Ambitious young reporter Pollack (Justin Timberlake) suspects insidious corruption in his town's elite police unit, known as F.R.A.T., and finds a friendly source in Deed (LL Cool J), a dissatisfied member of the squad. With Deed's information and the backing of his publisher, Ashford (Morgan Freeman), and a crusading lawyer, Wallace (Kevin Spacey), Pollack infiltrates the secretive police cabal. He finds himself in over his head, however, when he discovers the true extent of the criminality.