wayne jenkins baltimore

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. Wayne Jenkins fist felt like a hammer to Tim OConnors face. BALTIMORE The Baltimore City Board of Estimates paid out a $6 million settlement Wednesday to the family of a bystander who died during a police chase by the . Jenkins admitted that he stole drugs from work and delivered them to Stepp, who would turn around and sell them. They testified he told them to carry BB guns to plant if they ever injured or killed an unarmed person, that he often took large quantities of drugs off of suspects without submitting them to the police evidence room. Jenkins said hed tried to be nice, but now they were going to jail. In January, Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh fired her police commissioner and replaced him with former Deputy Commissioner Darryl De Sousa, who promised sweeping reforms to the department. On the citys west side, officers were being pelted with bricks; some were hurt. I hoped it could spur a more honest discussion about what it's going to take to reform or even redefine what it means to be a cop in the US. The plaintiffs prevailed in three of them, either through a jury verdict or the citys decision to settle the case. The same video led to a rare police department disciplinary case against Jenkins, who was internally charged with misconduct in 2015, according to a copy of the case file reviewed by The Sun. Washington (AFP) - A police officer described as perhaps the most corrupt in the history of the Baltimore police department was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday. I'm losing a lot of teeth, you know, they used to be nice and pretty.". A line prosecutor, Molly Webb, had been notified by a defense attorney of the footage footage that the police department hadnt submitted to her. Later that year, the mayor held a news conference for another of Jenkins busts. Weeks later, I search these locations myself to see if I can find anything. Plainclothes officers, as the description suggests, just work in street clothes usually casual rather than uniforms. "It strikes at the foundation of our entire criminal justice system.". As adults, they ran into each other again at an underground card game frequented by Baltimore Police officers. But the scope of the corruption of Jenkins and his men remains a singular stain on the force. The fallout of the squad's crimes is still rippling through the city and undoubtedly made Baltimore a less safe place for everyone who lives there. Wayne Jenkins joined Baltimore's police department way back in 2003 as a beat cop patrolling the streets of Baltimore. 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. Wayne Jenkins in prison,. Instead, they go out looking for illegal activity people exchanging drugs or displaying bulges under clothing that could be guns. He said he started dealing drugs at age 9, selling. I thought, How is he doing it? Wayne Jenkins was living a double life. The BBC is not naming these three former supervisors, since none of them has been charged with a crime in connection with this case. Some of his men also have acknowledged stealing well before they came together on the Gun Trace Task Force in 2016. But the video captured by closed-circuit TV showed the officers searching the car extensively and never appearing to make a discovery. And while searching the area, Jenkins claimed, he found a BB gun under a nearby car. Contact me.". Wayne Jenkins is the leader of the rogue police unit in Baltimore who was sentenced to 25 years of prison in a corruption scandal prosecutors called "breathtaking". Some tried to complain, but were ignored. . Jenkins is currently in prison. Sneed's attorney Michael Pulver concluded, per Fenton, that the officers had "fabricated this story to hide the fact that they intentionally assaulted and falsely arrested and imprisoned Mr. He resigned and the top spot at the Baltimore Police Department remains vacant. 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. The actions of former Baltimore police Sergeant Wayne Jenkins and his team of plain-clothed officers in the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) are explored in We Own This City. Read about our approach to external linking. Later in 2015, he took over a new squad of plainclothes officers within the latest rebranding, the Special Enforcement Section. Despite Jenkins bravado, the jury found in favor of OConnor and awarded $75,000. "Pills of heroin, bags of marijuana," he says. Jenkins had joined the force at 23 after serving three years in the Marines, where he took up boxing. "I could have spoken up.". The message read: "Greetings. But Jenkins wanted to argue the details in his plea agreement, saying many of them weren't true. In fact, it's highly likely - if not certain - that many of the people Jenkins' put in prison himself had those tactics used on them by prosecutors. A plea agreement is a document that lists specific criminal acts that the defendant is agreeing to plead guilty to. He acknowledged that he could tell something was off with Jenkins around the time of the GTTF crime spree. Last month, Mr De Sousa was indicted for failure to pay his taxes by the same prosecutors who brought the GTTF case. OConnor had been sloppy drunk, they testified, and his friends said they would get him home. The GTTF was made up of eight officers, all but one of whom were indicted. And Jenkins, whod been identified as a rising talent early in his career, was celebrated among department brass and rank and file officers as a leader with an uncanny knack for delivering the goods. This call is from", A human voice breaks in: "Wayne Jenkins.". But the Baltimore states attorneys office continued to use Jenkins. Ignoring warning signs of misconduct, Baltimore Police praised and promoted Gun Trace Task Force leader. De Sousa, who is now serving a federal sentence for tax evasion, said through his attorney that he does not remember the Jenkins case. "I swear, I wish I would have known before I ever put anyone in here I wish I would have known the other side," he says at one point. It was difficult for me to understand and parse all of Jenkins' denials, now. After the indictments, one of Jenkins supervisors told Internal Affairs investigators she had believed he was the best gun cop this department has ever seen.. It was in 2007 that Jenkins became a part of the GTTF, a new unit of plain-clothed officers focused on targeting suspected criminals believed to have big supplies of guns and drugs, in a bid to reduce the city's high murder rate. That's because in June 2018, Jenkins was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The former ringleader of the Baltimore police Gun Trace Task Force and one of its detectives were sentenced Thursday to federal prison. 