Oakland, California, 1983. Officer Hanson, a Vietnam veteran, has abandoned academia for the life-and-death clarity of police work, a way to live with the demons that followed him home from the war. He believes in becoming a part of the community he serves, choosing to live in the same town where he works. He forges a precarious friendship with Felix Maxwell, the drug king of East Oakland, based on their shared sense of fairness and honor. He falls in love with Libya the moment he sees her, a confident and outspoken black woman. He is befriended by Weegee, a streetwise eleven-year-old who is primed to become a dope dealer. Then an off-duty shooting forces Hanson to finally face who he is, and which side of the law he belongs on.
From the community