The Rookie (2018) s03e02 Episode Script
In Justice
1
Buh buh buh-buh buh-duh-duh
Buh buh buh-buh buh-duh-duh
Green light
Finally finished!
Good as new.
Hope it'll stay that way this time.
What smells like smoke? Oh, Lucy.
She's, uh, smoke-cleansing your house.
LUCY: Okay, all done.
Armstrong's energy is no longer welcome in this home.
But if you feel it coming back, just call me.
There's a more intensive treatment I can do.
Ah, that sounds awesome, but no, actually, this is - this is good.
- You know what? We should really cleanse the station.
Oh, trust me, that process is already under way.
They've reassigned about a third of our officers to other divisions, bringing in a bunch of new blood.
Word is, my new T.
O.
is from Valley Bureau.
Man, it sucks that Lopez couldn't finish your training.
Yeah, but I'm psyched for her.
I mean, being a detective is all she ever wanted.
On the bright side even if your new T.
O.
is a nightmare, you've only got 25 days till you graduate.
You should be moving up with us.
It is not fair that Grey's holding you back.
That letter of reprimand was severe enough.
I screwed up.
Actions have consequences.
But when you graduate, you have to celebrate.
No more Tim Tests? Come on.
He's been quiet lately.
Too quiet.
- He's planning something.
- Definitely.
Where's the paint? In the car.
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE.]
- Where's your car? - Where's my car? Someone stole my car.
Who hikes halfway up to the Hollywood sign to steal someone's car? I'm surprised they got it to start.
Do not speak ill of my baby.
- Did you lock it? - Wow.
Way to blame the victim.
That's So you locked it? It doesn't actually lock.
I'm gonna win for you like I know you want me to do Ugh! Mnh! I understand there's a lot of pressure to look good on your first day as a detective, but we've already had five housekeepers quit, and I really like this one.
This is your fault.
You got me pregnant.
I went up a cup size.
Now none of my tops fit.
Right.
I, uh, had noticed a change.
You did? Will everyone else? Oh, I I certainly hope that your co-workers aren't as focused on your breasts as I am.
My co-workers are 60% men.
- Well, they will find out eventually.
- [SIGHS.]
Yeah, but I have to make my mark as detective before they do.
Once they know I'm pregnant, they're gonna treat me different, like I'm delicate, so I have until I start showing to prove myself.
Hey.
You will.
You got this.
I'm just gonna have to buy a new wardrobe on my way to work.
Why is there a pizza box in here? Why is roll call in the parking lot? It was all in the departmental e-mail.
- You actually read those? - Chen does.
- Oh.
- Turns out, that room needs some serious earthquake retrofitting.
And we've just been sitting in it, - day after day? - SGT.
GREY: Listen up.
In the wake of recent events, several changes have been instituted department-wide.
Officer Bradford, you want to read - the top line change? - TIM: Yes, sir.
"Any officer requesting a copy of a police report" "must get written approval by a sergeant.
" "After use, all copies must be destroyed.
" "Failure to do so will result in discipline.
" Officer West? "Every recruit in the academy must now report all contact" "with active-duty officers, no matter how small.
" And, Officer Nolan? "No officer shall buy, own, or possess a phone," "even for personal use," "without also providing the department with the number.
" Do I have to tell my girlfriend about it, too? [LAUGHTER.]
These changes are necessary.
What Nick Armstrong did has tarnished the badge and made all of our jobs harder.
We have to prove to the community that we are still worthy of their trust.
And I know each and every one of you will go the extra mile to do that.
To business.
Among our new faces is Officer Doug Stanton.
- Where you at? - Here, sir.
Officer Stanton will be taking over the training of Officer West.
And finally, we've been asked to man the Fourth Street Community Center this week.
Harper, Nolan, you're up.
And the punishment continues.
- Be safe out there.
- U-Uh, sir, real quick.
Um, my car was stolen yesterday.
It's in the SVS, but I took the liberty of making some flyers.
So if you happen to see it on patrol, I would really be grateful if you could just text.
Is this the car you left unlocked? Well, technically, I-I mean, it's the door mechanism.
Dismissed.
- Thank you.
- Chen, let's go.
Yeah, coming.
Thank you.
Ohh, good.
Thanks, Smitty.
Let me know why you had to lead me on all year Following the road, yellow brick, with no fear No cheap thrill when we linkin' up to chill No, I can't cuff, gotta go and make appeal Lopez, right? Yes, sir.
Angela Lopez reporting for duty.
Not like that, you're not.
What? Duty manual prohibits detectives from displaying equipment Equipment in public, unless in use.
I know.
My gun is under my jacket.
But I can still see your cuffs and your pepper spray.
I can't let you go out like that.
And are you wearing a vest? Detectives don't wear vests.
Change and get back here quick.
Newbies make the coffee run every day.
Uh yes, sir.
Lopez? You missed a tag.
[SIGHS.]
Hey.
Let me give you a hand.
Thanks.
Technically, I'm your T.
O.
, but, I read your file.
If it were up to me, you'd already be riding solo.
So let's just drop the whole T.
O.
/Boot B.
S.
and just be partners.
Yeah.
I'd love that.
You think this is a test.
No.
A lot of T.
O.
s out there play mind games, try to make up silly tests, but, uh , I'm not one of 'em.
Let's go.
Ah ah-ah ah TIM: Grey's right.
We need to rededicate ourselves to doing this job the right way, which means the last 25 days of your training are gonna be even more intense.
We should check the chop shops, see if anyone brought my car in.
That's what you're focused on? Even as parts, your car is worthless.
Not to me.
Let the hunk of junk go and focus on the end of your training.
Is that what you would do? Let someone get away with stealing the thing that means the most to you? The only constant in your life for the last 10 years? - It's a car.
- It's the only place [RADIO CHATTER.]
Never mind.
The only place what? Where I felt safe After Caleb.
There's a chop shop on Melrose.
We'll start there.
Not what I pictured.
They're all like this.
Bottom of the funding food chain.
Well, there goes the neighborhood.
PolicÃa.
I'm Officer Nolan.
- This is Detective Harper.
- Don't bother.
You won't be here long enough for me to remember.
Okay.
Well, if you change your mind, uh, drop on by.
We'd love to hear any concerns you have about what's going on in the community.
You're my concern about what's going on in this community.
They only staff this place when the department's doing damage control.
Well, that way, the higher-ups can congratulate themselves on how much they care, without actually doing anything.
Well, if that's your take, what are you doing here? - Just trying to make a difference.
- We're being punished.
- I like her.
- Okay.
Well, you know where we'll be.
So far, so good.
That was not the warmest of welcomes.
You expected otherwise? Look, I know you think all this is just Grey twisting the knife, but I honestly believe he wants us to use our newfound perspective to engage with the neighbors.
- Sure.
You go with that.
- I will.
Is that your lunch? Uh, no, it's enough jollof rice to feed about 30 kids, as well as some egusi and some moin moin.
Nigerian food.
It's, uh, Heritage Day at Lila's school, and I am supposed to bring - a traditional dish.
- A dish? I may have gone a little overboard.
But I just I want Lila to see that I am here for her now.
- When did you sleep? - I didn't.
- [CHUCKLES.]
- Listen, you do not know these moms.
They go all out.
I swear, I Not one of them has a job.
Judging other moms.
Now you're getting the hang of parenting.
I got a lot of time to make up for.
I just I want Lila to see that I am invested.
Try this.
- Wow.
- Too spicy? - [MUFFLED.]
For children? - Mm.
Sure.
It's good.
Oh, good.
[CHUCKLES.]
Whew! You scared me.
DOUG: Nice speech by the Watch Commander.
Oh, it wasn't just a speech.
Grey means it.
Sure.
I get it.
A few bad apples taint us all.
These personnel shifts and rule changes make it harder for good cops to do the job.
Well, I'm not afraid of a little hard work, sir.
Whatever it takes to do things right.
Spoken like a true rookie.
So, tell me about you.
Married? Kids? Married, yep, 13 years, - two kids.
- Nice.
Nice.
What's the wife do? Giselle's a teacher.
Hopefully, she turns my kids into doctors.
So no more cops in the family? Nah.
Job's changed.
People used to respect us, look to us for help.
Nah.
These days, I wouldn't wish being a cop on anybody.
[RADIO CHATTER.]
Not the words of encouragement you were hoping for.
Hey, I am always happy to hear another point of view.
[CELLPHONE VIBRATES.]
Oh.
You, uh, mind if I get this? Partner, not T.
O.
, remember? Yo.
How's, uh, community policing? NOLAN: Room for improvement.
Hey, do you have any interest in tutoring for a couple hours this week after shift? [COPIER SCREECHING.]
Just wanted to offer some perks here at the CPC, you know, draw in some of the neighbors.
- Lucy said she's on board.
- What's the pay? A sense of accomplishment.
- Sign me up.
- You're the best.
Thank you.
Now, should a copier be making this noise? [COPIER SCREECHING.]
- [CHUCKLES.]
- [CELLPHONE BEEPS.]
No calls pending.
Might as well see if we can help.
What's the problem? Hell if I know.
It's like a spaceship in here.
It's all computers these days.
Let me take a look.
