T.J. Hooker

With a crime-wave sweeping the city, a new police program has been formed to fast-track recruits to get them patrolling on the streets, and it's up to tough veteran cop Sergeant T.J. Hooker to bring them up to scratch. Trying to cope with his recent divorce and money problems, Hooker struggles with a job that he can't get away from. Meanwhile, the spate of crimes, including robbery, murder and a sniper is quickly getting out of hand. Only Hooker can train the eager but inexperienced young recruits as he leads them in bringing peace back to the streets, but the pursuit of the two murderous armed robbers at the head of the crime-wave inevitably leads to an explosive confrontation...

As Sgt. Hooker and Officer Romano cruise the streets, both bemoaning Hooker's clunker of a car, a pretty, young housewife has been forced by a knife-wielding, Bible-toting man, Arlen Williams, to get in her car which Williams then drives off. A short while later, Hooker and Romano respond to a call and find the housewife brutally beaten inside her car, a Bible on the seat and her attacker has calmly escaped by bus unnoticed. Immediately on the scene is aggressive newscaster Tracy Hill. Thrusting her microphone in Hooker's face she begins questioning. Hooker is incensed by her presence but he and Romano know its the same guy who's been beating women, giving them a sermon and then taking an 'offering' in cash from them, always leaving a Bible behind. Back at the precinct, Hooker's frustration over this case is enhanced by Captain Sheridan's order that Tracy will ride with him on his next patrol. Tracy pushes Hooker further when she pursues him to the bar that evening, asking more questions. Unknown to Hooker, she's recorded their unpleasant exchange. On his way home, Hooker passes a cluster of police cars and stops to discover yet another young woman battered by the Bible mugger. She identifies her attacker as wearing a yellow windbreaker and Hooker realizes he passed the guy on the street. Hooker spies Williams again and chases him on foot, but loses him. The next day Hooker gets grief from the two detectives assigned to this case. And to add to the tension, Tracy is riding with Hooker and Romano today. Meanwhile, Williams has gotten himself another victim but his time the woman dies of a heart attack when Williams withholds her medication. After Tracy publicly criticizes the police, specifically Hooker, and has a psychologist analyze the Bible mugger on her news program, Williams himself calls her and wants to talk. Excited at such a scoop, Tracy carelessly ignores Hooker's warning not to get in over her head by hiding anything she knows and she winds up being abducted by Williams. Luckily for Tracy, Hooker and Romano have discovered Williams' living quarters on the grounds of a convent. They're there when Williams arrives with Tracy and they hear her screams for help. But Williams gets away in the convent bus, with Tracy and three nuns as hostages. Finally, after a terrifying pursuit by Hooker and Romano, Williams is captured and no one is hurt in the process. Later, Tracy makes a public apology to Hooker on her news show.

It's early morning end 16-year-old Jenny Clark is running for her life from two street-types, Falco and Perez. Her attempts to get help from a passing motorist go ignored and she flees. Hooker and Romano respond to a call reporting a screaming female -- they find Jenny dead, apparently an overdose of heroin, having fallen from a building to her death. Hooker spots two men running away but is unable to really see them or catch them. Back at the Academy Precinct, Hooker has his share of problems. Finding the dead girl, as yet unidentified, has brought to the sur-face his anguish over teenage drug abuse and now he is confronted by Frank Wagner whose 17-year-old son David has been brought in for drug possession. Hooker hopes David might be of some help in the drug-related death of the girl. Later, Falco and Perez turn up at City Hospital and meet with Dr. Damon Segal. Segal has been supplying the two with hard narcotics and they sell them for him to the high school kids. Falco and Perez spot young hospital volunteer Cathy near Dr. Segal's office. It seems Jenny also worked at the hospital and accidentally discovered what was going on and Falco and Perez wonder if Cathy knows what is going on as well. Hooker stops by to see his ex-wife and kids and Cathy turns out to be his daughter. Through Cathy, Hooker gets Jenny's identity. She was not a drug user but a visit to the girl's mother shows she was neglected at home. Hooker is determined to find Jenny's killer and puts heat on local pimp, Willis, to get information for him. Willis comes up with Harry Simpson, who was the man in the car who ignored Jenny's plea for help, and David gives Hooker some information on Falco. The next day, Hooker, Romano and Simpson stake out the high school as Perez and Falco arrive and the kids gather around. Simpson makes a positive identification on Perez, but when Hooker and Romano go after Perez and Falco, the two grab Cathy, who's been hanging around against her father's orders not to try to help. After a frightening chase with. Cathy as a hostage, Hooker manages to free Cathy and arrest Falco and Perez, and shortly after, Dr. Segal. Back at the precinct, Hooker is glad to learn that David Wagner has requested help with his drug problem.