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. I have to try to untangle his answers as he moves from subject to subject, sometimes so fast I can't keep up. "It shows what a committed, sophisticated, devious person can do," Mr Wise said. He tells me that the first time he ever stole money, he was just a rookie. "How police act towards people ain't changed," he told me recently. "It's still hard though, because I get a lot of pain in my mouth at night. Jenkins pleaded guilty in January and admitted taking part in at least 10 robberies of Baltimore citizens, planting drugs on innocent people and re-selling drugs he stole from suspects on an. 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. In my conversation with Jenkins, he spent a lot of time disputing Stepp's account of their partnership. 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. "Hi, ma'am," Jenkins says when I pick up. Some drug dealers told their lawyers that Jenkins made stuff up to arrest them and had kept a good chunk of their money and drugs before taking them in. Now, the lawyers were sitting with Paul Pineau, chief of staff to then Baltimore States Attorney Gregg Bernstein, according to an account of the meeting obtained by The Sun. "It's a surreal story. Others were raised by defense attorneys and their clients, who said an overzealous Jenkins skirted legal standards in making arrests. He calls Stepp "the biggest exaggerator I've ever met in my life". Wayne Jenkins and former Det. Claiming to be a DEA agent, Jenkins then confiscated the drugs and money but did not arrest the dealers. He says he couldn't risk it as a father with a young family. "I never took nothing from a looter, so help me god. In Baltimore, theyre often referred to as knockers, a reference to their historically aggressive tactics. Inside was a stack of bills. In the annals of the Baltimore Police Department, Wayne Jenkins name was not being associated with wrongdoing. And were not getting Jenkins.. 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. In June 2018, after pleading guilty on charges of. 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. Later on, he claims, they'd throw the drugs out the window or down a sewer grate. OConnor had spent much of the day tossing back beers at the Brewers Hill Pub & Grill in Southeast Baltimore when the manager asked him to leave. Jenkins tells me he traded some sausages with other inmates in the line, bartering his way to the front. You didnt catch me in nothing.. I'm standing in my pandemic "radio studio" - aka the closet in my apartment - surrounded by hangers holding button-up shirts and dresses. Turmoil has continued at the Baltimore Police Department, an agency that saw four commissioners in little more than a year among them De Sousa, now in prison for tax fraud. This partnership lasted for five years. Stepp turned everything over to the US prosecutors. But Whiting is not so optimistic. 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. "Right off the bat, we wasn't living lavishly. After an FBI investigation into the unit discovered the GTTF's crimes, federal officers arrested Jenkins alongside several others in the unit. Hill could not be reached by The Sun for comment. If Wayne Jenkins asked you to come work for him, you felt honored, Ward said. 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. 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. Become a subscriber today to support investigative reporting like this. Read more: Inside one of America's most corrupt police squads. I sold drugs as a dirty cop," he says. A strange back and forth with a man who used to be Jenkins' cell mate ultimately ended up with me in my closet waiting for that call. But most people who worked with him police and prosecutors asserted to The Sun they had no idea he and his officers were involved in criminal behavior. During his trial, on January 5, 2018, Jenkins pled guilty to one count of racketeering, two counts of robbery, one count of destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in a federal investigation, and four counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. Then they could enter the house and take the money, only later calling county officers to say they were executing the warrant. He took pictures of himself and Jenkins together inside the police department, where Stepp would sometimes pick up drugs. It's a depressing fact that this is a viewpoint likely shared by many in Baltimore, and is a part of the reason why the GTTF got away with what they did for so long. Read about our approach to external linking. "I felt comfortable with it because all the police officers that I met, which were many during the card games, in my opinion, they owned the city," Stepp would later tell the jury at the GTTF trial. Both men have requested new trials. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Over the course of four phone calls (courtesy of some traded bags of crisps), Jenkins paints a picture of the Baltimore Police Department as a place where indoctrination into corruption starts almost immediately. Judge Blake ultimately decided to sentence him to 25 years, saying she was taking into consideration the fact that he pleaded guilty and co-operated to some extent with the prosecutors. Read about our approach to external linking. You guys willing to go kick in the dudes door and take the money? He has covered the Baltimore Police Department and crime in Baltimore since 2008. Detective Marcus Taylor on Thursday was sentenced to 18 years in prison on racketeering charges, including robbery and overtime fraud. Not long after Stepp flipped on his former friend, Jenkins pled guilty. When one of the men darted into his home, Jenkins rushed in after him. Ex-police sergeant Wayne Earl Jenkins apologised in court for the crimes he committed while heading an elite squad called the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF). You never know until you get on this side, including me, what you do to families.". The pair also stole valuables, like high-end wrist watches, in break-ins. Please sign up today and help make a difference. 