The story of policing is a story of heroes - those men and women who don the uniform every day and put themselves in harm's way to maintain a safe and civil society. There are also many sub-stories to this grand tale. One such tale is the story of the hairbag - those cops whose years on the job have infected them with a sour and cynical attitude towards their management and the public

Policing a filthy smelly subway was a breeding ground for the hairbag attitude, so it was not surprising that hairbag-itis ran rampant in the old New York City Transit Police Department. The Transit Police Revenue Protection Unit was responsible for providing security for all the money coming into New York City's subways and buses. RPU cops worked on the money trains that picked up the cash at the stations and they worked in the transit money room in Brooklyn. In RPU, cops performed no patrol and had no public contact, qualities that made the unit a prime assignment for hairbags.

When Sean Larkin became a transit cop in 1979, the thought of entering the ranks of the hairbags never entered his mind. Sean wanted nothing more than to be a good cop and advance to the rank of detective. Sean battled his way through the influence of the hairbags, including a short stint in the Revenue Protection Unit after he was injured on patrol. He also managed to keep his positive attitude when the transit police was merged into the NYPD, further delaying his goal of becoming a detective. Sean finally was promoted to detective, and found a home working in the Narcotics Division. All was right with Sean's world - until the night he was framed by another cop and accused of stealing money from a narcotics raid. While awaiting trial, Sean was sent to the NYPD Transit Bureau for an unarmed restricted duty assignment, and in an ironic twist, he was placed in the transit money room, and assigned to the remnants of the old Revenue Protection Unit.

While waiting for the criminal justice system to put him in jail Sean meets another cop also awaiting a similar fate. This cop, however, offers Sean an alternative to prison. This is Hairbag Nation