In the near future, Detroit, Michigan is on the verge of collapse due to financial ruin and unchecked crime. The mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products enters into a contract with the city to run the police force. OCP plans to destroy "Old Detroit" to replace it with the utopia of "Delta City". Recognizing that human law enforcers are insufficient to stop the crime spree, OCP runs several programs to find robotic replacements. One program, the ED-209 enforcement droid, headed by senior president Dick Jones (Ronny Cox), malfunctions and kills a junior executive during its demonstration. As a result, the OCP Chairman (Dan O'Herlihy) opts for a cyborg program headed by middle-ranking executive Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer), named "RoboCop".Veteran police officer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) transfers to a new precinct in Old Detroit and is partnered with Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen). On their first patrol, they chase down a team of criminals led by crime boss Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) to an abandoned steel mill. Lewis is later rendered unconscious by one of the gangs, while the rest of Boddicker's men corner Murphy and murder him. Murphy is pronounced dead at the hospital, but OCP takes his body and uses it to create the first RoboCop.He is able to deal with much of the violent crime in the city all by himself, causing the rest of the police force to become worried they may be replaced. Unbeknownst to his human monitors, RoboCop still retains memories of his life as Murphy, including brief glimpses of his wife and son, and the action of spinning his gun before holstering it, a trick Murphy had done for his son. Lewis recognizes these elements from Murphy's mannerisms, and tries to learn more from RoboCop, but he remains silent on the issues. Because of RoboCop's success, Morton is promoted to become one of OCP's Vice Presidents.Morton's success and arrogance leads Jones to have Boddicker, secretly in his employ, kill the young executive. Meanwhile, an armed gas station holdup by one of Boddicker's men allows RoboCop to track down Boddicker to a cocaine bunker. RoboCop bursts into the facility and Boddicker reveals his alliance with Dick Jones. Boddicker is arrested and RoboCop visits Jones at his offices at OCP, intending to arrest him as well.During the confrontation, RoboCop's previously unknown fourth directive, preventing him from arresting or harming any senior executive of OCP, activates, incapacitating him. Jones sends an ED-209 against RoboCop. The ED-209 proves incapable of descending a stairway, enabling RoboCop to escape. When RoboCop enters the parking complex of the building, a police SWAT team led by Lt. Hedgecock (Michael Gregory) is waiting for him with orders to destroy him. The hail of bullets severely damages RoboCop's armor, but he is saved by Lewis, his former partner.Meanwhile, the police launch their long-threatened strike, sending the city into chaos. Jones arranges for Boddicker and his men to be released from prison and provides them with weaponry capable of puncturing RoboCop's heavy armor. Using a tracking device which is also provided by Jones, Boddicker's team converges on the steel mill where RoboCop was recovering from his injuries. RoboCop and Lewis defend themselves and kill the entire gang. Lewis is wounded but survives.RoboCop returns to OCP headquarters and presents evidence of Jones's role in Morton's death to the OCP chairman. Jones quickly grabs a gun and takes the chairman hostage. The chairman, after being told about the Fourth Directive by RoboCop, fires Jones, allowing RoboCop to shoot him. Jones then crashes through the window and falls to his death. The chairman commends RoboCop for his skill and asks for his name, to which he replies, "Murphy".