Report to the Commissioner

Beauregard “Bo” Lockley, Michael Moriarty, is a new type of undercover detective in the New York City Police Department, distinguished by his long hair and thoughtful approach to crime. His latest assignment involves locating a missing young woman Patty Butler, Susan Blakely, though he isn’t told she is actually an undercover officer whose mission is to get close to a heroin dealer, Thomas “Stick” Henderson, Tony King.

Lockley discovers Patty living with Henderson in the Times Square area, and her presence complicates her own assignment. She arranges to meet him the next morning, but when the rendezvous is missed, he goes to their residence. In the ensuing chaotic shoot-out, Lockley accidentally shoots Patty dead.

The chase continues as Lockley pursues Henderson through the streets and into the Saks Fifth Avenue department store. The two end up trapped in an elevator between floors, guns pointed at each other. During the fruitless negotiations that follow, a strange bond forms between them. They eventually decide to try escaping through the trapdoor in the ceiling, but the area is hoisted with danger as heavily armed police close in, and Henderson is shot and killed by the surrounding officers.

Back on the surface, the department’s leadership, intent on protecting their careers, cobbles together a cover story that minimizes embarrassment: Lockley, the woman, and the dealer were allegedly involved in a lovers’ triangle, and he shot her out of jealousy. Lockley faces a first-degree murder charge, while his partner, Richard “Crunch” Blackstone, Yaphet Kotto, visits him at The Tombs.

In a later, internal decision without Lockley or Crunch’s knowledge, the department moves to shuffle its detectives and drop the charges. When a decision about Lockley’s return to duty is framed, a senior official coldly intones, > We’ll see.

Crunch returns to bring the news to Lockley, only to find him waiting—not in the courtroom or the street, but in his jail cell. He appears to be alone, and the tension of the moment is heavy behind the bars.

A final voice-over closes the story, revealing that Lockley was found dead in his cell at 8:55 PM, hanged with a noose fashioned from a torn bedsheet. The film leaves a somber impression of a man caught between duty, deception, and the consequences of a system that shielded itself at every turn.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 12:32