When Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson arrives in Los Angeles from Atlanta, Georgia, she immediately finds herself thrust into a very different way of life. She struggles to get over her past problems while dealing with co-workers who resent the fact that she leapfrogged over many veteran cops to the elevated position of deputy police chief. Her quirky personality and hard-nosed approach to her job immediately irritate her colleagues, as does the fact that she is a tough-minded Southern woman in a department dominated by men. Although focused on her career, she's also trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) to overcome her love of doughnuts, chocolate bars and other snacks and to reignite a personal life that has fallen by the wayside.

Brenda retraces the final days of a murdered former model.

A call girl with a high-class clientele is murdered and Brenda and the squad is put on the case.

Gang on gang violence escalates and may be brought on by an ex-Army sniper.

Brenda's checkered past comes to back to haunt her as she investigates a death linked to a pharmaceutical drug test.

Brenda investigates the murder of a U.S. Congresswoman's daughter, who may have been targeted because of an online personal ad involving role-playing in a fantasy "rape" scene. As the investigation unfolds, Brenda becomes a target in a frightening incident that leaves her emotionally and physically shaken.