This episode appears to be based on several separate cases/incidents:
- The 1985 Edmund Perry case. Perry was a 17-year-old Harlem resident and a graduate from the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy who was shot to death by undercover New York plainclothes police officer Lee Van Houten on June 12, 1985. Van Houten maintained that Perry--and another black youth, later identified as Edmund's brother Jonah--attempted to mug him and that he shot in self-defense. The case briefly generated a firestorm of protest in New York City when it was revealed that Perry was an honor student and was enrolled to attend Stanford on scholarship. However, witnesses backed up Van Houten's claim that Perry and Jonah had attempted to mug the officer, and the shooting was ruled as justified. Jonah was then arrested and charged as an accomplice to the mugging, but he was found not guilty at trial.
- The 1973 Clifford Glover case. Glover was a 10-year-old African American boy who was fatally shot by Thomas Shea, an on-duty, undercover policeman, on April 28, 1973. Glover's death, and Shea's later acquittal for a murder charge, led to riots in the South Jamaica section of Queens, New York.
- The 1975 Bernard Whitehurst case. Whitehurst was shot in the back and killed on December 2, 1975 by Donald Foster, a Montgomery, Alabama police officer who said he thought Whitehurst was the suspect in the robbery of a neighborhood grocery store. In a subsequent cover-up, police officers planted a gun on him. The initial police report said that Whitehurst fired a gun at the officers, and the police returned fire. There was no autopsy and the body was quickly embalmed before the family was contacted; the coroner relied on police reports that Whitehurst was killed by a bullet fired through the chest. Six months later, after an investigation by the local newspaper and local attorney Donald Watkins raised questions about the facts of the case, the District Attorney ordered the body to be exhumed and an autopsy performed, which showed that Whitehurst had been shot in the back. A perjury indictment was issued for three police officers. Eight police officers were forced to resign or were terminated. No police officer was convicted of a crime. The attempted cover-up led to the resignation of the mayor and the Director of Public Safety.
- The 1986 Mark Davidson case.
The character of Silky Ford says at one point, "Okay sports fans... Let's go to the videotape." Silky is quoting a phrase made famous by Washington DC and New York City local TV sportscaster (1960s--90s) Warner Wolf, who famously introduced video tape highlights with this phrase.
Jack Gwaltney has played three different characters over the course of the series:
- Episode 1.8 Poison Ivy (1990) - Officer Davis.
- Episode 8.3 Navy Blues (1997) - Jack Young.
- Episode 14.3 Patient Zero (2003) - Ian Hopkins.
Daryl Edwards has portrayed fours different characters over the course of the series:
- Episode 1.8 Poison Ivy (1990) - Richard.
- Episode 9.11 Ramparts (1999) - Allan Taylor.
- Episode 11.1 Endurance (2000) - Nathan Walpole.
- Episode 15.13 Ain't No Love (2005) - Shawn Foreman.
Chris Noth (Detective Mike Logan) & Jack Gwaltney (Officer Davis) also worked together on Boom (2010) (episode 1.19), as Peter Florick & Charles Clay III respectively.