He admitted to knowing . Hill could not be reached by The Sun for comment. I am Agent and Representative as to Mr Jenkins. Five years later, Simons claims were confirmed. He is very remorseful.". You didnt catch me in nothing.. But that day, Jenkins drove toward the edge of town, bobbing in and out of traffic and running red lights, until he pulled over near a wooded area off Liberty Heights Avenue. Wayne was a cops cop, local hero kind of guy, said Cirello, the retired officer. In the police academy, his peers saw a leader. In an incident to which Jenkins would later plead guilty, the officers handcuffed two men. Yes, I did," he says. The daughters of 86-year-old Elbert Davis also told the court about the 2010 car crash Jenkins caused while he was pursuing a man named Umar Burley. Blake who in 2017 would wind up presiding over the Gun Trace Task Force corruption case noted that the other officers present backed Jenkins account. I will continue to fight to prove my innocence.". "If you've got to lie about what you've seen or what you heard or what you witnessed, as long as he's dirty, he's got the drugs and he's got the guns and he did the crime - just get him.". He popped the trunk and carried the drugs into the garage. Lets get this done, but were going to do it 100 percent. Nothing was 10 percent.. . "It shows what a committed, sophisticated, devious person can do," Mr Wise said. Read about our approach to external linking. Wayne Jenkins' police vehicle when he was arrested in 2017. He claims that he was told early on to lie on police reports and warrant applications in order to make their arrests sound like they were done with proper probable cause, meaning a legal reason to stop someone. They said that while they had their backs turned, someone had clocked OConnor and taken off. Read about our approach to external linking. Donny made every piece of that up.". In a 26 page letter hand written from his cell at the Federal Corrections institution in South Carolina, former Baltimore Police Sergeant Wayne Jenkins tells a judge that he saved a . Just in recent weeks, two officers have been criminally charged with misconduct. He woke up on a frigid city street with his jaw shattered, and couldn't eat solid food for months. Jenkins gave 150 percent on the street. During his time on the streets of Baltimore Jenkins was involved in several arrests that resulted in the injuries of the people he took into custody. It's going to happen again," he said. In January 2018, a long list of victims took the stand - many of whom had ties to the drug trade - and told harrowing stories of how they were robbed by the officers during car stops and searches of their homes. Jenkins explained that hed already tracked the man to Essex, so he thought they could stake out the home, go through the mans trash and find something to parlay into a search warrant. "I thought it was a winner.". Back then, Jenkins escaped scrutiny again. Stepp's moving on with his life - in a sense. One former supervisor never responded. "You have nightmares about police officers harassing you, beating you up, just locking you up, it's just a nightmare that I have and it basically hasn't gone away yet," he said. Plainclothes officers, as the description suggests, just work in street clothes usually casual rather than uniforms. Outside on the sidewalk, he saw a bunch of cops and yelled an expletive at one he knew who happened to be Jenkins supervisor. The matter was referred to the police integrity unit of the Baltimore states attorneys office for investigation. They employed tactics that straddled and sometimes clearly crossed the line that divides aggressive policing and trampling on civil rights. As backup arrived, Jenkins spotted a man named George Sneed across the street. Jenkins was a member of the Baltimore police department's Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), a plain-clothed unit tasked with finding guns and drugs in bulk in a bid to tackle the city's high murder. On 1 March, 2017, Sergeant Wayne Jenkins and six of his subordinate officers from the Gun Trace Task Force walked into the Baltimore Police Department's Internal Affairs building, believing they were there to clear up a minor complaint about a damaged vehicle. Many plainclothes units would work out of a satellite office inside a trailer in Northwest Baltimore. Sgt. FOX45 looks at the 8 former officers of the Gun Trace Task ForceThe ring leader of the squad Wayne Jenkins is currently serving the longest sentence out of the members federally indicted on . Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, along with Detectives Marcus Taylor and Maurice Ward, intercepted a drug deal at the Belvedere Towers in Baltimore and seized about 20 to 25 pounds of marijuana as well as $20,000 to $25,000 in a second bag. BALTIMORE One of the main players in the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force corruption scandal is asking for compassionate release from prison. Seething frustration was spilling into the streets that afternoon in 2015. Jon Bernthal embedded with Baltimore police to play city's dirtiest cop in HBO's "We Own This City" On "Salon Talks" Bernthal reveals he spoke to the real Sgt. Instead, they go out looking for illegal activity people exchanging drugs or displaying bulges under clothing that could be guns. Jenkins got a bronze star for his part in the 2009 recovery of 41 kilograms of cocaine $1 million worth in a mans truck. It was there that the full extent of the officers' misconduct became public. According to Jenkins convicted partner in the drug dealing, the police sergeant had been stealing drugs off the street for years and profiting from their illegal sale. Jenkins was a decorated cop and had a reputation for his role in several high-profile drug busts. Hill said in the interview that De Sousa reduced the punishment to verbal counseling in effect, no punishment at all. An officer who sometimes worked with Jenkins, Keith Gladstone, pleaded guilty last month to going to the scene of Simons arrest to plant the BB gun a response, Gladstone admitted, to a phone call from a frantic Jenkins asking for the help. We'll never be the same again.". ", Explaining the tactics of the GTTF, he also told the publication: "This is a saying we state: 'Don't let probable cause stand in the way of a good arrest. In 2010, when Deputy Commissioner Anthony Barksdale wanted a special squad to go after elusive suspects, Jenkins was picked for the group. Taxpayers footed the bill. "I deserve to be punished. He also names two former supervisors who he says he complained to about his former subordinate officers, Momodu Gondo and Jemell Rayam, saying they had bad reputations for stealing money. Plenty of times he's gone behind me and found them.. Baltimore can be a complicated and dangerous place, and the men and women the officers targeted and abused may have caused harm and abuse themselves. VideoAt the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Havana Syndrome unlikely to have hostile cause - US, How 10% of Nigerian registered voters delivered victory, Sake brewers toast big rise in global sales, The Indian-American CEO who wants to be US president, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, Exploring the rigging claims in Nigeria's elections, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip. "I'm so sorry to the citizens of Baltimore.". Wayne Jenkins eyes darted from screen to screen, taking in the surveillance images. The bag contained masks and other gear he used while stealing drugs and cash from people he and his team targeted. One member of the task force during Jenkins leadership, Detective John Clewell, was not charged with any crimes. De Sousa, who is now serving a federal sentence for tax evasion, said through his attorney that he does not remember the Jenkins case. He started counting the money, $20,000 in all. The unit began looking into a case involving Jenkins, in which he had run down a young man with his unmarked Dodge Avenger early in 2014. What was Jenkins really going to do with the drugs? He idolizes this guy, said Shelley Glenn, another prosecutor. Wayne Jenkins. Just as she was completing her podcast series on the story, she got a very unexpected call from prison. The officers with him hesitated, Ward said. A plea agreement is a document that lists specific criminal acts that the defendant is agreeing to plead guilty to. Then 34, he was already an admired leader of aggressive street squads and would go on to head the elite Gun Trace Task Force, one of the Baltimore. Becoming Wayne Jenkins: Jon Bernthal's Deep Dive Into We Own This City 's Corrupt Cop For the HBO miniseries, the actor went on nightly ride-alongs and spoke at length with the imprisoned. Investigators recommended Jenkins be demoted and suspended without pay. This call is from", A human voice breaks in: "Wayne Jenkins.". Baltimore leaders have agreed to pay a $6 million settlement to the family of a driver who was killed during a 2010 police chase involving Gun Trace Task Force officers. His police department personnel file shows no punishment related to the case. Jenkins tells me he traded some sausages with other inmates in the line, bartering his way to the front. During his time on the streets of Baltimore Jenkins was involved. Your digital subscription helps pay for The Baltimore Sun's investigative reporting. I ask this friend why he didn't say anything to anyone. Far from it. "Nobody still knows the truth about what's going on in the city," Taylor told the judge. Jenkins