Took you long enough.
Almost had to give away your first case.
There was a line, but I'm good to go.
It's a burglary report from a funeral parlor overnight.
Could be addicts looking for embalming fluid.
Or weirdo sex stuff.
Either way, check it out.
Call me when you get back.
Newbies pick up lunch, too.
LAPD Community Center, right across the street, over there.
We have ticket sign-offs, crime-stat updates, after-school tutoring.
Just want to come in and talk, say hi, just come on in, drop in, say hi.
Yeah, be the last time you wrong 'Cause it's hard to swim with those concrete shoes on Skinny jeans and some chucks [GLASS SHATTERS, CAR ALARM BLARING.]
Hey! Really?! 7-Adam-15 foot pursuit.
Northbound on Alvarado at 8th.
Male, Hispanic.
Control, 7-Adam-07, attach us to that.
- Code 3.
- That should get you to the garage.
Take it easy.
7-Adam-15-A also responding.
Blue jacket, green pants.
- Want is 4-5 - Look out! Suspect headed west on 5th.
[TIRES SCREECH.]
But now it's far too late to get myself correction I blame the school, they shoulda shown me some attention [GRUNTS.]
I got a chip on my shoulder And everybody knows it [TIRES SCREECH.]
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Come on, come, on.
No God! [SIGHS.]
Oh, no.
Whew! Something die in there? LOPEZ: You check embalming-fluid levels? Last night, but they haven't been touched.
And nothing else seems to be missing.
Why would someone break in and not take anything? Could be a weird sex thing.
[DOORS CREAK.]
[SIGHS.]
[SNIFFS.]
You okay? Uh, yeah.
It's just [SIZZLING.]
Did you cremate someone this morning? No.
Not for a few days.
[WHIRRING.]
[WHIRRING STOPS.]
So, who's that? [GROANS.]
- Got him.
- Hey, come on! - Take it easy! - It's okay.
We're just arresting him for burglary for stealing this backpack.
What, you need four cops for a kid stealing a bag? - Yo, my man, back off.
- It's It's okay.
It's okay, look, calling for backup is simply protocol.
We don't know if the suspect is armed.
- Better safe than sorry.
- Safe for who? Not for people who look like him.
- Or me.
- You want us to stick around? No, uh, we're cool.
I'm not cool.
Are you? Look, this guy just made one of your neighbors a victim.
Okay? He's going in.
Simple.
It's never that simple.
Alright? If the city wasn't spending 50% of its budget on cops, then maybe he would have gotten a leg up instead of the short end of the stick.
Look, I hear you.
Trust me, I do.
But I don't have a time machine, okay? So right here, right now, this guy just broke someone's window, which is not cheap to fix, and he took their property.
So if you want to help him, help him get a good lawyer.
I will.
Are we just supposed to ignore crime, in his eyes? It's not that easy.
I mean, he's fighting against a rigged system, and he is not winning.
Wears you down.
Uh, you mind taking a walk back to the center? I, uh, can still make it to Lila's school on time.
No.
Yeah, of course.
- What are you gonna do about the food? - Improvise.
[CHUCKLES.]
Good luck.
[ENGINE STARTS.]
[RADIO BEEPS.]
Dispatch, can you connect me to City Services? [RADIO BEEPS.]
City Services.
This is Mike.
Hey, Mike.
Uh, this is Officer John Nolan.
I'm standing at a park gate on the 500 block of West Elm, with a bike lock on the gate.
Is that you guys? A bike lock? No way.
So you wouldn't have an issue if I took it down? No, sir.
Excuse me.
Hi.
Me again.
I don't suppose you have a pair of cable cutters I could borrow? Sure.
You're trustworthy enough, I guess.
Oh, I don't know if James would agree with you, but yes, I am.
You been working with this crew long? No.
James just throws me jobs when he can.
Most days, I just line up at the local Home Depot, take whatever work drives up.
Used to own my own construction company, but that went belly up when the economy tanked.
I was in construction in Pennsylvania before I became a cop.
Yeah, I had More than a few very lean years.
Oh, "lean's" being kind.
I almost lost my house.
Something to be said for day work, though.
Doesn't pay great, but it also doesn't keep me up at night worrying about how I'm gonna make payroll.
You know what? Um Write your name and number on the back of one of those for me.
I have cops coming to me asking me to do jobs for them all the time.
I would be happy to throw them your way.
- That'd be great.
Thanks.
- Yeah, no problem.
Uh, I'll be right back with these.
- Write down that number.
- Yeah.
Park's open.
SGT.
CARADINE: What the hell is wrong with you? It was a simple burglary call.
You could have closed out the case as a nonworker.
Instead, I'm hearing that you have the coroner and a full CSU team on site.
Yes, sir.
It's a possible homicide.
No.
It's an albatross around your neck.
Those ovens burn at 1,800 degrees.
The DNA is most likely cooked.
And unless you have a victim, the lab moves you to the end of the line, so they won't even get to those fragments for months.
No victim, no cause of death means no homicide.
All you have is a Health and Safety Code violation for improperly disposing of a body.
- [BUZZER.]
- DOUG: I'm impressed.
The way you made it over that fence couldn't do that even back when I was your age.
You ever think about a career in SWAT or Metro? Only all the time.
Buddy of mine's a commander over at SWAT.
I can put in a good word.
Yeah, that would be amazing.
Alright.
-TIM: 7-Adam-19, show us Code 6 -Get out of my car.
- for an on-view 415.
- Get out! This is your house.
Get out now! LUCY: What seems to be the problem? The problem is the drunk giant in my back seat.
We landed here 20 minutes ago, and he refuses to get out! Sir, get out of the car.
TIM: Can you please stand on the sidewalk? Don't hurt the car.
It's my only source of income.
What is the goal of this call, Officer Chen? To get the Mountain's ugly cousin out of the car.
Wrong.
It is to get him out of the car without making things worse.
Now, do you think you can get him out, without relying on your weapons? Really? A Tim Test right now? Our goal as police officers should be to de-escalate whenever possible.
This from the guy who set me up to fight a suspect on day one? Does this mean you're not up to the challenge? No, sir.
I am game for whatever you want to throw at me.
Great.
So, here's the deal.
You start with 100 points.
Reach for anything on your belt, and you lose points.
Baton is 10.
Taser equals 15.
If you take out your gun, that's 50.
Leave this call with 85 points or less, and you lose and I write up a blue page on you.
Getting one of those at this stage of your training would be a real problem.
- Can I earn points? - Absolutely.
You get him calm, 5 points.
He agrees to get out of the car, 10.
You get him to apologize to the driver, 20 points.
But if you use any of your weapons, game over you lose.
Back up.
I got this.
Excuse me.
Hi.
I'm Officer Chen.
What's your name? I want the pretty girl.
Where'd the pretty girl go? Well, she's right out here.
Why don't you come out and see her? You're trying to trick me.
They told me all about that in the Marines.
You're a Marine? Two tours in country.
Oorah.
[BELCHES.]
Thank you for your service.
Why don't you get on out, and let the pretty girl have her car back? Don't tell me what to do.
TIM: Ooh! That's 15, Officer Chen.
You're already in the loss column.
Let's go out.
- Eat a bag of d - Not helping.
- I'm not a bad guy.
- Sir, look - Back off! - Okay.
Okay.
Look, I get it.
It's been hard Being home, back in your life, where nothing feels normal.
But she's just trying to do her job.
And I know, your mother didn't teach you to disrespect women Don't talk about my mom.
She died when I was over there.
I'm so sorry.
You know she would tell you that you're better than this.
You fought for freedom, and that includes this girl's freedom from you harassing her 'cause 'Cause you got drunk and lonely.
[SIGHS.]
You're right.
I'm sorry.
Don't apologize to me.
I'm sorry.
Bite me.
Fine.
[SIGHS.]
Thanks.
Do you live here, sir? Yeah, upstairs.
Alright.
Head on up, straight to bed.
And just take it easy next time you're at the bar.
Yeah.
Calm, plus leaving, plus an apology.
I crushed this test.
- Nice recovery.
- Mm-hmm.
- TIM: Have a great day, ma'am.
- Oh! Uh, just wait one second.
Have you seen this car while you've been driving around? - Mm.
Super cute.
- Yeah, thanks.
You know what? I did see it.
Where? There it is.
LUCY: Somebody's inside.
[ENGINE SHUTS OFF.]
Control 7-Adam-19, occupied 10-8-5-1, Wilshire Normandy Station.
Stop right there! Put your hands on top of your head.
Fingers interlaced.
[HANDCUFFS CLICK.]
You are under arrest for auto theft.
No.
You don't understand.
I didn't steal the car.
The guy who owns it lent it to me, but he lost the keys.
I'm the guy who owns the car.
You didn't even lock it.
- What did you expect? - Yeah, well, it doesn't lock.
- It does now.
- What? - How did you fix it? - It was easy.
Just popped off the door panel.
Took like two minutes.
Wait, are you living in here? - How old are you? - 17.
Where are your parents? Dead.
Alright, anything in here that's gonna stick me? - Needles, knives? - No.
LUCY: How long have you been living on the street? A year.
Careful with that! Oh.
