Both men have requested new trials. He thought Jenkins and Frieman might have been impersonating police. "I never took nothing from a looter, so help me god. Critics argue Barksdale was among police leaders who fostered a warrior culture, to the citys detriment. Later on, he claims, they'd throw the drugs out the window or down a sewer grate. These officers often operate with a great deal of independence. Jenkins joined Baltimore's police department in 2003, first becoming a beat cop and patrolling the streets of Baltimore. But I did call them, and the Baltimore Police Department, to see if anyone would respond to this laundry list of allegations. "I see some police officers harassing people, doing the same little tactics that the Gun Trace Task Force was doing.". During hia time in the department, Jenkins was involved in numerous arrests . A loyal friend. The outfit change is designed to allow them to blend in. Later in 2015, he took over a new squad of plainclothes officers within the latest rebranding, the Special Enforcement Section. He was serving his sentence at the Edgefield Federal Correctional Facility in South Carolina until 2020. In court, Ward apologised to the victims, to his family and to the Baltimore Police Department, as well as to his co-defendants. 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. Stepp was on home confinement for six months with an ankle monitor until this summer. She described how the unnamed officer talked about Jenkins: Hes probably the best drug detective in the city. Instead, they go out looking for illegal activity people exchanging drugs or displaying bulges under clothing that could be guns. "Now we're going to burn it down. "He's like, 'I'm not telling you to do anything, I'm just saying it sure would be nice if we had $10,000 apiece to go up to Atlantic City,'" Jenkins recalls. I am Agent and Representative as to Mr Jenkins. "Pills of heroin, bags of marijuana," he says. At that time, it was within De Sousas purview as the deputy commissioner in charge of administrative matters to intervene to resolve a discipline case, according to another former deputy commissioner, Jason Johnson. When I saw the video, Webb later told The Sun, it didnt corroborate what was in the statement of probable cause at all.. 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. They stole drugs and cash, sold seized narcotics and guns back on the street, planted evidence on people, even committed home invasions. "He perverted the criminal justice system.". Here is everything you need to know about the real Jenkins and where he is now. None of the cases led to any police department discipline for Jenkins, his personnel records show. His earliest admitted theft was in 2011. Five of the former officers, including Jenkins, pleaded guilty. He idolizes this guy, said Shelley Glenn, another prosecutor. From 2006 to 2009, Jenkins was the subject of at least four lawsuits alleging misconduct. "There was cameras everywhere, so I would never have took a dollar," he tells me. He had a criminal case to fight, and his freedom was more important. I'm staring at my cell phone in the dark. I ask. 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. Baltimore Police Sgt. They told me they were disturbed that he was being portrayed as a "monster". Fenton joined The Sun as a suburban reporter in 2005. Stepp's moving on with his life - in a sense. 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. 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. 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). Last month, Mr De Sousa was indicted for failure to pay his taxes by the same prosecutors who brought the GTTF case. "I'm so sorry for what you're going through. And while searching the area, Jenkins claimed, he found a BB gun under a nearby car. The matter was referred to the police integrity unit of the Baltimore states attorneys office for investigation. In an incident to which Jenkins would later plead guilty, the officers handcuffed two men. The longest sentence was handed down to Jenkins: 25 years. 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. April 25, 2022 5:45 PM EDT. I ask, slightly confused. The prosecutors characterised both men as having less culpability in the GTTF's schemes and that Ward in particular had provided valuable information that lead to additional charges against other officers. But thats likely not what triggered the unprovoked beating of OConnor. After three weeks of astonishing testimony, the jury found the two remaining officers guilty. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Then-Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake held a news conference to tout one of Jenkins big drug busts. On June 7, 2018, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. One former supervisor never responded. Victims like Bumgardner and Whiting had the courage to speak out. 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. But during the subsequent investigation, Frieman told detectives that he never saw a gun in Simons hand and that rather than being in imminent danger he was around a corner and out of sight when Jenkins ran down Simon. They claimed they didnt see who did it. In a recent interview, Simon told The Sun, I never had no BB gun. The officer they talked to didnt seem like a candidate for that, the lawyers said. 