greets Hoffs warmly, and Traynor sees Hoffs with Garcia. That night, Mo, Louis and Jamaal are walking down the street and talking about how they have to be somewhere at 8 PM to play music, and Jamaal wants everyone at his garage at 7:00 to get set up. They joke around a bit, and Jamaal goes to his car. When he gets in, he is grabbed from behind and a gun is put to his neck. Harding tells him that if he testifies, his mom is going to find him in a body bag. Jamaal begs him to let go and says he can't breathe, and Harding says "no more talking to your lady-cop friend, you got that?" He says yes. Harding gets out of the car, and Jamaal's head collapses forward, making the horn blare.

In Fuller's office, Hoffs tells him that Harding put Jamaal in the hospital and he's not going to testify now. He's got two broken ribs and choke marks on his neck. Fuller asks if she has talked to IAD, and she says bitterly that it doesn't matter - he was their last witness. She leans over his desk, sighing frustratedly, and he leans over to look at her, softly saying "Okay, I'm in. But we do this my way." The next day, Fuller comes up to Forbes, who is getting into his car at his house, and identifies himself as "Fuller, Internal Affairs." Forbes nervously says he's due at the station, and Fuller says it won't take long. He says it's a very nice area and says Forbes has been on the force, what, 13 years? He says it'd be a shame to throw it all away, adding that they have a witness who was at the park, saw everything, and is going to testify. Forbes says Fuller has read their statements and they have nothing to hide. Fuller laughs and says he's seen better song and dance numbers on "Star Search." Forbes arrogantly says if Fuller had anything on them, he wouldn't be talking to him. Fuller turns off the friendly act and tells him that they've got a kid in the hospital who's going to go after Harding for aggravated assault and a parks worker who saw them beating up a bunch of kids for no reason, and once the press gets the story, more people will come forward, "to nail your butt to the cross." He gives him two choices - cooperate or "watch all of this go away," indicating his nice house, car and neighborhood. Forbes asks him what he wants, and he says he wants his cooperation, now. Forbes says he can't, they're his partners and he'd be breaking the code. Fuller says, "there's no code that's gonna protect you, pal. It's over. Maybe you should start thinking about your family."

In a surveillance van, Joey says it's time to rock and roll, it's 3:30 and the shift ends in half an hour. Mac agrees. Joey tells Mac he looks really good in the uniform, and Mac grins, saying he'll send him a picture. He gets out of the van and puts on his hat, going into the police headquarters. Harding greets him and asks how it's going. Mac replies that it's going good for him, but not for Harding, and mentions that he was downtown a while ago and heard Harding's name mentioned in connection with some incident in the park. Harding tells him to go on. Mac says the suits were all excited about Forbes testifying, and he thought Harding should know. Harding thanks him for coming by. Mac asks him to let him know if there's anything he can do and walks off. Forbes walks by the locker room, and Harding asks how it's going. The room is dark except for a few slivers of light. Forbes looks guilty as hell. Harding asks if he'll be at Barney's, and he says yes, but he's got to take his daughter to her piano lesson first. In the van, Joey is listening to Forbes' wire on a headset and taking notes, and it's also recording. Back in the locker room, Forbes asks what the occasion is that they're going to Barney's, and Harding says he won big in the poker game. Joey picks up a phone and tells Fuller that it's on, reminding him to press Star-9 first to set up the call forwarding. Fuller says, "You're worse than my mother, Penhall." At the Internal Affairs Department, Fuller comes in and chats up Charlene, the receptionist, asking if Garcia is available and asking if he's free for lunch sometime next week. Charlene checks Garcia's calendar and sets up a lunch date for Thursday. Fuller asks if he can use her phone to call his office, and she says yes. He sets up the call forwarding and then hangs up, saying the lines are busy and he's glad he's here and not there. Harding calls Garcia, and the call is forwarded to Hoffs, who is answers it "Internal Affairs." Harding pretends to be Forbes and asks what time his appointment is tomorrow. Hoffs says it's at 9 AM. Harding hangs up. Later, at Barney's, Forbes pulls up, and Harding & Traynor get into his car, telling him not to get out but to drive to the alley between 18th and Blyden. Forbes reminds them that they got squeezed in there once, and Harding says he remembers, telling him to drive. They drive into the alley and stop.

