 Responding to an early morning call reporting a family dispute Officer Jim Street and his partner fall prey to an ambush by three gunmen. It is just one in a series of ambushes which have plagued the police. In the aftermath of the shooting Street s partner is dead and he tries out for an opening in a newly formed S.W.A.T. unit being headed by Lt.  Hondo  Harrelson. The teams first assignment is to find and stop the gunmen who have declared war on the city s police.