'You say this, you say that, right?' A former member of the unit, Sergeant Thomas Allers, also pleaded guilty. It showed Sneed calmly standing across the street looking on, never even raising his arms. I lived modest, we wasn't enriching ourselves," he answers. It feels a little bit like splitting hairs. Wayne Jenkins and former Det. Jenkins, along with Detective Ben Frieman, had followed an African American man driving a nice car through Northeast Baltimore. Ward wasnt sure what to make of it. He suggested another option. "We're not stupid. Wayne Jenkins fist felt like a hammer to Tim OConnors face. 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. Jenkins, meanwhile, was the best officer I had working under my command, Fries said. 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. 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 . During the altercation, a passerby named George Sneed was assaulted by officer Robert Cirello who broke his jaw, leading Sneed to sue. The departments Internal Affairs chief at the time says then-Deputy Commissioner Darryl De Sousa intervened to prevent the punishment. With the investigations behind him, Jenkins seemed emboldened. Why cant I be like this guy?. They might not have been believed anyhow. Back then, Jenkins escaped scrutiny again. You're taught that - the second someone gets in trouble we meet up, and we talk face to face," he says. HBO's new true-crime drama stars Jon Bernthal as Jenkins, with the show examining Jenkins' rise in the city's police department and eventual arrest after a two-year federal investigation into the GTTF. It's no wonder people come out meaner than when they come in.". Arrest him, too, Jenkins yelled at the responding officers. Wayne Jenkins, who . Former Baltimore Police Department Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, currently inmate number 62928-037 at a federal prison in Kentucky, is on the line. Five years later, Simons claims were confirmed. Wayne Jenkins' police vehicle when he was arrested in 2017. This series was supported by the Pulitzer Center. Wayne Jenkins, 37, pleaded guilty in January to robbery . Wayne Jenkins from Baltimore was sentenced to 25-years-in-prison. Then they spilled out of the house and onto the sidewalk, struggling. Ex-police sergeant Wayne Earl Jenkins apologized in the courtroom for the crimes he committed at the same time as he was head of an elite squad referred to as the Gun Trace Task . Jenkins joined Baltimore's police department in 2003, first becoming a beat cop and patrolling the streets of Baltimore. Hill said in the interview that De Sousa reduced the punishment to verbal counseling in effect, no punishment at all. Still, a yearlong investigation by The Baltimore Sun found warning signs that Wayne Jenkins wasnt such a good cop. 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 . Jenkins had joined the force at 23 after serving three years in the Marines, where he took up boxing. Back before our interview, Jenkins' representative wanted me to speak to some of his old high school friends. 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. 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. But it's the big man upstairs," he says. Attorneys in the integrity unit had approached another officer involved in the arrest, asking him pointed questions about whether Jenkins had lied about the drugs. Wayne Jenkins was on a mission to find big dealers and steal their drugs and cash. Your digital subscription helps pay for The Baltimore Sun's investigative reporting. They said Jenkins instructed them to carry BB guns to plant on suspects to justify their actions if they made a mistake. The idea that the Gun Trace Task Force went rogue simply because their sergeant was uniquely evil ignores all the systemic ways in which he was encouraged to operate the way he did, and the larger policing culture that supported him (it should also be noted that several of the squad's members started stealing money long before they joined the GTTF). This is his senior portrait from 1998. As adults, they ran into each other again at an underground card game frequented by Baltimore Police officers. Jenkins said hed tried to be nice, but now they were going to jail. His supplier needed to offload two garbage bags of pharmaceutical drugs stolen from people who had themselves looted pharmacies. 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. "I got 25 years. One was that he felt he'd been railroaded into his plea agreement by the US prosecutors (the Maryland US Attorney's Office declined to comment). But nothing more. "This is not the man I know," she wrote. The two police officers came over because they had nothing else to do.. Over the years, I wrote to all of these former officers in prison several times, asking them to help me understand their breathtaking crimes. That made it very tempting when, sometime around 2011, Jenkins approached Stepp and suggested they go into business together. I mean, it had velocity, Jenkins said. 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