Thomas "Tom" Ludlow, an
alcoholic undercover detective for the
LAPD's Vice-Special unit, arranges an arms deal with Korean gangsters suspected of kidnapping two teenage girls. He provokes the gangsters into beating him and stealing his car, allowing him to track them to the gang's hideout. Ludlow storms the hideout and kills the gangsters, staging the scene to make the shootings appear justified, and rescues the captive girls. While Captain Jack Wander and the rest of his unit congratulate him, Ludlow is confronted by his former partner, Terrence Washington, who disapproves of the unit's
corrupt tactics. Ludlow is later approached by Captain James Biggs of
Internal Affairs, but Wander warns that Washington has reported Ludlow to Biggs. Ludlow follows Washington to a convenience store, where they are ambushed by two gunmen under the pretense of a robbery. Accidentally shot when Ludlow returns fire, Washington is killed by the gunmen. Wander advises Ludlow to remove the surveillance footage, telling the press Ludlow was first on the scene but too late to save Washington. Temporarily reassigned to fielding civilian complaints, Ludlow enlists the help of Detective Paul Diskant, determined to find the killers himself. Washington is implicated in stealing drugs from the
evidence room and selling them to the gunmen, identified as criminals Fremont and Coates. Joined by a reluctant Diskant, Ludlow brutalizes informants until a drug dealer, Scribble, leads them to the bodies of the real Fremont and Coates in a shallow grave, killed long before Washington. Giving the surveillance footage to Washington's widow, Linda, Ludlow reveals that he lost his own wife and vows to avenge Washington. He and Diskant pose as dirty cops, forcing Scribble to arrange a meeting with the killers masquerading as Fremont and Coates. Diskant recognizes them, but he and Scribble are killed in the ensuing gunfight. Ludlow kills both assailants, but sees on the news that they were
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies. Declared a "cop killer", Ludlow is arrested by fellow detectives Santos and Demille, who admit to killing the real Fremont and Coates and planting evidence to frame them for Washington's murder. Ludlow realizes that Washington was actually informing on Wander, who is really behind the evidence room theft. Before Santos and Demille can execute him, Ludlow manages to break free and kill them both. He saves Linda from Sergeant Mike Clady, sent by Wander to recover the surveillance footage and kill her, subduing Clady and locking him in his trunk. Ludlow confronts Wander at home, handcuffing him after a brawl. Wander confesses that he has incriminating evidence against high-ranking officials to use to become LAPD chief and, eventually, mayor. Revealing a stash of ill-gotten money and blackmail documents hidden inside his walls, Wander declares his actions were for the sake of Ludlow and their unit, but Ludlow shoots him dead. Biggs arrives, admitting he used Ludlow to bring down Wander on behalf of those in power, and tells him that the department still needs him. ==Cast==