The tale is basically of a good cop and a bad cop, but both of them show both good and bad sides which are revealed in different ways. A gang of violent armed criminals have committed seven deadly robberies of bank trucks in the space of a year. Two lieutenants who are friends are told whichever one of them solves the robberies will be named the next Chief of Police in the precinct, and that begins an increasing competition between them, with each one coming more and more ruthless in various ways. The subject of police brutality and some of them acting like they are above the law is extremely timely in view of similar concerns in cities thruout the U.S. today. It moves towards being so extreme that it becomes difficult to discern the difference between the police and the criminals they are after.