Detectives McCarren and Rado are assigned to protect an accountant who's scheduled to testify at an organized-crime trial.

The murder of an undercover reporter leads McCarren and Rado to the con man responsible of the crime. Stack, an informant for Nick and Rado, becomes involved in the murder of a journalist, Roger Bourne, who was on the trail of Scanlon, a drug dealer who owned the docks from which he distributed drugs. Stack, an informant for Nick and Rado, becomes involved in the murder of journalist Roger Bourne, who was investigating Scanlon, a drug dealer operating from the docks.

After McCarren and Rado arrest the dangerous criminal Vance Bates, his brother, and henchmen besiege the precinct for a trade.