Sorry.
Must be hard living like this.
What do you care? Uh I-I'm not gonna press charges.
Here, stand up.
Seriously? Yeah, it's my car, - my prerogative.
- Boot We'll get you set up over at a children's shelter.
- Alright? - Oh, you don't have to.
I got someplace else I can go.
Does it have doors that lock and people that care about you? Does the children's shelter? You know how many times I got my stuff stolen from there? And it's too far from school.
- You still go to school? - Yeah.
I do.
And I get good grades.
Any more dumb questions? [ZIPPER SLIDES.]
Look, I don't want to make getting to school hard for you, but I don't have a choice here, so it's either jail or the shelter.
But I won't just dump you there, okay? I'll I'll help you find a permanent place.
- Is she for real? - Officer Chen, a word.
You, stand here, hands on the car.
- Congratulations.
- On what? - On your first puppy.
- What? Every rookie adopts a puppy at some point, someone they think they can save.
Honestly, I'm surprised it took you this long.
- Did you have a puppy? - That's - Not relevant here.
- Mm-hmm.
What is is that it never goes well.
Okay, well, she's not a puppy.
She's a girl in trouble, and I'm gonna help her.
Okay? 7-Adam-07, show us Code 6 on the burglary call at 1119 Brower.
DISPATCH: 7-Adam-07, copy.
Hey.
Um, I'm D'Andre, and these are my folks.
They don't really speak much English.
- West African? - Uh, Somalia, actually.
I was born in Long Beach.
So, uh, someone broke into your home? Yeah.
We We spent the night in Bakersfield for my basketball tournament.
Just got home a few hours ago, and door was busted open.
TVs, computers, - and my mom's jewelry.
- DOUG: Sorry to hear that.
Used to play a little ball back in high school.
Used to call me the Dougernaut.
- You got a nickname? - Not really.
Uh, "D" sometimes.
"D," huh? "D-Ball.
" Nice.
I like it.
So, did anyone know you'd be gone? Did you post on social or anything like that? Got any tattoos, D-Ball? I mean one.
A little, tiny dot I gave myself when I was 13.
See? So, who are you claiming these days, D? What? Uh, I'm not claiming anybody.
I'm not in a gang.
So, you're not Murder East Nation? State Line Crew? No, dude, we got robbed.
You owe anybody money, D-Ball? - What - Sometimes, burglaries will have personal motives.
My partner is just trying to narrow the suspect field.
Look, sir, could I ask you a favor, partner to partner? What is it? Officer Lopez never let me do any interviews alone, and I could use the practice over the next three weeks before I end up riding solo.
You'd be doing me a real solid, sir.
Alright.
I'll be back in the shop.
But your report better be bulletproof.
If I find as much as a typo, it's a blue page.
Understood.
Look, I, um I got to apologize about my partner.
He's done a lot of work with gangs and, it gets kind of stuck in his head.
[CAR DOOR CLOSES.]
Would you please show me the point of entry, sir? Yeah.
Round of applause for the conquering hero.
- What happened? - I snagged a deep-dish pizza on the way there, 'cause Donovan is from Chicago, so, you know, heritage.
- And kids love pizza.
- Only thing they ate.
One mom she brought this jellied fish thing.
One kid cried when he saw it.
- [CHUCKLES.]
- Looks like I win at momming.
Not sure that's exactly how you're supposed to see it.
Shh! Ba Shh! I'm enjoying my triumph.
Anyway, how are things going here? Great.
I signed off on a couple fix-it tickets.
Came up with some ideas for reaching out to the community.
- Would you like to hear them? - Sure.
All set.
- Thanks for letting me do that.
- Mm-hmm.
Get to work on that report.
[ENGINE STARTS.]
Did one of you clip the bike lock in the park? I did.
Yeah.
Are the kids using it? Yeah, luckily, my oldest found the dirty needles in the sandbox before little kids played in it.
I had no idea.
Did you at any point stop to wonder why the lock was even there? Those lights have been busted for a year.
Do you know what happens in a dark public park? - Yes, drug dealers.
- And junkies, and who the hell knows what else.
We lock the park to keep them out.
We could have helped.
You should have called 911.
To do what? Clear them out for the night? Maybe kill someone in the process? We're not all trigger-happy.
I mean, most of us want to help.
I don't know about "most.
" But I can't roll the dice that a good cop is gonna show up.
So we found our own solution.
The lock was there to protect us, to protect our kids.
Look, you shouldn't have to trade a place to play - for safety.
- No.
We shouldn't.
But we do.
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
[BLOWS.]
City gave you permission to work on this yourself? Uh, yeah.
Took some convincing, and I got to do it on my own time.
All the city has to do now is come and inspect.
Until then, lights are working.
Hey, that's just great.
You must feel real good about yourself.
Actually, my shoulders and my back are a little angry with me.
And what about tonight? When they break the lights again? What then? Uh, cameras are on the way, and the Watch Commander has approved more patrols in the area, so if anybody's caught messing with the lights, they'll be arrested.
So, more Black and Brown people in prison.
And then you'll be gone, and it'll just go back to the way it was.
I'm just trying to help.
You ever wonder why, cops spend so much time in neighborhoods like this? It's 'cause the arrests are easy.
Hell, I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen rookies brought here and taught, "This is what a junkie looks like, and this is what a dealer looks like.
" And from that moment on, that's how cops see us.
Okay, look, I wasn't trained like that.
Well, that's because your training officer looks like us.
Look, the only person you helped this morning is you.
[CHUCKLES.]
Made yourself feel good while you put a Band-Aid on a systemic wound.
You want to make a real difference? Stop picking on us, and attack crime at the source.
Keep meth out of this neighborhood.
[SCOFFS.]
Anything less, you're just wasting both our time.
Morning.
You okay? Uh Tamara left the shelter during the night.
The girl who stole my car.
Right, sorry.
I'm, like, wrapped up in my own little drama.
Mm.
I talked to her caseworker.
Tamara's had it rough.
Both of her parents O.
D.
'd.
She got taken in by relatives, but there was violence in the house, so she split.
- What are you gonna do? - Try and find her, even though Tim's giving me a hard time.
He calls her my puppy.
Says that every rookie gets one.
He's just being judgy.
- You know how he is.
- Uh, all due respect.
Screw Tim.
Yeah, and all the other T.
O.
s.
You know, I am so sick of being at the bottom of the food chain, like, constantly jumping through somebody else's hoops.
[CHUCKLING.]
Are you all right? - What is up with all this drama? - Doug.
Like [SIGHS.]
He did something yesterday that really bothered me.
The way he treated this one family.
Black family.
Did he put hands on them? No, no, it's just the way he He talked to them.
Like, the-the disrespect was, like [SIGHS.]
24 more days.
Yeah.
No.
- It's super healthy.
- Then you eat it.
I have too much work to do to spend the next half-hour puking.
Can I help? I'm dead in the water.
Our unknown suspect forced entry into a funeral crematorium and disposed of a body.
No prints, no DNA, no gender, age, or race.
All we got is a sneaker print from the most popular brand on Earth.
There has to be something.
Suspect approaches, forces entry.
Alarm goes off.
According to the alarm company, he enters a code.
Enters it again.
Alarm is still going off, so he cuts the wires.
He didn't try two different codes.
He tried the same code twice.
[PAPER RUSTLING.]
Got to go.
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
Now she's got me doing it.
We got to get something straight.
Okay.
I was super pissed when I went home last night, the way you pushed me yesterday.
Then, I realized you just don't know any better.
So it's my job to teach you the right way to think on the street.
Officer Lopez did that already.
Yeah.
Sure.
But I got a very different perspective than your former T.
O.
I've seen a ton of gang activity in my time.
And that experience has taught me that crooks and dirtbags always try to hide who they are.
D'Andre didn't seem like a crook or a dirtbag.
They never do.
Do you know the significance of that dot tattoo, Officer West? You see, he has three more on his chest, so when he puts his hand over his heart and holds up two fingers, it makes the area code 213.
Birthplace of Crips.
That kid, D-Ball, is a straight-up gangster.
Maybe I'm wrong.
If so, that's on me.
But I've seen far too many good cops get caught flat-footed making the wrong assumption.
We must remain ever-vigilant on this job.
Otherwise, we end our shift in a body bag.
NOLAN: Morning.
You are six minutes late.
Sorry.
I was putting up lights in the park.
You know they're just gonna smash those out again.
That's what James said.
But the lights are up, which means crime will be down, and the patrols and cameras will keep the lights working.
That's got to be value-add, right? Look, I know you.
I know your heart is in the right place, but You can't come at this like you are some kind of Savior.
You mean White savior.
Look, that's the last thing I'm trying to be.
But what am I supposed to do? How can I be an ally to the people who live here? Stop pretending like you know what they need, and just ask.
LOPEZ: Mr.
Moore, thanks for coming by.
Y'all paintin' in here? Something like that.
Have a seat.
Would you like some coffee or water? I could use a beer.
You used to work at Saint Dubois Funeral Home.
- Is that correct? - Barely.
I mean, it's been so long.
Your pay stubs show that you worked there up until two months ago.
[SCOFFS.]
Feels longer.
Records also indicate, that you had your own access code for the security system.
It was your code that was entered during a recent break-in.
Anybody could have seen that code, tried to use it.
True, but the wear on shoes is as unique as a fingerprint.
No two people walk exactly the same way.
This, you may remember, is your shoe.
And this is from the crime scene.
[SCOFFS.]
Okay, yeah, I broke in.
But I didn't kill anyone.
I swear.
I just burned the body, like all the others.
Others? Like in more than one dead body? Yeah.
[INHALES DEEPLY.]
Okay.
I'm going to stop you and read you your rights.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.
Do you understand the rights I've just told to you? Yeah.
I'm not stupid.
Of course not.
And with these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me? Okay.
Mind if I invite in a friend? Is she cute? How many bodies did you dispose of - while you worked there? - Not many.
7 12.
I don't know.
It was, like, once every couple months.
But then I got fired, and I was really scared to tell the guys, so when they brought me another body, I just broke in.
And who are the guys? They'll kill me! You can be a good witness or an accessory to murder.
- Up to you.
- Okay, fine.
K-Town Mafia Brian Simuro's crew.
But he's crazy.
I need Secret Service protection.
- You mean witness protection.
- That, too.
Give me all of it.
Pretty sure that albatross just flew away.
Nice work, Detective.
I'll finish up here with Mr.
Moore.
Go coordinate with Ezra in the gang unit.
This is gonna be a front-page arrest.
What's an albatross? [DOOR CLOSES.]
Okay, and you reattached your front licenseplate, which means I can sign off on this fix-it ticket as prepared.
There you go.
Thank you so much for coming in.
As you can see, it's been just a little slow.
Still getting up to speed.
Don't forget to send in the $10 as the [DOOR CLOSES.]
Processing fee.
Another satisfied customer.
- [CELLPHONE VIBRATING.]
- Oh.
[CELLPHONE BEEPS.]
Go for John Nolan.
- [TOOLS WHIRRING.]
- Hey.
It's Hugo.
I lent you bolt cutters yesterday.
Right! Yes.
- Hey, how are you? - Uh I'm on a job right now.
We're doing a commercial kitchen.
They want vinyl composition tiles in the food-prep area.
- [WHISPERING.]
Harper.
- So we're going through lots of denatured alcohol - paint thinner, drain cleaner.
- [BEEP.]
Building codes forbid vinyl composition tiles in food-prep areas.
He knows that.
He knows I know that.
The pay is great, but the coffee is terrible.
All the filters I found are stained red.
Plus, no A.
C.
until we get the Freon.
And don't even get me started on the propane.
All the brass on the tanks turned blue.
Red phosphorus gets run through coffee filters.
Freon, denatured alcohol these are all ingredients that produce anhydrous ammonia gas.
Gas that turns brass fittings on propane tanks blue.
- [BEEP.]
- Where are you? Can't say, but you keep those jobs open for me.
- Of course I will.
- [BEEP.]
Red phosphorous, ammonia gas? I don't It means that Hugo has been roped into building a meth lab.
Probably a super-lab.
We got to go save him.
Alright, I will call Metro.
I'll tell them to get a SWAT team together.
No, we have to go.
SWAT doesn't know what Hugo looks like.
What if they lump him in with the narcos? [ENGINES REVVING.]
[TIRES SCREECH.]
NOLAN: This is it.
This is where Hugo's phone was when we last hit that signal, but there's nothing here.
Nolan, look over there.
Gases from a meth lab kill any vegetation near the vent ports.
It's somewhere over there.
[ENGINE REVS.]
HARPER: Okay, listen to me.
Some gases from a ruptured meth cook can kill you instantly.
So, even with this on, it can give you about 30 seconds, tops.
We hear a boom, we get out of there immediately.
- Do you copy that? - Copy.
Ready.
[ENGINE REVS.]
[BREATHING ECHOES.]
[HEARTBEAT.]
[GUNFIRE.]
[INDISTINCT SHOUTING.]
Oh! Thank God you found us.
They weren't gonna let us go.
HARPER: Where are the keys? Up on the wall! Hurry.
We got to get out of here.
Come on! Thanks.
Oh, my God.
[EXPLOSION.]
Oh! [INDISTINCT SHOUTING.]
That's gas.
Nolan, we have got to get out of here! [SHOUTING IN SPANISH.]
Okay, go! We got to go! Nolan, come on! We got to go! I'm not leaving him behind! - We got to get out of here! - [LOCK CLICKS.]
- Come on.
- Go, go, go, go! We got to get out of here! [INDISTINCT SHOUTING.]
[GAS HISSING.]
[COUGHING.]
Come on! [COUGHING.]
[RETCHING.]
[COUGHING.]
29282726 242322 21 20 [HEARTBEAT QUICKENS.]
[COUGHING.]
[GASPS.]
Ohh, you okay? - You good? - Yeah.
[COUGHS.]
[DOOR SLAMS.]
[GROANS LOUDLY.]
Don't watch.
- [SCREAMING.]
- Trust me.
There's nothing we can do for him.
[SCREAMING CONTINUES.]
Tamara.
How did you find me? I checked all the local high schools to see where you were registered, and they told me that you're usually hanging out at the library until closing time.
You can take me back to the shelter, but we both know I won't stay.
I know, but living on the street isn't any better.
You know, you deserve more.
There isn't more.
There's just this.
[SMACKS LIPS.]
You don't believe that.
Otherwise, you would have given up, dropped out.
I think you believe that there's something better out there.
You just need someone to help you find it.
So, look, um - I'm gonna give you my car.
- What? Just until you get back on your feet.
You know, I know it doesn't run great, but it took me to college, it saw me through three really bad relationships, and it kept me sane after Well, after I almost died.
What's the catch? You got to let Social Services help you find a place to live one that I'll make sure is safe and you have to keep checking in with me regularly until that happens so I know you're okay.
Like, once a week? Like, once a day.
It's a free car.
That barely runs! Once a day until you're off the street, or no deal.
- Thanks.
- [CHUCKLES.]
How's life without Lopez? Definitely not the same.
Hey, have you ever seen anyone with one of those 2-1-3 dot tattoos? Not in like a decade.
That's some old-school gang stuff.
Stanton tell you about that? Yeah, right after he told me that I should listen to him because he has a different perspective than Lopez.
Look, Stanton was originally an L.
A.
County sheriff.
Rookies in the Sheriff's Department, they don't start out on the streets.
They do two years as guards, mostly at the Twin Towers.
That sounds like a nightmare.
Nothing like having inmates pelting you with bags of feces on the regular to give you a jaded view of humanity.
Or a certain color of humanity.
Look.
[SIGHS.]
I hear he's a solid cop.
Learn what's useful and ignore the rest.
Alright? If you quote me on that to Chen, I'll deny it.
You all done? I got to pick up the kids from my mom.
Hmm.
How old? You were talking about Moms, right? Mm.
12 and 14.
Mm! - You got any? - I do.
Uh, her name is Lila.
She's 7.
Right on.
Right on.
You grow up around here? Inglewood.
You still live there? Is this a side door into a conversation about cops, living in the communities they serve? - Busted.
- Mm.
But you got to admit, it would make a difference.
Yeah, sure, but it would also mean that anyone who was angry at the police, could take it out on me, my family, my home my little girl.
And don't act like you don't know nobody who wouldn't do it.
I mean we're not tight, - but - [CHUCKLES.]
I get it.
I get it.
- It's complicated.
- [SIGHING.]
Yeah.
For both of us.
But I appreciate you're willing to talk about it.
Thanks for looking out for Hugo.
He said you straight-up saved his life.
Well, that wasn't just me.
I mean, Nolan insisted that we both go personally so that SWAT would not see Hugo as a criminal.
Don't write Nolan off.
He is more of a guardian than any other cop I have ever worked with.
I mean, right now, his shift is over, and yet he's still inside, waiting for kids to come by for tutoring.
Anyway, have a good night.
Directions mean nothing in the dark When you don't know where you stand Whoa.
Hold on.
No, no.
Whoa, whoa.
You You gave her your car? Listen, I can't deal with any more judgment.
No, no, I was gonna say that's - very generous.
- Thanks.
Hey! Uh, hi.
Come on in.
Oh, thanks.
These are my boys, Aaron and Michael.
- Uh, hi.
I'm John.
- Hi.
I'm Lucy.
Nice to meet you.
Look, I I know I've been giving you a tough time, but I really do appreciate what you were trying to do this morning.
Even though it was misguided.
Yeah.
[CHUCKLES.]
Plus, they've changed the way they teach math again, so I'm a little lost.
Well, you came to the right place.
Lucy is excellent at math.
Jackson is excellent at math.
Yes, and he will be here soon.
Why don't we, uh, get you guys settled? Right this way, gents.
Look, I don't take handouts, so if you're gonna tutor my boys, I am gonna pay.
Well, how about this? Uh, we'll tutor Michael and Aaron, and you sit down and talk to us a little more about what this neighborhood really needs.
I can do that.
[DOOR OPENS.]
Perfect timing.
Jackson, this is James.
- You met him outside the park.
- Yes.
Right this way.
These are the guys that need your help.
I'll be coming back This is the numbers guy.
