Cornelius Fillmore is a reformed juvenile delinquent turned safety patrol officer and the show is based around him and his partner Ingrid Third at X Middle School. The show's format parodies that of hard-boiled police dramas. X's safety patrol is much more actively involved in student behavior than a typical school's safety patrol. As part of the Safety Patrol at X Middle School, Fillmore and Third solve crimes. The series usually presents child-friendly versions of common crimes, such as stolen scooters instead of cars, smuggling tartar sauce instead of drug smuggling, and holding illegal frog races instead of illegal street races.