The year is 1972. America is awash in violence, and Los Angeles is drowning in it. The gruesome Tate-LaBianca slayings by the Manson Family attempting to ignite a Helter Skelter race war remain front page news as the bizarre trial unfolds. With the hot embers of racial hatred that ignited the Watts Riots still smoldering just below the surface, the tension makes LA's smoggy air even harder to breathe. Most folks go about their daily routines and simply hope for the best. Max Stoller isn't like most people. Confident he can make a difference, and anxious to test his mettle, the naive idealist joins the Los Angeles Police Department. The job will challenge more than his courage and integrity. It will drive him to question who he is as he struggles to tell the good guys from the bad. In the words of Max Stoller's training officer. "Experience is a hell of a teacher." It is time to go to school. "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln