Previous Season
Captain Kate McCafferty came up through the ranks, a seasoned, politically-savvy career officer who survived the early days when women on the police force was few and unwanted. She runs an entire precinct and routinely prevails against the bureaucrats in City Hall. Unflappable in the squad room, the same McCafferty crumbles simply trying to hold a conversation with her angry, defiant daughter.
Inspector Jinny Exstead is forever in trouble for going too far, too fast and not taking a more level-headed approach to her assignments. She looks sophisticated and street smart, but she goes drinking every night and clearly seems desperate to run away from something.
Inspector Angela Reide is strong-willed and tough-as-nails, the product of her military upbringing as the daughter of a brigadier general. On the fast track toward a career in politics, Reide is nothing if not ambitious. But no matter how hard she tries, she is always clashing with the others, especially her new partner, C.D. The other side of her nature only comes out around her husband, a doctor in an Oakland clinic who was her college sweetheart.
The priority for Inspector Magdalena Ramirez is fulfilling her responsibilities as a good police officer and a good mother. As a single mom, she feels a pang of guilt every time she straps on her gun. The growing sexual attraction between Magda and her married partner, Inspector Peter Torianno, does not help. Inspector Candace "C.D." DeLorenzo, by comparison, seems to have it made. On the force for 10 years, she is an outstanding cop, noted for her single-minded tenacity and relentless determination. Her loving husband always seems attentive and buys her expensive gifts, but no one knows about his infidelities. Time after time, C.D. catches him, they have a horrible fight, and she forgives him.
In the 2001-2002 season, Captain Kate McCafferty continues to struggle with the politics of being the only female captain in the precinct. Inspector Jinny Extead returns from rehab more disillusioned than ever as she realizes she has a long way to go on the road to recovery. Inspector Candace "C.D." DeLorenzo comes to terms with her failed marriage and the memory of her brutal rape, but dealing with her new partner, Nate Russo, proves to be a welcoming distraction. Street-wise and seemingly unflappable, Nate calls on his less desirable associates from his days on the vice squad to help solve cases. Inspector Magda Ramirez continues to be torn between being a good cop and being a good mother. The inspectors get some help from Raina Washington, an ambitious, young rookie who's fresh from the Academy. Cases during the 2001-2002 season deal with everything from the high-profile disappearance of a law firm intern to the murder of a four-year-old girl by drug runner.