Violence-prone Sledge Hammer is assigned to head up the investigation when the mayor's daughter is abducted, but he predictably objects to a requirement that he work with female detective Dori Doreau.
A local TV newscaster creates bitter public feeling toward the police department when he reports and editorializes adversely on what he sees during a day-long ride with Sledge and Dori.
Prison escapee John Kogan commandeers a bus and launches a one-man wave of crime and violence, pledging to stop only if Sledge agrees to meet him in a one-on-one gunfight.
Sledge is assigned to bring order to a notoriously dangerous local high school that is dominated by four young toughs who supply stolen cars to a crime boss.
The commissioner personally assigns Sledge to guard Captain Trunk in order to ensure the Captain's safety until he is able to provide critical testimony before a grand jury.
Sledge becomes even more violent than usual as part of an attempt to infiltrate a group of vigilante police officers who are executing recently acquitted criminal defendants.
Sledge and Dori pose as a well-to-do childless couple in an attempt to catch a pair of thieves who steal babies and sell them to prospective parents with ready cash.
Sledge becomes a contestant on "The Million Dollar Question" in an attempt to prove that the show's host was responsible for the murder of a successful contestant.