[LAUGHTER.]
Why don't you grab that chair.
How old are you? - 12.
- 13.
Hope it'll stay that way this time.
What smells like smoke? Oh, Lucy.
She's, uh, smoke-cleansing your house.
LUCY: Okay, all done.
Armstrong's energy is no longer welcome in this home.
But if you feel it coming back, just call me.
There's a more intensive treatment I can do.
Ah, that sounds awesome, but no, actually, this is - this is good.
- You know what? We should really cleanse the station.
Oh, trust me, that process is already under way.
They've reassigned about a third of our officers to other divisions, bringing in a bunch of new blood.
Word is, my new T.
O.
is from Valley Bureau.
Man, it sucks that Lopez couldn't finish your training.
Yeah, but I'm psyched for her.
I mean, being a detective is all she ever wanted.
On the bright side even if your new T.
O.
is a nightmare, you've only got 25 days till you graduate.
You should be moving up with us.
It is not fair that Grey's holding you back.
That letter of reprimand was severe enough.
I screwed up.
Actions have consequences.
But when you graduate, you have to celebrate.
No more Tim Tests? Come on.
He's been quiet lately.
Too quiet.
- He's planning something.
- Definitely.
Where's the paint? In the car.
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE.]
- Where's your car? - Where's my car? Someone stole my car.
Who hikes halfway up to the Hollywood sign to steal someone's car? I'm surprised they got it to start.
Do not speak ill of my baby.
- Did you lock it? - Wow.
Way to blame the victim.
That's So you locked it? It doesn't actually lock.
I'm gonna win for you like I know you want me to do Ugh! Mnh! I understand there's a lot of pressure to look good on your first day as a detective, but we've already had five housekeepers quit, and I really like this one.
This is your fault.
You got me pregnant.
I went up a cup size.
Now none of my tops fit.
Right.
I, uh, had noticed a change.
You did? Will everyone else? Oh, I I certainly hope that your co-workers aren't as focused on your breasts as I am.
My co-workers are 60% men.
- Well, they will find out eventually.
- [SIGHS.]
Yeah, but I have to make my mark as detective before they do.
Once they know I'm pregnant, they're gonna treat me different, like I'm delicate, so I have until I start showing to prove myself.
Hey.
You will.
You got this.
I'm just gonna have to buy a new wardrobe on my way to work.
Why is there a pizza box in here? Why is roll call in the parking lot? It was all in the departmental e-mail.
- You actually read those? - Chen does.
- Oh.
- Turns out, that room needs some serious earthquake retrofitting.
And we've just been sitting in it, - day after day? - SGT.
GREY: Listen up.
In the wake of recent events, several changes have been instituted department-wide.
Officer Bradford, you want to read - the top line change? - TIM: Yes, sir.
"Any officer requesting a copy of a police report" "must get written approval by a sergeant.
" "After use, all copies must be destroyed.
" "Failure to do so will result in discipline.
" Officer West? "Every recruit in the academy must now report all contact" "with active-duty officers, no matter how small.
" And, Officer Nolan? "No officer shall buy, own, or possess a phone," "even for personal use," "without also providing the department with the number.
" Do I have to tell my girlfriend about it, too? [LAUGHTER.]
These changes are necessary.
What Nick Armstrong did has tarnished the badge and made all of our jobs harder.
We have to prove to the community that we are still worthy of their trust.
And I know each and every one of you will go the extra mile to do that.
To business.
Among our new faces is Officer Doug Stanton.
- Where you at? - Here, sir.
Officer Stanton will be taking over the training of Officer West.
And finally, we've been asked to man the Fourth Street Community Center this week.
Harper, Nolan, you're up.
And the punishment continues.
- Be safe out there.
- U-Uh, sir, real quick.
Um, my car was stolen yesterday.
It's in the SVS, but I took the liberty of making some flyers.
So if you happen to see it on patrol, I would really be grateful if you could just text.
Is this the car you left unlocked? Well, technically, I-I mean, it's the door mechanism.
Dismissed.
- Thank you.
- Chen, let's go.
Yeah, coming.
Thank you.
Ohh, good.
Thanks, Smitty.
Let me know why you had to lead me on all year Following the road, yellow brick, with no fear No cheap thrill when we linkin' up to chill No, I can't cuff, gotta go and make appeal Lopez, right? Yes, sir.
Angela Lopez reporting for duty.
Not like that, you're not.
What? Duty manual prohibits detectives from displaying equipment Equipment in public, unless in use.
I know.
My gun is under my jacket.
But I can still see your cuffs and your pepper spray.
I can't let you go out like that.
And are you wearing a vest? Detectives don't wear vests.
Change and get back here quick.
Newbies make the coffee run every day.
Uh yes, sir.
Lopez? You missed a tag.
[SIGHS.]
Hey.
Let me give you a hand.
Thanks.
Technically, I'm your T.
O.
, but, I read your file.
If it were up to me, you'd already be riding solo.
So let's just drop the whole T.
O.
/Boot B.
S.
and just be partners.
Yeah.
I'd love that.
You think this is a test.
No.
A lot of T.
O.
s out there play mind games, try to make up silly tests, but, uh , I'm not one of 'em.
Let's go.
Ah ah-ah ah TIM: Grey's right.
We need to rededicate ourselves to doing this job the right way, which means the last 25 days of your training are gonna be even more intense.
We should check the chop shops, see if anyone brought my car in.
That's what you're focused on? Even as parts, your car is worthless.
Not to me.
Let the hunk of junk go and focus on the end of your training.
Is that what you would do? Let someone get away with stealing the thing that means the most to you? The only constant in your life for the last 10 years? - It's a car.
- It's the only place [RADIO CHATTER.]
Never mind.
The only place what? Where I felt safe After Caleb.
There's a chop shop on Melrose.
We'll start there.
Not what I pictured.
They're all like this.
Bottom of the funding food chain.
Well, there goes the neighborhood.
PolicÃa.
I'm Officer Nolan.
- This is Detective Harper.
- Don't bother.
You won't be here long enough for me to remember.
Okay.
Well, if you change your mind, uh, drop on by.
We'd love to hear any concerns you have about what's going on in the community.
You're my concern about what's going on in this community.
They only staff this place when the department's doing damage control.
Well, that way, the higher-ups can congratulate themselves on how much they care, without actually doing anything.
Well, if that's your take, what are you doing here? - Just trying to make a difference.
- We're being punished.
- I like her.
- Okay.
Well, you know where we'll be.
So far, so good.
That was not the warmest of welcomes.
You expected otherwise? Look, I know you think all this is just Grey twisting the knife, but I honestly believe he wants us to use our newfound perspective to engage with the neighbors.
- Sure.
You go with that.
- I will.
Is that your lunch? Uh, no, it's enough jollof rice to feed about 30 kids, as well as some egusi and some moin moin.
Nigerian food.
It's, uh, Heritage Day at Lila's school, and I am supposed to bring - a traditional dish.
- A dish? I may have gone a little overboard.
But I just I want Lila to see that I am here for her now.
- When did you sleep? - I didn't.
- [CHUCKLES.]
- Listen, you do not know these moms.
They go all out.
I swear, I Not one of them has a job.
Judging other moms.
Now you're getting the hang of parenting.
I got a lot of time to make up for.
I just I want Lila to see that I am invested.
Try this.
- Wow.
- Too spicy? - [MUFFLED.]
For children? - Mm.
Sure.
It's good.
Oh, good.
[CHUCKLES.]
Whew! You scared me.
DOUG: Nice speech by the Watch Commander.
Oh, it wasn't just a speech.
Grey means it.
Sure.
I get it.
A few bad apples taint us all.
These personnel shifts and rule changes make it harder for good cops to do the job.
Well, I'm not afraid of a little hard work, sir.
Whatever it takes to do things right.
Spoken like a true rookie.
So, tell me about you.
Married? Kids? Married, yep, 13 years, - two kids.
- Nice.
Nice.
What's the wife do? Giselle's a teacher.
Hopefully, she turns my kids into doctors.
So no more cops in the family? Nah.
Job's changed.
People used to respect us, look to us for help.
Nah.
These days, I wouldn't wish being a cop on anybody.
[RADIO CHATTER.]
Not the words of encouragement you were hoping for.
Hey, I am always happy to hear another point of view.
[CELLPHONE VIBRATES.]
Oh.
You, uh, mind if I get this? Partner, not T.
O.
, remember? Yo.
How's, uh, community policing? NOLAN: Room for improvement.
Hey, do you have any interest in tutoring for a couple hours this week after shift? [COPIER SCREECHING.]
Just wanted to offer some perks here at the CPC, you know, draw in some of the neighbors.
- Lucy said she's on board.
- What's the pay? A sense of accomplishment.
- Sign me up.
- You're the best.
Thank you.
Now, should a copier be making this noise? [COPIER SCREECHING.]
- [CHUCKLES.]
- [CELLPHONE BEEPS.]
No calls pending.
Might as well see if we can help.
What's the problem? Hell if I know.
It's like a spaceship in here.
It's all computers these days.
Let me take a look.
Took you long enough.
Almost had to give away your first case.
There was a line, but I'm good to go.
