Two policemen, "Uncle" Bob Hodges, a respected LAPD officer and Vietnam veteran, and rookie officer Danny McGavin, have just been teamed together in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) unit that patrols Northwest Los Angeles, East Los Angeles and South Los Angeles.

Hodges is appreciated on the local streets. He is diplomatic on the surface, preaching "rapport" to gang members to encourage them to offer help when it is truly needed, recognizing that every action cops take is scrutinized by the people they are trying to help. Hodges explains his view on policing to his young partner with a joke about bulls and cows. The 21st Street Gang throw a rock at Hodges car and runs until young member, Felipe, gets caught by Hodges. Elsewhere, the Bloods have a funeral for Robert Craig, until the Crips open fire on the church. Hodges and McGavin chase after the Crips until their car flips over and explodes, killing the gang members.

At the 21st Street Gang hangout, Ron Delaney tells the gang members to walk away from the gang life, but they ignore his advice and decided to stay in the gang.

McGavin has a short-lived romance with a waitress named Louisa. Although the pair bond quickly, life lessons are seemingly lost on the aggressive, cavalier McGavin, whose stunts soon bring him notoriety among the gang members and the regular citizens, such as attacking a graffiti artist by spraying his eyes with the paint can. A drug dealer named T gives drugs to young kids before McGavin and Hodges arrive to question him. McGavin punches him in the face in view of angry bystanders before putting him inside their car. At the police station, Hodges physically reprimands McGavin about his wrongful actions against people. Like the offended Hodges, Louisa is angry about McGavin's aggression. She reveals that the graffiti artist that McGavin assaulted was her nephew. Amidst the strain of these relationships, the murder of a Bloods gang member escalates tension between two other gangs. A series of seemingly random incidents culminates with the two partners finding themselves in the middle of the Crips, Bloods and Hispanic barrio war. McGavin wrecks their first unmarked car during a pursuit. Its replacement is vivid yellow, resulting in McGavin being nicknamed "Pac-Man" by officers and gang members alike.

CRASH raids the house of a gang member named Oso and arrest him. He tells the sheriff about the drug dealers, including Hi Top. Hodges and McGavin see Hi Top and he steals a motorcycle from a random civilian. Hodges and McGavin chase after Hi Top and he crashes through a restaurant window. After a physical fight with McGavin and Hodges, he is subdued and arrested. Later, McGavin apologizes to Hodges about his wrongful actions. In response, Hodges tells McGavin that he will be working with a new partner at the start of the next month. In jail, Hi Top gets severely beaten by other inmates. The sheriff questions him about the murder of Robert Craig. After some coercion, Hi Top claims that Rocket (leader of the Crips gang) is responsible for the murder.

Hodges, McGavin, and the LAPD spot a dark blue van that was used in the murder of Robert Craig. They arrest and question two black males about the van and Rocket's girlfriend.

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