When the policeman calls in that his partner has been shot, all he says is "officer down" and the street address.

Then we hear the dispatcher giving details of the car and direction of travel, plus the license plate..

But how does the dispatch know this information?

Maybe Starkoss works for the LAPD now.

What bugs me is that the gun was loaded. What kind of nutjob keeps a show gun loaded while it's in the display case? Or has ammo for it on hand (in the case of this man, who was 'guarding the gun so that nobody would get hurt again'?)

I hadn't thought about that.. but very good question.

It is possible that a bystander saw the officer get shot and dialed 9-1-1 to report it. That has happened many times (bystander sees an officer in trouble and calls it in).

it is possible.. but we (as viewers) are not told this, so we're left wondering how the dispatcher knows.

This episode was produced partially in response to the murder of Rebecca Schaeffer, the My Sister Sam actress gunned down by an obsessed fan.

Richard Dean Anderson and the executive producers—Henry Winkler, John Rich, and Stephen Downing—were given awards from the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence in appreciation of this episode.

Just wondering, aren't cops supposed to wear vests? Or were those armour piercing bullets?

Not in 1990 they didn't.

Remember this was 20 years ago. Back then the vests were heavy and expensive and primarily developed for military use.

Than being a cop was a dangerous profession back than if you had to patrol the streets in a high crime rate area. You never know who might pull a gun on you. I think this also again marks the point about how dangerous guns are.

Granted but further to that, I believe that every generation face their own level of danger & in turn law enforcement try to maintain that level as best they can.

Scares me because who knows what dangers await us 20 years from now.

In twenty years we'll be protected by RoboCops and Judge Dredds. Or maybe by than the crime will be reduced to an absolute minimum as in Demolition Man and the police department runs full of extremely bored people. Or we are battling an unearthly enemy. Who knows indeed, maybe I get back to you in 2034.

Not as dangerous as it is now; I would wager.

Back then there wasn't the same crime and violence rates that there are now.

It's a scary thought. The world has certainly changed. The older I get, the more I start to understand why the older generation refer to the past. Because compared to today, it was easier. And safer.

I'm not sure what I think about this episode. I'm from Texas so... yeah that should say it all.