The show briefly depicts Wayne Jenkins' wife in episode 5, and we are told that Wayne takes time off for the impending birth of his child. Wayne Jenkins, who led the Gun Trace Task Force, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges including racketeering, robbery and falsifying records. Please sign up today and help make a difference. Jenkins' lawyer mentioned that he has been assaulted at least once by another inmate who was targeting him for being a former police officer. Yes, I did," he says. He took pictures of himself and Jenkins together inside the police department, where Stepp would sometimes pick up drugs. I asked Wayne Jenkins several times why he wanted to do the interview with me. They are not typically tethered to specific posts, or burdened by responding to 911 calls. Jenkins and members of his squad were praised for their work getting guns off the streets in an October 2016 police department newsletter. Jenkins was developing a reputation within the department as a cop whose aggressive style brought results. No one took anything, but Jenkins later mused about the possibilities. There's no telling how many other people were affected, but were too afraid to come forward. But the scope and breadth of these allegations were staggering. It's propped up on top of a suitcase sitting on top of a plastic tub, and I'm holding my recorder and microphone at the ready. Oh, yeah. Stepp and Jenkins' history runs deep. Several of the former officers also took the stand - now wearing prison jumpsuits instead of uniforms - and detailed the tactics encouraged by their leader, Jenkins. 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 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. 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. 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. "It was obvious to me, when I'm taking millions of dollars worth of drugs from the Baltimore Police Department and selling them, that this is not a normal police department.". Jenkins also tells me that any time an officer's misconduct gets picked up by Internal Affairs or by an outside law enforcement agency, it was routine for the involved officers to meet up, to tailor their stories to avoid punishment. Just how long ago Jenkins began stealing isnt clear. It was nicknamed The Barn an apparent homage to the offices of a corrupt police unit on the television series The Shield. The show, modeled after a 1990s Los Angeles Police Department scandal, featured a strike team that roughed up suspects, lied about their investigations and took a cut of their drug busts. "He's a pathological liar," Stepp says. During his time on the streets of Baltimore Jenkins was involved. The department valued their work too much to end this style of police work. If I could take everything back in my life, I would have been a prosecutor," he says. Wayne Jenkins from Baltimore was sentenced to 25-years-in-prison. I have no idea what he wants to say, or why after four years, he's breaking his silence. When the man stopped his car and started to run away, Jenkins drove after him and into someones front yard, where he struck him. Ward wasnt sure what to make of it. You guys willing to go kick in the dudes door and take the money? At the time, Stepp was running his own bail bond company, Double D Bail Bonds. Updated: Mar 1, 2023 / 02:16 PM EST. I will continue to fight to prove my innocence.". He idolizes this guy, said Shelley Glenn, another prosecutor. The message read: "Greetings. Finally, in March 2015, Internal Affairs chief Rodney Hill informed Jenkins that he was being charged internally with misconduct, neglect of duty and failure to supervise the officer in his charge, according to a leaked copy of the case file obtained by The Sun. In Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago, plainclothes teams have been charged with corruption. By Justin Fenton June 12, 2019 More in the series Part 1 The rise of Wayne. One officer recalled Jenkins taunting colleagues waiting in line to submit evidence at police headquarters, bragging about how many guns he was getting off the street. If Wayne Jenkins asked you to come work for him, you felt honored, Ward said. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Read the full story of Baltimore's Gun Trace Task Force, Inside one of America's most corrupt police squads, Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Fungus case forces Jack Daniels to halt construction, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, China and Belarus call for peace in Ukraine, Ed Sheeran says wife developed tumour in pregnancy, NFL hopeful accused of racing in deadly car crash, Beer and wine sales in Canada fall to all-time low, Dozens of girls treated after new Iran poisonings. "I still maintain my innocence. Jenkins later alleged in official paperwork that Simon had pointed a weapon at Frieman and that he ran Simon down to stop the threat. But then, about an hour later, the phone rings again. But the Baltimore states attorneys office continued to use Jenkins. For example, in January 2006, Jenkins and Sergeant Michael Fries had an altercation with brothers Charles and Robert Lee after they continued to drink beer on the front step of their grandmother's home when the policemen had told them to stop. I deserve to go to jail.". One former supervisor never responded. But the video captured by closed-circuit TV showed the officers searching the car extensively and never appearing to make a discovery. He thought Jenkins and Frieman might have been impersonating police. As backup arrived, Jenkins spotted a man named George Sneed across the street. Donald Stepp was released from federal prison back in January of this year. Wayne Jenkins was on a mission to find big dealers and steal their drugs and cash. His fee will be donated to the victims of the Gun Trace Task Force. Correction 11 June 2018: This article has been amended to make clear that prosecutors pointed to how 1,700 criminal cases have been affected by the unit's corruption. Amid controversies over the years, police brass would publicly disband the units, then reconstitute them with the same personnel under a different name. Read about our approach to external linking. I got gangster charges, racketeering charges, things they usually give the mob, who were burying bodies in cement.". They said he prepared an arsenal of weapons and tools to begin carrying out burglaries. Hill said in the interview that De Sousa reduced the punishment to verbal counseling in effect, no punishment at all. He was arrested along with almost every member of the unit in March 2017. We Own This City airs Mondays at 9 p.m. Wayne Jenkins posed as a . Jenkins was a rising star in the department, because of his ability to regularly bring in huge seizures of drugs and guns. 2023 BBC. "I'm so sorry for what you're going through. They stole drugs and cash, sold seized narcotics and guns back on the street, planted evidence on people, even committed home invasions. Plenty of times he's gone behind me and found them.. More than 50 people including current and former police officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys and victims were interviewed. Just as she was completing her podcast series on the story, she got a very unexpected call from prison. Until this point, I'd only heard Jenkins on. The matter was referred to the police integrity unit of the Baltimore states attorneys office for investigation. The important difference, however, is that the drug dealers never swore an oath to serve and protect. But thats likely not what triggered the unprovoked beating of OConnor. While he may not be ready to let go of his animus towards Jenkins, Stepp's strange journey seems - at least for now - to be heading towards a happy ending. It was his first public appearance since he was arrested along with six other officers last year. One member of the task force during Jenkins leadership, Detective John Clewell, was not charged with any crimes. He also says that he only made roughly $75,000 off of the narcotic sales, as opposed to the figure put on it by Stepp. Many plainclothes units would work out of a satellite office inside a trailer in Northwest Baltimore. Jenkins earned praise outside the department, too. Simon's new project will tell a fictionalised version of the Gun Trace Task Force saga, and began filming on the streets of Baltimore over the summer. Can this US city go 72 hours without a murder? "Pills of heroin, bags of marijuana," he says. They also didnt give chase. Jenkins had to affirm under oath in front of a federal judge that what the document said was true. 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. 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. It was a red flag. His promotion required him to return to uniformed patrol for a time, and he was assigned to the Northeastern District. The three prosecutors concluded the officer admired Jenkins work even as he may have been trying to protect the sergeant. Had the officers done things by the book, the cash and drugs would be registered with evidence control. He also apologised to Burley, who was not in the court, to his wife and to his father, and begged the judge for the opportunity to get out in time to be a grandfather. 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