Hooker and Romano go after a customized van when it runs a red light. The van pulls over but when Hooker and Romano approach it on foot, it takes off. Hooker and Romano in hot pursuit by car are surprised when someone in the van begins shooting at them with a machine gun. Eventually, the van crashes but its two passengers escape. The driver is knocked unconscious and it's discovered that the van is full of firearms. Veteran cop Pete Benedict is soon on the scene, happily surprised to see Hooker -- partners when Hooker was a rookie. This is obviously a case of illegal irons, enough to arm every punk on this side of town. Meanwhile, in a custom body shop across town, a huge, behemoth of a man, Mountain, is furious with the two men who escaped from the van for losing the merchandise. Benedict, Hooker and Romano inspect the confiscated weapons and see that all the serial numbers have been filed away. Unfortunately, they can't get any information from the driver of the van because he's just died in surgery. Hooker puts pressure on a local bookie, Banty, to buy an illegal gun for him, one that can't be traced. Hooker and Romano watch as the transaction goes down. Sonny, one of Mountain's boys, delivers the goods to Banty and then Hooker and Romano go after him, nabbing him after a good chase. Hooker notices that Sonny has the same tattoo on his arm that the van's driver had and identifies it as the symbol of a bad motorcycle gang called the Demons that broke up years ago. On his way downtown to check out a lead of a former Demon owning a shop downtown, Hooker learns that Banty has been killed for helping him. Hooker and Romano arrive at Mountain's shop and provoke a fight, resulting in Mountain and his boys' arrests. Then Hooker turns to his D.A. friend to get him a search warrant on Mountain's place. Hooker raids the shop and this time he captures both Mountain and a gun with the serial numbers filed away. Treating the gun with acid to make the numbers appear, Hooker is stunned to learn that the gun was taken from the Police Property Room. Hooker follows this up at the plant where the gun was supposedly destroyed. There he discovers a huge gun smuggling operation run by Pete Benedict himself. After an emotional confrontation and a fight, Hooker arrests the man who was his mentor.

Cal Jastrow and Danny Scott, two street toughs, break into a house and begin to loot it, but as they are making their escape, the owner returns and Danny shoots him. The shooting is witnessed by pretty Allison Baker and her boss-lover Neil Stoner as they are driving past. Danny's eyes meet Allison's as Stoner's Ferrari roars by. Danny knows he was seen and he and Cal leave quickly. Hooker and Romano are called to the shooting site and find the man dead. Across town, Allison and Neil quarrel. She wants to report what she saw to the police. Stoner insists she mustn't...he can't explain his being with her to his wife. But the choice is no longer hers when Hooker shows up to question her, after the neighborhood milkman who notified the police of the shooting identifies Allison. Meanwhile, Cal and Danny split up their take from the robbery. Cal wants out, but Danny threatens to take Cal down with him if he gets caught. Danny also plans to get rid of Allison before she can talk. Sensing she was lying, Hooker and Romano visit Allison at her apart-ment that evening where she tells them she's afraid to get involved. They are persistent, they need her help and Allison ends up identi-fying Danny in a line-up. Hooker has no case unless Allison will testify in a hearing. But later that evening Cal makes an attempt to kill Allison. Luckily, Hooker is nearby and scares him off, taking a bullet in his shoulder before Cal flees. Now Allison is more terrified than ever to be a witness and Hooker is unable to get police protection for her. Allison does testify however, but Danny's boss lies for him, providing an alibi, and Danny is set free. Allison now fears for her life. Hooker is scared too and knows he's responsible. So he arranges for Vicki to stay with her until he's off duty. Hooker visits Danny's boss, Vitale, to shake him for information. He finds Vitale beaten and left for dead by Danny, so he tells Hooker where to find Cal. Meanwhile, Danny has broken into Allison's apartment, knocked out Vicki and is about to kill Allison, but on Cal's confession, Hooker arrives in time to save her and captures Danny in the pro-cess.

Hooker searches for a serial killer, "The Barber", who has struck again after an eight-year absence, taking a lock of hair from his victims as a souvenir.