The gritty, heroic life of big-city police is seen through the eyes of three leading crime fighters from Charlotte, North Carolina - Police Chief Judy Hammer, Deputy Chief Virginia West, and ambitious young reporter Andy Brazil.

Virginia West likes her boss. But when a number of visiting businessmen are murdered in her city by a maniac with a penchant for painting his victims bright orange, she objects to his edict that a rookie reporter accompany her on patrol.