Reed's wife is in the hospital expecting their first child, and Reed soon regrets his decision to report for work as usual. Out on patrol, they encounter a drunken man directing traffic, chase down a robbery suspect, investigate the theft of money from washing machines and become involved in a minor traffic accident that results in a major delay.

A former convict and informant who Malloy helped give a second chance is accused of assaulting a priest, dealing drugs and stealing a gun after being fired from his dish-washing job at Duke's Longhorn Café. Malloy and Reed set out to determine if his story, which is full of suspicious coincidences, is actually true.

Malloy and Reed begin their shift responding to a disgruntled tenant who is holding his landlord at knife point. Later, they investigate a rash of property theft from multiple homes in a quiet neighborhood, stake out an apparent bag of laundry left on the side of the road and search for a runaway boy who gets himself into a life-threatening situation.

Two armed convicts holding up a diner shoot Malloy who entered innocently, and hold him and other civilians hostage.

Malloy and Reed become envious of officer wells, who has been given a coveted assignment in the newly established astro helicopter division. Out on patrol, they require assistance saving a wealthy elderly couple who get locked in their heavily fortified basement safe, and then use air support to track down robbery suspects who escape on a motorcycle.

Malloy and Reed are the first to respond to a downtown rooftop sniper who has been indiscriminately shooting at anyone he can find with his scoped rifle. After risking their lives to get civilians out of his line of sight, they become lead participants in the S.W.A.T. team's attempt to neutralize the suspect.

Malloy and Reed see the same drunk twice in one night, respond to a bar fight and engage in a high-speed pursuit with good samaritans who make a bad decision. They also search for a biker who tries to coerce a woman to repay a debt by riddling her apartment with buckshot.

Malloy and Reed hope to find an impostor as they investigate a boxing promoter's accusation that a police detective stole $350 from him. In the meantime, they deal with a disgruntled wife who is in the process of destroying her own car in the middle of a downtown street, investigate a gun theft from a pawn shop, drive up on a home burglary in progress and obtain critical information while interrogating a suspected car thief.

Malloy spends a weekend afternoon attending a barbecue at Reed's home, where Reed lets him hold his newborn son for the first time and tries to set him up with his wife's friend. However, their relaxation is interrupted when they have to deal with a young neighbor who overdoses on drugs and becomes the target of his dealer.

Malloy and Reed are rendered powerless when a drunken man with no flight experience decides to take a solo flight in a stolen airplane at a busy airport. Later, they try to locate a 17-year-old runaway living in a condemned home with a much older man, engage in a shootout with a convenience store robber and search for a booby-trapped bank safe that has been stolen with a tow truck.

Malloy fears that a boxer who has just been paroled after serving a murder sentence is going to seek revenge against him. Out on patrol, they try to save a man who has been crushed while working under a stolen car, apprehend a liquor store robber who swears revenge against reed, change a flat tire on their patrol car, locate a four-year-old child who locked himself in a refrigerator and become the targets of an ambush.

Malloy and Reed search for a suspect who frames an employee of a manufacturing plant for theft and then plants a powerful bomb on the premises. They also apprehend two criminals after questioning a suspicious man who is carrying heavy bags down the street, and protect an innocent motorist from a street race that still ends in tragedy.

Malloy and Reed spend a night shift on desk duty after Malloy breaks his wrist and another office worker calls in sick. With the assistance of a new female recruit, they deal with a homesick elderly woman who refuses to identify herself, help a lenient father bail out his son and become suspicious of a man who walks in looking for a wanted fugitive.

Malloy and Reed respond to a fire where a young man, Lauro, saves a man trapped inside. But Lauro seems reluctant to receive any praise or attention much to everyone's surprise. Meanwhile, a concerned landlord reports suspicious in-activity from a tenant with heart trouble where Malloy and Reed arrive in time to give him CPR and save his life. Malloy attempts to keep his new hat clean, but finds it an impossibility.

Reed has to deal with the consequences of forgetting to roll up the window on the patrol car before he left it. Back on patrol, Malloy and Reed search for an estranged husband who kidnaps his own child, deal with an elderly man who tries to pay for a meal with trading stamps, engage in a shootout with an escaped prisoner caught napping on a city bus and pull over a hijacked delivery van full of booze.

Malloy and Reed are in for a rude awakening when they report to the home of a former professional wrestler on a domestic abuse call. Later, they become suspicious of an apartment burglary victim after they find one of the suspects dead, deal with a man who discovers car parts that were stolen from him installed on another car and become involved in a shootout responding to a bank robbery.

Malloy and Reed prove they cannot and will not be bribed, no matter how good the offer, resulting in desperation from a young man charged with his third drunk driving offense. An elderly man admits mercy killing his wife.

Malloy and Reed track down a kooky female shoplifter involved in a cult-type relationship with a ego-maniacal spiritualist weirdo. Malloy gets help tracking her down from an old girlfriend.

1-Adam-12 is back on the streets after routine maintenance, but the radio isn't working properly. During an armed robbery involving two suspects, Reed captures one while Malloy takes off in pursuit of the other one through Griffith Park and loses control of the car, and it rolls into an embankment hidden from the road, with Malloy suffering severe internal bleeding and a broken leg. All available units are called in to search for Malloy, who has to watch helplessly while a suspect hiding in the park takes his shotgun (which Malloy was using as a splint for his leg) and sidearm, and tears off the radio microphone leaving only leaving the wires. Malloy uses the wires to send a signal for help, which Reed picks up and is able to rescue his partner.