had to affirm under oath in front of a federal judge that what the document said was true. But the Baltimore states attorneys office continued to use Jenkins. In December 2017, eight months after Jenkins was arrested, the FBI and Baltimore County officers broke down Stepp's door and arrested him in his kitchen. Hill told Al-Jazeera it was because then-Deputy Commissioner De Sousa got involved. Someone once told me that it will take a generation for the direct impact of the Gun Trace Task Force to start to fade, and it will be impossible to measure how the victims' trauma will play out in the lives of their children, families and friends. When one of the men darted into his home, Jenkins rushed in after him. But then, about an hour later, the phone rings again. His earliest admitted theft was in 2011. Detectives Maurice Ward, Evodio Hendrix, Momodu Gondo and Jemell Rayam all pleaded guilty. That October evening in 2005, Jenkins had been a Baltimore police officer for just two years. Please sign up today and help make a difference. Meanwhile, his Twitter account is full of pictures of him on set, hamming it up with Bernthal and some of the other actors. It was surreal hearing his voice, talking to me. He was convicted on multiple counts including racketeering, robbery and falsification of records. Both men have requested new trials. But when the sun came up on 1 March 2017, the city awoke to a vastly different reality. These misconduct allegations came as Jenkins was serving in various plainclothes units well before his appointment in 2016 to head the Gun Trace Task Force, one of the departments most celebrated plainclothes squads. The pair also stole valuables, like high-end wrist watches, in break-ins. Jenkins admitted that he stole drugs from work and delivered them to Stepp, who would turn around and sell them. It is simply not true., U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake denied Oakleys motion to suppress the evidence. Then 34, he was already an admired leader of aggressive street squads and would go on to head the elite Gun Trace Task Force, one of the Baltimore Police Department's go-to assets in the fight against violent crime. This past summer, as I was wrapping up work on "Bad Cops", a strange email appeared in my inbox. Yes. Youve got to be willing to dig into their s--- and confront them, Barksdale said. "He's a pathological liar," Stepp says. "I fear nothing he knows or anything. Within days, prosecutors issued a letter to police saying they were declining to charge Jenkins with a crime. In my conversation with Jenkins, he spent a lot of time disputing Stepp's account of their partnership. Two officers said he spoke openly about doing home invasions on high-level drug dealers that he called "monsters", because of the amount of drugs and cash he hoped they'd have stashed in their houses. In federal court, Mickey Oakley argued that the officers who arrested him including Jenkins and future Gun Trace Task Force member Daniel Hersl had lied about the circumstances leading up to the arrest and had illegally searched his home. You're taught that - the second someone gets in trouble we meet up, and we talk face to face," he says. Jenkins idolized his sergeant, Michael Fries, the target of the expletive. When Jenkins was on paternity leave, commanders groused that his squads productivity dropped. It was during these games that Stepp heard Jenkins boasting about the large drug stashes he often came across during his work as a plainclothes police officer. On June 7, 2018, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Wayne Jenkins, Gun Trace Task Force officer, The woods of Powder Mill Park, where Det. Some tried to complain, but were ignored. Credit: Baltimore Police Department, Its a Viking mentality: You go out into the field among the bad guys, and you bring back a bounty. In another man's house, the GTTF broke into a safe and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars. Wayne Jenkins, ex-police sergeant, leading the Gun Trace Task Force Sergeant Wayne Jenkins was a decorated leader of the corrupt plain-clothes police unit in Baltimore whose detectives robbed . Wayne Jenkins who was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for years of robberies, drug dealing and other crimes has asked a judge to release him just four . He names the veteran he says coached him into stealing for the first time. I think about Shawn Whiting, a former heroin dealer who went to prison for years after the officers robbed him. He started to worry. But I did call them, and the Baltimore Police Department, to see if anyone would respond to this laundry list of allegations. In fact, Fries went on to promote Jenkins in June 2006 into a high-profile plainclothes unit called the Organized