A hot red convertible that's probably got more passengers inside than it was designed for pulls into a school's back parking lot. Its occupants are puzzled by a large crowd of students huddling against a barricade of yellow crime scene tape. Uniforms mill around while a detective takes pictures. A male student is slumped against the steering wheel of his white convertible, clearly dead.
"Guess he's gonna be late for class," snarks a uniformed cop who must have taken crime scene sensitivity training from Horatio Caine.
At the Chapel, Harry reads a letter aloud. Apparently, the pension office has no record of him being employed by the police department or any other municipal agency. His pay is being withheld until they can confirm he does, in fact, work there.
"You don't exist?" Doug asks. Harry gripes that he'll disappear in 2 weeks at this rate. "Did you hear something?" Doug asks Tom. Tom says no. Harry protests, "This isn't funny!"
Cap'n Rufus briefs the crew on the murder. A boy named Ozzie was shot 6 times in the chest at Piedmont High; he was found in his Mercedes. Sergeant Addabo, the insensitive uniform from earlier, chimes in that the kid paid for the car in cash. The victim was dealing crack.
Addabo is knowledgeable about the drug and will be assisting the team. He says most cops think it's community service for one drug dealer to kill another in that neighborhood. Ozzie rented an apartment in the projects, which he shared with his girlfriend. Judy's job is to find out who Ozzie's enemies were. Tom is going undercover at Piedmont; Addabo thinks Ozzie's runner Ronnie may have killed Ozzie. Doug will be back in uniform, riding with Addabo. Harry can't be assigned anywhere because he doesn't exist.
Doug comes out of a store and struggles to figure out how to open the cruiser's door while balancing 2 Styrofoam cups of coffee. He stacks the cups on top of each other and inexplicably decides taking his nightstick off his belt and holding it in his teeth will help. He's still wearing his studded watch.
When he gets in the car, Addabo reminds him that the summer uniform has short sleeves. Doug says this is the only uniform he has. Addabo gives Doug a narcotics history lesson as he drives down Crack Row.
At Piedmont High, some boys in expensive track suits lounge on a car, arguing the superiority of the BMW vs the Mercedes Benz. Tom is also wearing a track suit, wife beater, and a few gold chains; his hair is slicked back and there's also a weird rattail braid off to the side. What is this, Donnie Brasco? We learn that the white boy in the red track suit is Ronnie, the late Ozzie's business partner.
Judy knocks on Ozzie's apartment door, which is opened by his girlfriend Darlene. Judy takes note of all the stereo equipment, expensive furniture, and alcohol in the apartment. A girl who's about 3-4 years old appears, carrying a stuffed cat. She asks who Judy is. Darlene says that Judy is a police officer and tells the kid to go to her room.
Darlene explains that Kaylee isn't Ozzie's daughter. Judy hands her an envelope full of Ozzie's jewelry. Darlene claims she doesn't know who would've killed Ozzie and asks of Judy will go with her to Ozzie's funeral.
Back at Piedmont, beepers are going off in the hallway between classes. A teacher reminds the boys that beepers aren't allowed in school. Ronnie basically dares the teacher to try to take the beeper from him.
Tom and Ronnie go down a deserted hallway for a private chat; Ronnie pulls a gun, sticking the barrel under Tom's chin. Tom says he just wants to work for Ronnie. Ronnie puts the gun away, warning Tom he could get killed dealing crack. Well, he almost got shot in the hallway, so what's the difference? Ronnie tells Tom to meet him after school at Crenshaw's Funeral Parlor.
Tom gives Ronnie some life advice: Take the safety off the gun the next time he threatens somebody with it. Ronnie says the safety's never worked, leaving Tom to ponder exactly how close he came to death.
On Crack Row, Addabo points out a dealer to Doug. The guy sells bunk when he doesn't have real crack. Bunk could be anything from granite chips to macadamia nuts. Doug sounds surprised that nuts could be mistaken for crack and is no doubt planning an office prank with this new knowledge.
He and Addabo walk down an alley toward the building where the dealer is hanging out in the doorway. Addabo is gonna call some plainclothes detectives to come make a buy. Doug squeezes through the fence in case the dealer tries to run out the back door. He's not worried about his ability to handle a kid. I guess he's never heard of "crack strength."
Suddenly, he hears the words "You're under arrest" through the door and sees the dealer jump out the window. He vaults a railing, landing on a parked car below. Doug follows him. The kid scrambles up the fence and down the other side. Doug starts climbing, but the fence can't support both their weight and falls over.