It's a burglary report from a funeral parlor overnight.
Could be addicts looking for embalming fluid.
Or weirdo sex stuff.
Either way, check it out.
Call me when you get back.
Newbies pick up lunch, too.
LAPD Community Center, right across the street, over there.
We have ticket sign-offs, crime-stat updates, after-school tutoring.
Just want to come in and talk, say hi, just come on in, drop in, say hi.
Yeah, be the last time you wrong 'Cause it's hard to swim with those concrete shoes on Skinny jeans and some chucks [GLASS SHATTERS, CAR ALARM BLARING.]
Hey! Really?! 7-Adam-15 foot pursuit.
Northbound on Alvarado at 8th.
Male, Hispanic.
Control, 7-Adam-07, attach us to that.
- Code 3.
- That should get you to the garage.
Take it easy.
7-Adam-15-A also responding.
Blue jacket, green pants.
- Want is 4-5 - Look out! Suspect headed west on 5th.
[TIRES SCREECH.]
But now it's far too late to get myself correction I blame the school, they shoulda shown me some attention [GRUNTS.]
I got a chip on my shoulder And everybody knows it [TIRES SCREECH.]
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Come on, come, on.
No God! [SIGHS.]
Oh, no.
Whew! Something die in there? LOPEZ: You check embalming-fluid levels? Last night, but they haven't been touched.
And nothing else seems to be missing.
Why would someone break in and not take anything? Could be a weird sex thing.
[DOORS CREAK.]
[SIGHS.]
[SNIFFS.]
You okay? Uh, yeah.
It's just [SIZZLING.]
Did you cremate someone this morning? No.
Not for a few days.
[WHIRRING.]
[WHIRRING STOPS.]
So, who's that? [GROANS.]
- Got him.
- Hey, come on! - Take it easy! - It's okay.
We're just arresting him for burglary for stealing this backpack.
What, you need four cops for a kid stealing a bag? - Yo, my man, back off.
- It's It's okay.
It's okay, look, calling for backup is simply protocol.
We don't know if the suspect is armed.
- Better safe than sorry.
- Safe for who? Not for people who look like him.
- Or me.
- You want us to stick around? No, uh, we're cool.
I'm not cool.
Are you? Look, this guy just made one of your neighbors a victim.
Okay? He's going in.
Simple.
It's never that simple.
Alright? If the city wasn't spending 50% of its budget on cops, then maybe he would have gotten a leg up instead of the short end of the stick.
Look, I hear you.
Trust me, I do.
But I don't have a time machine, okay? So right here, right now, this guy just broke someone's window, which is not cheap to fix, and he took their property.
So if you want to help him, help him get a good lawyer.
I will.
Are we just supposed to ignore crime, in his eyes? It's not that easy.
I mean, he's fighting against a rigged system, and he is not winning.
Wears you down.
Uh, you mind taking a walk back to the center? I, uh, can still make it to Lila's school on time.
No.
Yeah, of course.
- What are you gonna do about the food? - Improvise.
[CHUCKLES.]
Good luck.
[ENGINE STARTS.]
[RADIO BEEPS.]
Dispatch, can you connect me to City Services? [RADIO BEEPS.]
City Services.
This is Mike.
Hey, Mike.
Uh, this is Officer John Nolan.
I'm standing at a park gate on the 500 block of West Elm, with a bike lock on the gate.
Is that you guys? A bike lock? No way.
So you wouldn't have an issue if I took it down? No, sir.
Excuse me.
Hi.
Me again.
I don't suppose you have a pair of cable cutters I could borrow? Sure.
You're trustworthy enough, I guess.
Oh, I don't know if James would agree with you, but yes, I am.
You been working with this crew long? No.
James just throws me jobs when he can.
Most days, I just line up at the local Home Depot, take whatever work drives up.
Used to own my own construction company, but that went belly up when the economy tanked.
I was in construction in Pennsylvania before I became a cop.
Yeah, I had More than a few very lean years.
Oh, "lean's" being kind.
I almost lost my house.
Something to be said for day work, though.
Doesn't pay great, but it also doesn't keep me up at night worrying about how I'm gonna make payroll.
You know what? Um Write your name and number on the back of one of those for me.
I have cops coming to me asking me to do jobs for them all the time.
I would be happy to throw them your way.
- That'd be great.
Thanks.
- Yeah, no problem.
Uh, I'll be right back with these.
- Write down that number.
- Yeah.
Park's open.
SGT.
CARADINE: What the hell is wrong with you? It was a simple burglary call.
You could have closed out the case as a nonworker.
Instead, I'm hearing that you have the coroner and a full CSU team on site.
Yes, sir.
It's a possible homicide.
No.
It's an albatross around your neck.
Those ovens burn at 1,800 degrees.
The DNA is most likely cooked.
And unless you have a victim, the lab moves you to the end of the line, so they won't even get to those fragments for months.
No victim, no cause of death means no homicide.
All you have is a Health and Safety Code violation for improperly disposing of a body.
- [BUZZER.]
- DOUG: I'm impressed.
The way you made it over that fence couldn't do that even back when I was your age.
You ever think about a career in SWAT or Metro? Only all the time.
Buddy of mine's a commander over at SWAT.
I can put in a good word.
Yeah, that would be amazing.
Alright.
-TIM: 7-Adam-19, show us Code 6 -Get out of my car.
- for an on-view 415.
- Get out! This is your house.
Get out now! LUCY: What seems to be the problem? The problem is the drunk giant in my back seat.
We landed here 20 minutes ago, and he refuses to get out! Sir, get out of the car.
TIM: Can you please stand on the sidewalk? Don't hurt the car.
It's my only source of income.
What is the goal of this call, Officer Chen? To get the Mountain's ugly cousin out of the car.
Wrong.
It is to get him out of the car without making things worse.
Now, do you think you can get him out, without relying on your weapons? Really? A Tim Test right now? Our goal as police officers should be to de-escalate whenever possible.
This from the guy who set me up to fight a suspect on day one? Does this mean you're not up to the challenge? No, sir.
I am game for whatever you want to throw at me.
Great.
So, here's the deal.
You start with 100 points.
Reach for anything on your belt, and you lose points.
Baton is 10.
Taser equals 15.
If you take out your gun, that's 50.
Leave this call with 85 points or less, and you lose and I write up a blue page on you.
Getting one of those at this stage of your training would be a real problem.
- Can I earn points? - Absolutely.
You get him calm, 5 points.
He agrees to get out of the car, 10.
You get him to apologize to the driver, 20 points.
But if you use any of your weapons, game over you lose.
Back up.
I got this.
Excuse me.
Hi.
I'm Officer Chen.
What's your name? I want the pretty girl.
Where'd the pretty girl go? Well, she's right out here.
Why don't you come out and see her? You're trying to trick me.
They told me all about that in the Marines.
You're a Marine? Two tours in country.
Oorah.
[BELCHES.]
Thank you for your service.
Why don't you get on out, and let the pretty girl have her car back? Don't tell me what to do.
TIM: Ooh! That's 15, Officer Chen.
You're already in the loss column.
Let's go out.
- Eat a bag of d - Not helping.
- I'm not a bad guy.
- Sir, look - Back off! - Okay.
Okay.
Look, I get it.
It's been hard Being home, back in your life, where nothing feels normal.
But she's just trying to do her job.
And I know, your mother didn't teach you to disrespect women Don't talk about my mom.
She died when I was over there.
I'm so sorry.
You know she would tell you that you're better than this.
You fought for freedom, and that includes this girl's freedom from you harassing her 'cause 'Cause you got drunk and lonely.
[SIGHS.]
You're right.
I'm sorry.
Don't apologize to me.
I'm sorry.
Bite me.
Fine.
[SIGHS.]
Thanks.
Do you live here, sir? Yeah, upstairs.
Alright.
Head on up, straight to bed.
And just take it easy next time you're at the bar.
Yeah.
Calm, plus leaving, plus an apology.
I crushed this test.
- Nice recovery.
- Mm-hmm.
- TIM: Have a great day, ma'am.
- Oh! Uh, just wait one second.
Have you seen this car while you've been driving around? - Mm.
Super cute.
- Yeah, thanks.
You know what? I did see it.
Where? There it is.
LUCY: Somebody's inside.
[ENGINE SHUTS OFF.]
Control 7-Adam-19, occupied 10-8-5-1, Wilshire Normandy Station.
Stop right there! Put your hands on top of your head.
Fingers interlaced.
[HANDCUFFS CLICK.]
You are under arrest for auto theft.
No.
You don't understand.
I didn't steal the car.
The guy who owns it lent it to me, but he lost the keys.
I'm the guy who owns the car.
You didn't even lock it.
- What did you expect? - Yeah, well, it doesn't lock.
- It does now.
- What? - How did you fix it? - It was easy.
Just popped off the door panel.
Took like two minutes.
Wait, are you living in here? - How old are you? - 17.
Where are your parents? Dead.
Alright, anything in here that's gonna stick me? - Needles, knives? - No.
LUCY: How long have you been living on the street? A year.
Careful with that! Oh.
Sorry.
Must be hard living like this.
What do you care? Uh I-I'm not gonna press charges.
Here, stand up.
