An investigative (but frequently humorous) documentary on the surveillance activities of the New York City Police Department's Bureau of Special Services, known as the Red Squad.

Members of the then-newly-minted Pacific Street Films Collective, set out to investigate the branch of the NYPD that gives this documentary its title: the highly secretive Red Squad specialised in surveilling, infiltrating, and subverting the efforts of leftist political groups – from communists to anti-Vietnam protestors to the civil rights movement and the ACLU. The filmmakers conduct their investigation with a seriousness of purpose that’s offset by a waggish sense of humour – maintained even when they themselves inevitably come under the Squad’s scrutiny.