Crack strength or not, there's no way the guy can get up and run now. He's got the fence, plus Doug, on top of him. "You're busted!" Doug cries gleefully. Addabo and the plainclothes come outside, see Doug sitting on the kid, and have a good laugh.
Judy and Darlene arrive at Crenshaw's Funeral Parlor. The latter is wearing a short black strapless dress that would probably more at home at a high school prom. Darlene is oddly composed and seems to be enjoying herself. Bizarre for someone who's attending their boyfriend's funeral. She even openly flirts with a guy while she's standing in front of Ozzie's casket.
Darlene asks Judy if she can have Ozzie's Mercedes; they were together almost long enough to qualify as common-law husband and wife. Judy says the IRS seized the car. Darlene wants to know if there's a paid informant program, but immediately tells Judy to forget she asked.
Randall, the black boy in the blue track suit from earlier, sees Darlene and expresses interest in her. Ronnie tells him to keep dreaming. Too many "R" names in this episode! Tom appears. Ronnie says he might have a job for Tom.
The errand turns out to be walking Ronnie's bulldog, Voltron, and picking up a bag of dog food. Turns out the dog food's already been opened and there's a baggie of crack hidden in the kibble. Ronnie explains that the cops would never be suspicious of a dog walker.
According to Ronnie's calculations, he should make $4,000 from selling the crack. He mocks Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" program. Ronnie wants the simple things in life: new clothes, a new car, and a good-looking girlfriend. He can probably get all but the last one. Ronnie shoves the bag of crack down the front of his pants, opens a cabinet, and hands Tom a pistol. Tom admires the gun and how Ronnie keeps it clean. Ronnie says he rarely has to use it because people know he's a "businessman."
Back at the Chapel, Tom expresses his doubts that Ronnie killed Ozzie; the gun is probably just for show. He thinks Ronnie could quit dealing if he wanted to. Doug thinks he's headed for jail, just like the dealer who was selling bunk. Judy makes a crack about Doug being "the voice of the streets."
Cap'n Rufus heads off the bickering by pointing out that there's a lot of sides to the crack problem; it takes seeing more than one to start fixing it. He sees Doug pulling at his tie and adds, "I didn't put you back in that uniform just to see if you gained weight since the academy." Doug looks down and self-consciously rubs at his stomach.
Harry arrives and notices Tom's suit and silk shirt. "Those are my clothes from my locker," he says. Doug jokes how there used to be a Jump Street cop with shirts just like that, but the guy mysteriously disappeared. Tom says he'll have the shirt dry-cleaned if the cop ever comes back. Doug says the Chapel is now haunted by the cop's ghost.
Judy thinks she's getting somewhere with Darlene. We see Darlene smoking crack in her apartment. She hastily hides the crack pipe when she hears someone knocking. It's Judy. Darlene lets her in and tries to act like she isn't high. She asks again about becoming a paid informant.
Judy notices that the stereo is missing and Kaylee isn't home. Darlene starts crying. Her mom took Kaylee away from her. Judy finds the crack pipe, but Darlene swears she isn't a junkie. She offers to get Darlene clean and asks who killed Ozzie. Darlene doesn't know. She begs a third time for the informant money.
Judy can't do that without information. She asks who sold Darlene the drugs. Darlene says, "Pick any corner around here." Judy tells Darlene she can't help her. She gives Darlene her business card in case she has useful information or wants to quit using crack; otherwise, Judy "doesn't have time to waste on a junkie whore." Uncharacteristically harsh for her.
Doug chases someone across into an alley. Addabo chases the man from the opposite end. Doug slams the guy up against a wall. Addabo demands the drugs. The dealer protests that Doug chased him for no reason, but pulls a bag of crack out of his shirt pocket. He slams the drugs into Addabo's hand.
Doug frisks the dealer and they load him into the back of the cruiser. Doug expresses his frustration that rousting the dealers doesn't work; they end up back on the street within an hour. Addabo is just satisfied with confiscating the 60 rocks the dealer was carrying.
After work, Doug and Addabo go out for beers. Doug says he was taught to be a cop by the book. What they're doing together wasn't covered in the academy, but it worked out better. Addabo is glad to hear it.
Darlene gives Judy a tour of her new place, a fancy high-rise apartment, bragging about the sauna and whirlpool. It's apparently Randy's apartment. She doesn't care who killed Ozzie. Darlene's mother still has Kaylee. Judy hopes Darlene's mom keeps the little girl permanently; it's better than living with a junkie who doesn't care who killed her last boyfriend/sugar daddy.