Seriously? Yeah, it's my car, - my prerogative.
- Boot We'll get you set up over at a children's shelter.
- Alright? - Oh, you don't have to.
I got someplace else I can go.
Does it have doors that lock and people that care about you? Does the children's shelter? You know how many times I got my stuff stolen from there? And it's too far from school.
- You still go to school? - Yeah.
I do.
And I get good grades.
Any more dumb questions? [ZIPPER SLIDES.]
Look, I don't want to make getting to school hard for you, but I don't have a choice here, so it's either jail or the shelter.
But I won't just dump you there, okay? I'll I'll help you find a permanent place.
- Is she for real? - Officer Chen, a word.
You, stand here, hands on the car.
- Congratulations.
- On what? - On your first puppy.
- What? Every rookie adopts a puppy at some point, someone they think they can save.
Honestly, I'm surprised it took you this long.
- Did you have a puppy? - That's - Not relevant here.
- Mm-hmm.
What is is that it never goes well.
Okay, well, she's not a puppy.
She's a girl in trouble, and I'm gonna help her.
Okay? 7-Adam-07, show us Code 6 on the burglary call at 1119 Brower.
DISPATCH: 7-Adam-07, copy.
Hey.
Um, I'm D'Andre, and these are my folks.
They don't really speak much English.
- West African? - Uh, Somalia, actually.
I was born in Long Beach.
So, uh, someone broke into your home? Yeah.
We We spent the night in Bakersfield for my basketball tournament.
Just got home a few hours ago, and door was busted open.
TVs, computers, - and my mom's jewelry.
- DOUG: Sorry to hear that.
Used to play a little ball back in high school.
Used to call me the Dougernaut.
- You got a nickname? - Not really.
Uh, "D" sometimes.
"D," huh? "D-Ball.
" Nice.
I like it.
So, did anyone know you'd be gone? Did you post on social or anything like that? Got any tattoos, D-Ball? I mean one.
A little, tiny dot I gave myself when I was 13.
See? So, who are you claiming these days, D? What? Uh, I'm not claiming anybody.
I'm not in a gang.
So, you're not Murder East Nation? State Line Crew? No, dude, we got robbed.
You owe anybody money, D-Ball? - What - Sometimes, burglaries will have personal motives.
My partner is just trying to narrow the suspect field.
Look, sir, could I ask you a favor, partner to partner? What is it? Officer Lopez never let me do any interviews alone, and I could use the practice over the next three weeks before I end up riding solo.
You'd be doing me a real solid, sir.
Alright.
I'll be back in the shop.
But your report better be bulletproof.
If I find as much as a typo, it's a blue page.
Understood.
Look, I, um I got to apologize about my partner.
He's done a lot of work with gangs and, it gets kind of stuck in his head.
[CAR DOOR CLOSES.]
Would you please show me the point of entry, sir? Yeah.
Round of applause for the conquering hero.
- What happened? - I snagged a deep-dish pizza on the way there, 'cause Donovan is from Chicago, so, you know, heritage.
- And kids love pizza.
- Only thing they ate.
One mom she brought this jellied fish thing.
One kid cried when he saw it.
- [CHUCKLES.]
- Looks like I win at momming.
Not sure that's exactly how you're supposed to see it.
Shh! Ba Shh! I'm enjoying my triumph.
Anyway, how are things going here? Great.
I signed off on a couple fix-it tickets.
Came up with some ideas for reaching out to the community.
- Would you like to hear them? - Sure.
All set.
- Thanks for letting me do that.
- Mm-hmm.
Get to work on that report.
[ENGINE STARTS.]
Did one of you clip the bike lock in the park? I did.
Yeah.
Are the kids using it? Yeah, luckily, my oldest found the dirty needles in the sandbox before little kids played in it.
I had no idea.
Did you at any point stop to wonder why the lock was even there? Those lights have been busted for a year.
Do you know what happens in a dark public park? - Yes, drug dealers.
- And junkies, and who the hell knows what else.
We lock the park to keep them out.
We could have helped.
You should have called 911.
To do what? Clear them out for the night? Maybe kill someone in the process? We're not all trigger-happy.
I mean, most of us want to help.
I don't know about "most.
" But I can't roll the dice that a good cop is gonna show up.
So we found our own solution.
The lock was there to protect us, to protect our kids.
Look, you shouldn't have to trade a place to play - for safety.
- No.
We shouldn't.
But we do.
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
[BLOWS.]
City gave you permission to work on this yourself? Uh, yeah.
Took some convincing, and I got to do it on my own time.
All the city has to do now is come and inspect.
Until then, lights are working.
Hey, that's just great.
You must feel real good about yourself.
Actually, my shoulders and my back are a little angry with me.
And what about tonight? When they break the lights again? What then? Uh, cameras are on the way, and the Watch Commander has approved more patrols in the area, so if anybody's caught messing with the lights, they'll be arrested.
So, more Black and Brown people in prison.
And then you'll be gone, and it'll just go back to the way it was.
I'm just trying to help.
You ever wonder why, cops spend so much time in neighborhoods like this? It's 'cause the arrests are easy.
Hell, I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen rookies brought here and taught, "This is what a junkie looks like, and this is what a dealer looks like.
" And from that moment on, that's how cops see us.
Okay, look, I wasn't trained like that.
Well, that's because your training officer looks like us.
Look, the only person you helped this morning is you.
[CHUCKLES.]
Made yourself feel good while you put a Band-Aid on a systemic wound.
You want to make a real difference? Stop picking on us, and attack crime at the source.
Keep meth out of this neighborhood.
[SCOFFS.]
Anything less, you're just wasting both our time.
Morning.
You okay? Uh Tamara left the shelter during the night.
The girl who stole my car.
Right, sorry.
I'm, like, wrapped up in my own little drama.
Mm.
I talked to her caseworker.
Tamara's had it rough.
Both of her parents O.
D.
'd.
She got taken in by relatives, but there was violence in the house, so she split.
- What are you gonna do? - Try and find her, even though Tim's giving me a hard time.
He calls her my puppy.
Says that every rookie gets one.
He's just being judgy.
- You know how he is.
- Uh, all due respect.
Screw Tim.
Yeah, and all the other T.
O.
s.
You know, I am so sick of being at the bottom of the food chain, like, constantly jumping through somebody else's hoops.
[CHUCKLING.]
Are you all right? - What is up with all this drama? - Doug.
Like [SIGHS.]
He did something yesterday that really bothered me.
The way he treated this one family.
Black family.
Did he put hands on them? No, no, it's just the way he He talked to them.
Like, the-the disrespect was, like [SIGHS.]
24 more days.
Yeah.
No.
- It's super healthy.
- Then you eat it.
I have too much work to do to spend the next half-hour puking.
Can I help? I'm dead in the water.
Our unknown suspect forced entry into a funeral crematorium and disposed of a body.
No prints, no DNA, no gender, age, or race.
All we got is a sneaker print from the most popular brand on Earth.
There has to be something.
Suspect approaches, forces entry.
Alarm goes off.
According to the alarm company, he enters a code.
Enters it again.
Alarm is still going off, so he cuts the wires.
He didn't try two different codes.
He tried the same code twice.
[PAPER RUSTLING.]
Got to go.
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
Now she's got me doing it.
We got to get something straight.
Okay.
I was super pissed when I went home last night, the way you pushed me yesterday.
Then, I realized you just don't know any better.
So it's my job to teach you the right way to think on the street.
Officer Lopez did that already.
Yeah.
Sure.
But I got a very different perspective than your former T.
O.
I've seen a ton of gang activity in my time.
And that experience has taught me that crooks and dirtbags always try to hide who they are.
D'Andre didn't seem like a crook or a dirtbag.
They never do.
Do you know the significance of that dot tattoo, Officer West? You see, he has three more on his chest, so when he puts his hand over his heart and holds up two fingers, it makes the area code 213.
Birthplace of Crips.
That kid, D-Ball, is a straight-up gangster.
Maybe I'm wrong.
If so, that's on me.
But I've seen far too many good cops get caught flat-footed making the wrong assumption.
We must remain ever-vigilant on this job.
Otherwise, we end our shift in a body bag.
NOLAN: Morning.
You are six minutes late.
Sorry.
I was putting up lights in the park.
You know they're just gonna smash those out again.
That's what James said.
But the lights are up, which means crime will be down, and the patrols and cameras will keep the lights working.
That's got to be value-add, right? Look, I know you.
I know your heart is in the right place, but You can't come at this like you are some kind of Savior.
You mean White savior.
Look, that's the last thing I'm trying to be.
But what am I supposed to do? How can I be an ally to the people who live here? Stop pretending like you know what they need, and just ask.
LOPEZ: Mr.
Moore, thanks for coming by.
Y'all paintin' in here? Something like that.
Have a seat.
Would you like some coffee or water? I could use a beer.
You used to work at Saint Dubois Funeral Home.
- Is that correct? - Barely.
I mean, it's been so long.
Your pay stubs show that you worked there up until two months ago.
[SCOFFS.]
Feels longer.
Records also indicate, that you had your own access code for the security system.
It was your code that was entered during a recent break-in.
Anybody could have seen that code, tried to use it.
