Marsh takes some drastic measures to ensure that his rebellious daughter (Mena Suvari) remains on the straight and narrow. Meanwhile, Van Camp finds herself on the business end of a stun gun.

Officers Topps and Hagar find themselves in a multivehicle pileup on a fogbound freeway.

When Officer Gayle Van Camp is badly wounded in the line of duty, the El Camino police force begins a desperate search for the perpetrator. New cast members are introduced including, Blair Underwood as Officer Mike Rhoades, Lisa Vidal as Officer Jessica Helgado, and Lindsay Frost as Sergeant Helen Sullivan. Beth (Lesley Boone) experiences a series of false labor pains causing her husband Terry to panic. When she is finally ready to deliver, Terry is not around and it is a nervous Russell who must take over. Gayle dies as Beth gives birth to a healthy 7 pound, 6 ounce baby boy.

Jim Marsh finds his car has been vandalized by Julia's murderer, her husband, who insanely blames Jim for breaking up his marriage and forcing him to kill his wife. Terry has become a new father and must deal with Russell's paternal feelings as well as his own. Jessica and Mike feel their talents are being wasted when they are assigned to bus patrol. A nasty mob attacks the bus, changing their minds.

El Camino is shaken by a 6.2 earthquake. Officers Jessica Helgado and Mike Rhoades are called to a collapsed tunnel, where they attempt to save the life of a young woman in labor. The woman is trapped inside an ambulance and bleeding. Mike breaks one of the ambulances small windows, and Jessie squeezes through. The woman later bleeds to death, but Jessie must continue to deliver the baby. The boy baby is born healthy. Just when Terry and his family think they made it through the earthquake unharmed, they learn their home has been destroyed.

A sniper is targeting ECPD officers, killing an officer from a neighbouring division. In this climate, everyday work becomes more difficult, and while the investigation does not deliver the sniper, it's not a complete loss.

Lenny becomes upset while visiting the home he previously shared with his wife and kids and learns that it was sold. Another two officers, Mike and Jessie, respond to a 911 call and find a man driving a truck into his own newly rebuilt home. The major storyline in this episode involves a bank-robbery. While attempting to stop the robbery, another officer named Terry is taken hostage, along with seven other people. The robbers are a married couple named Bobby (Morgan Stevens) and Rita Miller (Jo Anderson). They have a young son and the bank recently had repossessed their house because they missed mortgage payments. Terry and the police force outside of the building work to resolve the situation and prevent anyone from getting hurt. The El Camino Police force and the SWAT team work together to prevent anyone from getting hurt.

The ECPD acquires a police dog trained to carry a surveillance camera into dangerous territory. Soon after, El Camino is hit with a wave of home invasions.

Mike Rhoades is falsely arrested because he was black man driving a sportscar in a poor neighborhood. Later, Marsh, Rhoades, and several other El Camino police officers go to the same bad neighborhood to restore order. Marsh meets a large 40-year-old black woman. The deputy Sheriff is brought up on corruption charges.

A ring of gun-toting car thieves specializing in luxury autos hits El Camino; and a paroled sex offender (David Packer) moves back into town.

A suspect who resisted arrest dies while en route to the booking, so Internal Affairs investigates Helgado for excessive force. Also, patrons of a gay bar are being victimized by local toughs.

Officers are suspected of removing $50,000 from the property room; and agents put the moves on a high-school basketball star (Marcus Mitchell).

While checking on offenders who are being electronically monitored under house arrest, Rhoades is reunited with a former friend from his street-gang days. Meanwhile, Marsh gets too close to a witness (Vanessa Marcil) in protective custody.

Rich, white high-school kids, friends of Marsh's daughter, are suspected of pushing heroin; and a local (Marc Grapey) thinks his neighbor (Melora Walters) is a witch and that she's cast a spell on him.

On his first day on patrol, a rookie cop blows two opportunities to apprehend a serial rapist; and Gayer tries to help an ex-hooker (Michael McCraine) start over.

A botched bank job turns deadly when civilians and outgunned ECPD officers are trapped in the line of fire by robbers armed with military-assault weapons. Officer Lenny Gayer is shot a mile from the scene by a stray bullet, causing paralysis from the waist down. Also: Officer Mike Rhoades is shot in the thigh and shoulder. He suffers head trauma when he falls to the ground.

Guest stars: Derk Cheetwood as Officer Smith, Michael McCraine as Tanya, Timothy Olyphant as Officer Brett Farraday, Julie Inouye as Lisa, Jamie A. Keyser as Soccer Mom, Scott Lincoln as Zobek, Walter Addison as Mayor.

Notes:

• The events of this episode are based North Hollywood bank robbery shootout on February 28, 1997.
• A dedication preceding the closing credits marks this episode as a memorial to the more than 1,200 U.S. police officers killed in the line of duty in the preceding ten years.