Ronnie and Tom talk on Ronnie's roof. Tom wants to buy an ounce from Ronnie to sell to someone. He pays for the drugs and Ronnie hands them over. Tom asks for the umpteenth time this episode who killed Ozzie; he doesn't want to cross the wrong person.
Ronnie says he's the only person Tom has to worry about crossing. If Ronnie did know, he still wouldn't tell anyway. Tom shows off his .38 Special revolver...and his badge. That's a really good way to get shot. Ronnie thinks it's hysterical that Tom is really a cop. Tom brings out the cuffs and promises to cut Ronnie loose in exchange for information on Ozzie's murder. Ronnie is unmoved by the offer since he's a first-time offender.
"Doin' time is part of doin' business," Ronnie adds. Tom says Ronnie could get out of the neighborhood by getting a real job. "We don't have Career Day in the Piedmont," snots Ronnie. God, he is obnoxious.
Back on the beat, the plainclothes cops are complaining about the budget the department gives them to fight the crack epidemic. One says, "It must be nice to be the mayor's pet project." Doug looks uncomfortable. The plainclothes start an argument with Doug, which is broken up by Addabo.
On a different street, Doug spots the dealer he chased over the fence. It looks like he's selling real drugs today. Doug is upset that the guy is out of jail already. Addabo is sure there's a court date in the dealer's future.
Addabo drives the cruiser up onto the sidewalk. The startled dealer runs right into Doug's waiting arms. Addabo shoves Eddie the dealer into a nearby doorway, requesting $500. Doug backs out of the situation, unable to believe what he's seeing. Eddie gives up the cash.
In the car, Doug confronts his new partner about the shakedown. Addabo says it's not a shakedown if he returns the money. Eddie will get it back after they take down bigger dealers and a crackhouse. Doug still doesn't like it, but reluctantly agrees to go along on the busts.
Addabo and Doug back up the plainclothes cops they argued with earlier in the day. When the detectives yell "Police!", dealers sprint out of the seedy apartment. The cops all run in different directions after them. Doug nearly loses his footing as he barrels down the stairs; Addabo scales the fire escape, followed by the plainclothes.
Doug catches up to his suspect and tackles him onto the hood of the police car. He hears Addabo yelling "Freeze!" from the building's roof and then a couple of gunshots. Next thing Doug knows, the other suspect is falling from the roof; it doesn't look like he's been shot. He lands hard on the pavement.
Doug looks up. He sees Addabo and the plainclothes detectives standing at the edge of the roof looking down at the body. Once the three are back on the ground, they're worried about getting in trouble. Doug says they can't get in trouble for someone slipping off the roof. Internal Affairs will get curious about the money on "Mr. Pancake," however.
Addabo lays out the story for the others. The money was Addabo's and he loaned it to the dealer. The plainclothes agree to toe the party line. Doug's Catholic guilt won't allow him to lie to the investigators, although he does agree to tell Internal Affairs the cover story.
In Rufus's office, Doug tells the captain that Addabo used his own money because it was an important bust. He can't look his boss in the eye. Cap'n Rufus watches him leave.
Judy can't believe the mountain of paperwork Harry has to fill out to prove that he exists. He tells Judy that Randy was busted that afternoon so Darlene is no longer at the apartment. Judy sets out to find Darlene. She's sitting on a bench in the park on Crack Row. Judy offers to get Darlene to a shelter but she says no.
Ronnie is in a parking garage trying to make another deal. It's not going well. He tells the other party to pay for the drugs or give them back. Ronnie shoots his would-be client, reclaims the drugs, and drives off in the client's car.
Doug drives Addabo through Crack Row. The two of them drink coffee and munch doughnuts. The younger cop finally got his hands on a summer uniform shirt. He says he told Fuller the story and didn't lose sleep over it. Now they just have to get $500 to give to Eddie.
Addabo wonders aloud how the dealer managed to slip off the roof while wearing expensive sneakers. He says it again and gives Doug a meaningful look. Doug is now visibly nervous.
Doug shoulders his way through the Chapel squadroom and barges into Cap'n Rufus's office. He admits to lying and tells him about the shakedown. Rufus isn't pleased. Doug expresses his suspicion that Addabo threw the kid off the roof. Rufus blinks, trying to process all this. "Shut the door." he says.
"TO BE CONTINUED" flashes on the screen.
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