When they get out, Traynor and Harding push him into a wall, threatening him and telling him they know about his plan to go to IAD tomorrow. Traynor asks who got to him - "Garcia? That little spade from Jump Street?" Harding says there's still time to save this if he will just be straight with them. Forbes says it wasn't Garcia who visited him, it was another guy from IAD. He explains that IAD knows more than they're supposed to, and he has to think about Mary and the kids. Harding asks what he told the IAD guy. Forbes said that he didn't say anything, but he agreed to testify, adding that he saw the Evans kid in the hospital and wants to know what Harding did to him. Harding asks him what he's saying. Then he looks at Harding's chest and angrily asks what he's trying to get him to say, ripping open his T-shirt and seeing the wire. He pushes him back against the wall, and a van pulls up behind the car. Fuller and Hoffs get out on one side, and Mac and Joey get out on the other, all four of them aiming their guns. Fuller tells Traynor to lower the gun. Traynor grabs Forbes and puts the gun to his head, saying no way. Fuller tells him not to make it any worse than it is. Harding, perhaps recognizing Fuller's authority due to his own supervisory status, realizes that he's right and tells Traynor to put down the gun. Some other cops, including Detective Garcia from IAD, come up and take Forbes and Traynor away, and Harding yells that they're cops and they're supposed to take care of each other. Garcia says not when it gets like this, and Harding says what does he know - his fat butt's behind a desk and real cops like him are out here every day. Hoffs says Harding can't tell who the bad guys are anymore, and he says the hell he can't and the barbarians are at the gates, and they're all "niggers" and "spics" and "slopes," and if they can't see it, he adds, looking at Mac and Joey, their whole system's going up in smoke. Mac and Joey look like they're about to get sick. Hoffs approaches him and says, "A man once said, if you ain't part of the solution, you're part of the problem. The system's not perfect. But it's gonna be a hell of a lot better with you out of it." Then she says "Please get this man out of my face," and the cop takes Harding away. The four of them stand there silently, Hoffs meeting Fuller's eyes and shaking her head.

Closing Scene: At Hoffs; house, they're having a party. Jamaal thanks Hoffs for showing him that the system still works. Jamaal's group starts performing a rap song about equal rights, and Hoffs dances with Fuller. Mac and Joey, who were sitting together on a couch, get pulled up reluctantly to dance. Joey protests that they're supposed to be the audience, and the girl yells "let's see what you got, boys!" They look at each other, shrug, and begin to dance - Mac doing a funny dance and Joey headbanging and jumping up and down.

Cyndi Glass: My first thought was the Rodney King incident, and then I did some research. This episode was aired two whole months before that incident even happened. Bravo to 21JS for dealing with a touchy subject before it was popular and politically correct to do so. I'm also struck by how we're yet again seeing corrupt cops. Strange recurring theme for a cop show. Once again, the case is not in a high school and not really even an official case - just Hoffs fighting for what is right and getting unquestioning help from Mac and Joey, even Fuller at the end. Mac and Joey work another case together and we see them getting to know each other better. Fuller even calls Joey "Penhall," here, reminding anyone who might not have seen the last five episodes that Joey is Doug's brother, though some people might have thought it was a recast without all the "Joeys" sprinkled around. Great continuity here as well - when Mac offers to help and Hoffs turns him down at first, saying "this is my war," and Mac says "we think of it as our war, remember?" - what Mac is referring to is the conversation he had with Hoffs and Penhall in #84 "Buddy System" when Mac wanted to solve the murder case himself and Hoffs pointed out, "we think of it as our case." Very well done!

Some very minor picky details here - when Harding gives Forbes and Traynor the list of names, the park incident report has a date of "90/09/0?" - the screen cuts off. According to my 1990 calendar, it has to be either Sept. 1 or 8. Later in the episode, when Joey looks at his watch to tell Mac it's time to get out of the van, his watch says "TH 10-2?" - and again, the last digit is unreadable. In 1990 it had to be Oct. 26. It doesn't seem like it took almost two months for them to work this case. I'm also not sure exactly how they knew when Harding would call and pretend to be Forbes - or even how they knew he would do that. Also, Hoffs' car is not working at the beginning of the episode, and then she drives up in it at the Chapel for her scene with Harding in the parking lot. Only after that do we see Mac working on it. They needed to explain the only possible explanation - she took it somewhere, they thought it was fixed and then it failed again in her driveway - but none of this is ever mentioned, making it look like an error. Also, Hoffs is pretty fired up about racist comments here and asks Fuller how he can work alongside people like that - but as I recall, in #36 "Fun With Animals," when Booker arrived and immediately offended Hanson with some semi-racist statements, Hoffs was the first to befriend him and even defended him to everyone.

If you look at the production code listing, this episode, even though Doug has left, was actually produced BEFORE any of the five episodes that have both Doug and Joey in them. It's always interesting to see TPTB figuring out the best way to introduce a new character when some episodes have already been produced that include him.

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