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. He reviewed hours of body camera footage from their arrests, watched tapes of their courtroom appearances, reviewed several thousand pages of documents, including internal police department files, and interviewed dozens of people including two of the convicted officers, some of the gun unit's victims, other current and former Baltimore police officers and commanders, defense attorneys and prosecutors. I also point out to him that it's a fairly common practice for prosecutors to level charges that are so serious that the defendant feels they have no choice but to plead guilty. That the GTTF's leader, a former Marine and amateur MMA fighter named Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, was a hero who'd plunged into a violent crowd during the unrest to rescue injured officers. I never aimed nothing at him . They urged his supervisors to get him back to work and focused, according to an internal police department investigation conducted after the indictments. He was also the ringleader of a criminal enterprise of police officers who were robbing people and dealing drugs. Why cant I be like this guy?. When I tell this to Stepp, he's angry. He admitted to knowing . 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 Friday, both detectives Evodio Hendrix and Maurice Ward were sentenced to seven years in prison. I dont know the nuances, what was said, what wasnt. 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. "Immediately, we get together and you go over your story. But when the officers exited the elevators on the building's second floor, they were met by an FBI SWAT team. All seven members were soon in handcuffs. 3.4M views, 20K likes, 1.4K loves, 6.8K comments, 52K shares, Facebook Watch Videos from The Baltimore Sun: A criminal with a badge: A Baltimore Sun investigation into the story of Baltimore Police. "I'm wrong, God knows I'm wrong," the 37-year-old said. Five of the former officers, including Jenkins, pleaded guilty. But Davis, Baltimores police commissioner from 2015 to 2018 and a veteran of two other departments, calls plainclothes units necessary and critical to the crime fight. They go looking for guns and drugs, he said, and often are successful. He was convicted on multiple counts including racketeering, robbery and falsification of records. I got gangster charges, racketeering charges, things they usually give the mob, who were burying bodies in cement.". Critics argue Barksdale was among police leaders who fostered a warrior culture, to the citys detriment. I ask. In Justin Fenton's book We Own This City, on which the HBO series is based, the Baltimore Sun journalist explained that Jenkins would often be "caught in a lie" while giving evidence to a jury, but no complaints were put on his record. So he gave up and entered a guilty plea. Homegrown commanders took pride in being known as having knockers. In 2018, Jessica wrote a piece which detailed the explosive trial at a Baltimore federal courthouse that revealed the unit's crimes, She then turned that story into a new seven-part podcast series called Bad Cops which you can listen to in its entirety below. And of course, Jenkins is also hoping for a sentenced reduction of some kind. These officers often operate with a great deal of independence. "My dad would be alive today would it not be for his actions that day. I just knew it was a lie, Ward recalls. He woke up on a frigid city street with his jaw shattered, and couldn't eat solid food for months. He ordered a detective to drive them to the hospital and joined the front lines. They employed tactics that straddled and sometimes clearly crossed the line that divides aggressive policing and trampling on civil rights. Taxpayers footed the bill. Then-Police Commissioner Anthony Batts had created a Force Investigation Team to inspire public trust that police leaders were keeping an eye on officers use of force. One of the most shocking incidents from the plea agreement is an event that Jenkins now unequivocally denies. This past summer, as I was wrapping up work on "Bad Cops", a strange email appeared in my inbox. 'You say this, you say that, right?' Stepp's moving on with his life - in a sense. He names the veteran he says coached him into stealing for the first time. A loyal friend. I was a hero," Jenkins says of his activity during the unrest. Wayne Jenkins, who led . Wayne Earl Jenkins tearfully told the court: "I've tarnished the badge", (L-R) Evodio Hendrix, Daniel Hersl, Jemell Rayam, (L-R) Maurice Ward, Marcus Taylor, Momodu Gondo, Prosecutors showed evidence of Jenkins' building up the tools needed to do full-fledged robberies, Elbert Davis' daughters speak after Jenkins' sentencing, Former GTTF member Momodu Gondo testified during the trial, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. But Internal Affairs was still working on the case that the States Attorneys Office had decided it could not pursue: the suspicion that Jenkins might have planted drugs in a car to justify an arrest. 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. In 2010, when Deputy Commissioner Anthony Barksdale wanted a special squad to go after elusive suspects, Jenkins was picked for the group. Read about our approach to external linking. Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton spent a year delving into the operations of Wayne Jenkins and his officers, both as members of the Gun Trace Task Force and before. By Josiah Bates. I'm staring at my cell phone in the dark. Prosecutors pointed to the fact that Jenkins fabricated evidence, like producing a bogus iPhone video of his officers cracking a drug dealer's safe, when they had in fact already broken into it and stolen $200,000 in cash. Jenkins had told his squad hed heard over wiretaps that Belvedere Towers, a high-rise apartment complex in North Roland Park, was the scene of large drug deals. One afternoon, he took two officers there and they wound up stopping a drug deal in progress. 2015, he spent a lot of time disputing Stepp 's account of their partnership the latest rebranding, Special... I tell this to Stepp, who said an overzealous Jenkins skirted legal standards in making.... 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