A routine day for Capt. Miller. It starts with his wife Elizabeth complaining about the unsafe conditions in the city. For this reason, she tries to talk Barney into quitting his job and moving to a quieter, more rural area to start a chicken ranch. Meanwhile, at the police station, Fish and Chano have picked up a teenage drug addict as a mugging suspect. During the booking, the addict - Ramon Santos - gets Fish's gun and is holding the squad at bay. When Barney arrives at the station house, he is confronted by the gun-toting Ramon, who wants to shoot his way out....

Fish is convinced he is too old to be a detective and wants to retire, while Capt. Barney Miler is faced with the problem of finding a bomber who has been destroying public buildings. The Commissioner is breathing down Barney's neck to get a lead on the bomber, and Fish insists he can't keep up with the younger officers and wishes to retire. Barney tries to talk Fish out of his decision, but he has trouble keeping the older man awake to listen to his arguments.

An exhibitionist in a snowstorm, an armored car drivers' strike and no heat create chaos at a police station. Chano picks up the thinly-clad Mr. Farber at a bus stop and Wojehowicz agrees to keep a department store's receipts overnight because of the strike. Chaos strikes when Farber tries to do away with himself and some of the money in Wojehowicz's custody disappears.

Barney's squad is accused of being on the take and is under surveillance after a former member of the squad joins Internal Affairs, the department's self-policing unit. Kelly visits his former station house to say that some officers are being paid off, including someone from Barney's 12th Precinct. Barney tells his detectives that they cannot accept anything from anyone, even a free newspaper.

Wojehowicz goes to Barney for advice when he becomes infatuated with one of the girls he arrested at Rose's during the monthly roundup. Wojehowicz finds Linda, the new girl at Rose's "Village-A­-Go-Go," very attractive in spite of her after-hours profession. Barney becomes concerned that Wojehowicz's interest might be con­strued as harassment.

Barney and his squad stake out a drug drop from an apartment house - but he fears their cover will be blown by tenants dropping in visit. The 12th precinct detectives are assigned to the narcotics division to uncover a major movement of heroin. Barney worries about Fish getting a divorce, the tenants visiting the apartment, and the fact that he hasn't been able to shower in days.