True, but the wear on shoes is as unique as a fingerprint.
No two people walk exactly the same way.
This, you may remember, is your shoe.
And this is from the crime scene.
[SCOFFS.]
Okay, yeah, I broke in.
But I didn't kill anyone.
I swear.
I just burned the body, like all the others.
Others? Like in more than one dead body? Yeah.
[INHALES DEEPLY.]
Okay.
I'm going to stop you and read you your rights.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.
Do you understand the rights I've just told to you? Yeah.
I'm not stupid.
Of course not.
And with these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me? Okay.
Mind if I invite in a friend? Is she cute? How many bodies did you dispose of - while you worked there? - Not many.
7 12.
I don't know.
It was, like, once every couple months.
But then I got fired, and I was really scared to tell the guys, so when they brought me another body, I just broke in.
And who are the guys? They'll kill me! You can be a good witness or an accessory to murder.
- Up to you.
- Okay, fine.
K-Town Mafia Brian Simuro's crew.
But he's crazy.
I need Secret Service protection.
- You mean witness protection.
- That, too.
Give me all of it.
Pretty sure that albatross just flew away.
Nice work, Detective.
I'll finish up here with Mr.
Moore.
Go coordinate with Ezra in the gang unit.
This is gonna be a front-page arrest.
What's an albatross? [DOOR CLOSES.]
Okay, and you reattached your front licenseplate, which means I can sign off on this fix-it ticket as prepared.
There you go.
Thank you so much for coming in.
As you can see, it's been just a little slow.
Still getting up to speed.
Don't forget to send in the $10 as the [DOOR CLOSES.]
Processing fee.
Another satisfied customer.
- [CELLPHONE VIBRATING.]
- Oh.
[CELLPHONE BEEPS.]
Go for John Nolan.
- [TOOLS WHIRRING.]
- Hey.
It's Hugo.
I lent you bolt cutters yesterday.
Right! Yes.
- Hey, how are you? - Uh I'm on a job right now.
We're doing a commercial kitchen.
They want vinyl composition tiles in the food-prep area.
- [WHISPERING.]
Harper.
- So we're going through lots of denatured alcohol - paint thinner, drain cleaner.
- [BEEP.]
Building codes forbid vinyl composition tiles in food-prep areas.
He knows that.
He knows I know that.
The pay is great, but the coffee is terrible.
All the filters I found are stained red.
Plus, no A.
C.
until we get the Freon.
And don't even get me started on the propane.
All the brass on the tanks turned blue.
Red phosphorus gets run through coffee filters.
Freon, denatured alcohol these are all ingredients that produce anhydrous ammonia gas.
Gas that turns brass fittings on propane tanks blue.
- [BEEP.]
- Where are you? Can't say, but you keep those jobs open for me.
- Of course I will.
- [BEEP.]
Red phosphorous, ammonia gas? I don't It means that Hugo has been roped into building a meth lab.
Probably a super-lab.
We got to go save him.
Alright, I will call Metro.
I'll tell them to get a SWAT team together.
No, we have to go.
SWAT doesn't know what Hugo looks like.
What if they lump him in with the narcos? [ENGINES REVVING.]
[TIRES SCREECH.]
NOLAN: This is it.
This is where Hugo's phone was when we last hit that signal, but there's nothing here.
Nolan, look over there.
Gases from a meth lab kill any vegetation near the vent ports.
It's somewhere over there.
[ENGINE REVS.]
HARPER: Okay, listen to me.
Some gases from a ruptured meth cook can kill you instantly.
So, even with this on, it can give you about 30 seconds, tops.
We hear a boom, we get out of there immediately.
- Do you copy that? - Copy.
Ready.
[ENGINE REVS.]
[BREATHING ECHOES.]
[HEARTBEAT.]
[GUNFIRE.]
[INDISTINCT SHOUTING.]
Oh! Thank God you found us.
They weren't gonna let us go.
HARPER: Where are the keys? Up on the wall! Hurry.
We got to get out of here.
Come on! Thanks.
Oh, my God.
[EXPLOSION.]
Oh! [INDISTINCT SHOUTING.]
That's gas.
Nolan, we have got to get out of here! [SHOUTING IN SPANISH.]
Okay, go! We got to go! Nolan, come on! We got to go! I'm not leaving him behind! - We got to get out of here! - [LOCK CLICKS.]
- Come on.
- Go, go, go, go! We got to get out of here! [INDISTINCT SHOUTING.]
[GAS HISSING.]
[COUGHING.]
Come on! [COUGHING.]
[RETCHING.]
[COUGHING.]
29282726 242322 21 20 [HEARTBEAT QUICKENS.]
[COUGHING.]
[GASPS.]
Ohh, you okay? - You good? - Yeah.
[COUGHS.]
[DOOR SLAMS.]
[GROANS LOUDLY.]
Don't watch.
- [SCREAMING.]
- Trust me.
There's nothing we can do for him.
[SCREAMING CONTINUES.]
Tamara.
How did you find me? I checked all the local high schools to see where you were registered, and they told me that you're usually hanging out at the library until closing time.
You can take me back to the shelter, but we both know I won't stay.
I know, but living on the street isn't any better.
You know, you deserve more.
There isn't more.
There's just this.
[SMACKS LIPS.]
You don't believe that.
Otherwise, you would have given up, dropped out.
I think you believe that there's something better out there.
You just need someone to help you find it.
So, look, um - I'm gonna give you my car.
- What? Just until you get back on your feet.
You know, I know it doesn't run great, but it took me to college, it saw me through three really bad relationships, and it kept me sane after Well, after I almost died.
What's the catch? You got to let Social Services help you find a place to live one that I'll make sure is safe and you have to keep checking in with me regularly until that happens so I know you're okay.
Like, once a week? Like, once a day.
It's a free car.
That barely runs! Once a day until you're off the street, or no deal.
- Thanks.
- [CHUCKLES.]
How's life without Lopez? Definitely not the same.
Hey, have you ever seen anyone with one of those 2-1-3 dot tattoos? Not in like a decade.
That's some old-school gang stuff.
Stanton tell you about that? Yeah, right after he told me that I should listen to him because he has a different perspective than Lopez.
Look, Stanton was originally an L.
A.
County sheriff.
Rookies in the Sheriff's Department, they don't start out on the streets.
They do two years as guards, mostly at the Twin Towers.
That sounds like a nightmare.
Nothing like having inmates pelting you with bags of feces on the regular to give you a jaded view of humanity.
Or a certain color of humanity.
Look.
[SIGHS.]
I hear he's a solid cop.
Learn what's useful and ignore the rest.
Alright? If you quote me on that to Chen, I'll deny it.
You all done? I got to pick up the kids from my mom.
Hmm.
How old? You were talking about Moms, right? Mm.
12 and 14.
Mm! - You got any? - I do.
Uh, her name is Lila.
She's 7.
Right on.
Right on.
You grow up around here? Inglewood.
You still live there? Is this a side door into a conversation about cops, living in the communities they serve? - Busted.
- Mm.
But you got to admit, it would make a difference.
Yeah, sure, but it would also mean that anyone who was angry at the police, could take it out on me, my family, my home my little girl.
And don't act like you don't know nobody who wouldn't do it.
I mean we're not tight, - but - [CHUCKLES.]
I get it.
I get it.
- It's complicated.
- [SIGHING.]
Yeah.
For both of us.
But I appreciate you're willing to talk about it.
Thanks for looking out for Hugo.
He said you straight-up saved his life.
Well, that wasn't just me.
I mean, Nolan insisted that we both go personally so that SWAT would not see Hugo as a criminal.
Don't write Nolan off.
He is more of a guardian than any other cop I have ever worked with.
I mean, right now, his shift is over, and yet he's still inside, waiting for kids to come by for tutoring.
Anyway, have a good night.
Directions mean nothing in the dark When you don't know where you stand Whoa.
Hold on.
No, no.
Whoa, whoa.
You You gave her your car? Listen, I can't deal with any more judgment.
No, no, I was gonna say that's - very generous.
- Thanks.
Hey! Uh, hi.
Come on in.
Oh, thanks.
These are my boys, Aaron and Michael.
- Uh, hi.
I'm John.
- Hi.
I'm Lucy.
Nice to meet you.
Look, I I know I've been giving you a tough time, but I really do appreciate what you were trying to do this morning.
Even though it was misguided.
Yeah.
[CHUCKLES.]
Plus, they've changed the way they teach math again, so I'm a little lost.
Well, you came to the right place.
Lucy is excellent at math.
Jackson is excellent at math.
Yes, and he will be here soon.
Why don't we, uh, get you guys settled? Right this way, gents.
Look, I don't take handouts, so if you're gonna tutor my boys, I am gonna pay.
Well, how about this? Uh, we'll tutor Michael and Aaron, and you sit down and talk to us a little more about what this neighborhood really needs.
I can do that.
[DOOR OPENS.]
Perfect timing.
Jackson, this is James.
- You met him outside the park.
- Yes.
Right this way.
These are the guys that need your help.
I'll be coming back This is the numbers guy.
[LAUGHTER.]
Why don't you grab that chair.
How old are you? - 12.
- 13.