Crime Division. Baltimore detectives convicted in shocking corruption trial Stepp grew up in Middle River, where he was friends with Jenkins's older brother. Or harm you or even kill you.". In November 2012, Wayne Jenkins was promoted to the rank of sergeant giving him new authority and freedom. Having taken money before with previous squads, he expected the officers might skim some and submit the rest as cover. He counters that the units helped bring down crime, and says he made it a point to scrutinize their conduct. We Own This City airs Mondays at 9 p.m. Then they could enter the house and take the money, only later calling county officers to say they were executing the warrant. Historical Accuracy (Q&A): Is Sgt. These units often operated with little supervision. A squad of veteran police officers stood accused of committing numerous robberies, as well as extortion and overtime fraud. But Stepp had an ace up his sleeve - for months, he'd been documenting their crimes on his cell phone. He tells me that the first time he ever stole money, he was just a rookie. He goes on and on gushing about Sergeant Jenkins, Assistant States Attorney Jenifer Layman said. They direct their work, approve overtime pay and provide reports to higher-ranking supervisors. Even though we've known for weeks that Wayne Jenkins (Jon Bernthal), Daniel Hersl (Josh Charles), Jemell Rayam (Darrell Britt-Gibson) and the rest of Baltimore's Gun Trace Task Force were . Jenkins must serve three years of supervised release after his custodial sentence. "It's a surreal story. Reflecting on the revelations of his misconduct, Lt. Marjorie German concluded that department leaders gave Jenkins too much leeway because they were enamored of his results. All of the other officers would have to be inaccurate in their testimony if it is to be believed that Detective Jenkins was manufacturing information for the affidavit, she said. While it may seem incongruous that an officer would be hailed as a hero while racking up complaints, in the Baltimore Police Department it was not. Jenkins' lawyer mentioned that he has been assaulted at least once by another inmate who was targeting him for being a former police officer. Not likely, Ward thought. Maurice Ward, a former detective now serving a seven-year prison term for committing crimes with Jenkins, said he and other officers jockeyed to get on his team. But the scope of the corruption of Jenkins and his men remains a singular stain on the force. I ask, slightly confused. "There was cameras everywhere, so I would never have took a dollar," he tells me. He couldn't get anyone to believe him at the time, and to this day, he fears law enforcement. Jenkins, who later led the GTTF, pleaded guilty to civil rights violations for participating in the coverup and is serving 25 years in prison for crimes including robberies and selling drugs. During the altercation, a passerby named George Sneed was assaulted by officer Robert Cirello who broke his jaw, leading Sneed to sue. Hes given us all hes going to give us, Glenn said. He's doing, as he likes to say, "rather swell". She said she found Hersl in particular to be very credible.. 2023 BBC. Jenkins joined Baltimore's police department in 2003, first becoming a beat cop and patrolling the streets of Baltimore. "Right off the bat, we wasn't living lavishly. I sold drugs as a dirty cop," he says. He and other officers had raided a car wash, recovering more than a kilogram of drugs and $4,000 from a hidden desk compartment which could be opened only using magnets within a fish tank. Near Druid Hill Park, amid the shouting, sirens and buzzing choppers overhead, he commandeered a state prison department van and helped pull injured officers inside. That's because in June 2018, Jenkins was sentenced to 25 years in prison. In May 2014, three Baltimore prosecutors convened a meeting. He walked into the court wearing a maroon prison uniform. Read more: Inside one of America's most corrupt police squads. When I saw the video, Webb later told The Sun, it didnt corroborate what was in the statement of probable cause at all.. "He drew first blood," Stepp says of Jenkins. I dont know the nuances, what was said, what wasnt. He's even got a clothing line coming out around his defunct bail bond business, Double D Bail Bonds. But, he added, I think that if I am held responsible for my actions, then the same should be with the officers for their wrongdoing.. On June 13, 2016, Jenkins became the Officer in Charge of the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF,) a specialized unit within the Operational Investigation Division of the BPD. Sneed hired an attorney, who obtained footage from a city surveillance camera on the corner. 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