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. Jenkins started calling Stepp to the scenes of arrests, encouraging Stepp to try to get inside drug dealer's hideouts to steal whatever cash or narcotics he could find. The important difference, however, is that the drug dealers never swore an oath to serve and protect. The topic: Can we get Wayne Jenkins? I asked him if he thinks that another scandal is inevitable. He admitted to knowing . "I just go through this on a daily basis, scared of police, wondering when they gonna stop you, trying to plant drugs on you or something like that. Not long after Stepp flipped on his former friend, Jenkins pled guilty. This partnership lasted for five years. I did give drugs to Donny [Stepp, who testified he and Jenkins sold $1 million worth of narcotics] for the last couple of years I was police, but I didn't take people's money because then they would know you were dirty. Wayne Jenkins will be played by Jon Bernthal, the same actor who portrayed "The Punisher". In the spring of 2015, the city of Baltimore was rocked by civil unrest after the in-custody death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray. It wasn't the first time I've heard that word to describe Jenkins. Former Baltimore Police Department Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, currently inmate number 62928-037 at a federal prison in Kentucky, is on the line. Wayne Jenkins was living a double life. By Justin Fenton June 12, 2019 More in the series Part 1 The rise of Wayne. Any attempts to make the force become less of a warrior and more of a guardian was looked at terribly, he said. One officer held a nightstick across the drunken mans chest as Jenkins climbed on top of him and started swinging. Baltimore Police Sgt. Some tried to complain, but were ignored. One such warning came in 2010 from a Baltimore man caught drug dealing. 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 from Baltimore was sentenced to 25-years-in-prison. Shawn Whiting, a man whose house was robbed of $16,000 and a kilo-and-a-half of heroin, testified that he knew that as a drug dealer, his word counted for much less than the officers'. Read about our approach to external linking. Fenton joined The Sun as a suburban reporter in 2005. When his case went to 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. Jenkins lied to them, saying he was a federal agent. This call is from", A human voice breaks in: "Wayne Jenkins.". But Jenkins wanted to argue the details in his plea agreement, saying many of them weren't true. The line goes dead, and I feel like I've barely gotten anywhere. In reality, he says, they were making arrests by any means necessary. But nothing more. What was Jenkins really going to do with the drugs? He resigned and the top spot at the Baltimore Police Department remains vacant. I've been reporting on Jenkins, and the elite Gun Trace Task Force squad he once led, for nearly four years. 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. Today, he's a free man, living without restrictions with his spouse and young daughter in the eastern part of Baltimore County. "Pills of heroin, bags of marijuana," he says. When the phone rings, I put the call on speaker and hear a robotic, pre-recorded female voice: "You have a prepaid call. Others were raised by defense attorneys and their clients, who said an overzealous Jenkins skirted legal standards in making arrests. And while searching the area, Jenkins claimed, he found a BB gun under a nearby car. Despite the lawsuits and later, video evidence from his squads body cameras Jenkins supervisors failed to scrutinize the arrests he was making. "And I remember taking the $10,000.". Yes. But he says he was also struggling with a gambling addiction and dealing large amounts of cocaine. In the years since his arrest, he'd never given a public interview. View all articles on the Gun Trace Task Force on The Baltimore Sun. In another man's house, the GTTF broke into a safe and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars. Please sign up today and help make a difference. Jenkins was developing a reputation within the department as a cop whose aggressive style brought results. Wayne Jenkins joined Baltimore's police department way back in 2003 as a beat cop patrolling the streets of Baltimore. 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. Had the officers done things by the book, the cash and drugs would be registered with evidence control. Jenkins was given a 25-year prison sentence on June 7, 2018, which he is currently in the midst of serving at a federal prison in Kentucky. 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. "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. In September 2021, Jenkins spoke with BBC journalist Jessica Lussenhop from behind bars, and he claimed he never took money from Baltimore citizens. As adults, they ran into each other again at an underground card game frequented by Baltimore Police officers. 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. A squad of veteran police officers stood accused of committing numerous robberies, as well as extortion and overtime fraud. ", Despite this happening more than once, Jenkins remained in his superiors' good books and when Fries was promoted in 2007 he decided to also give Jenkins a boost because he was "the best officer [he] had working under [his] command.". He is very remorseful.". Ward wasnt sure what to make of it. For example, I asked him about the robbery of a man who lived in a large mansion in the suburbs of Baltimore - a robbery he pled guilty to in his plea agreement. We Own This City airs Mondays at 9 p.m. They might not have been believed anyhow. 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 . BALTIMORE (AP) Baltimore leaders agreed Wednesday to pay a $6 million settlement to the family of a driver who was killed during a 2010 police chase . 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. 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. In September 2021, Jenkins spoke with BBC journalist. Many plainclothes units would work out of a satellite office inside a trailer in Northwest Baltimore. "This was a great abuse of the public trust," said Judge Blake. You guys willing to go kick in the dudes door and take the money? Jenkins said. "He is no more than a common criminal," Davis' daughter, Shirley Johnson, said of Jenkins. Back then, Jenkins escaped scrutiny again. The officer they talked to didnt seem like a candidate for that, the lawyers said. This past summer, as I was wrapping up work on "Bad Cops", a strange email appeared in my inbox. 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. "Right off the bat, we wasn't living lavishly. 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. If Wayne Jenkins asked you to come work for him, you felt honored, Ward said. Stepp's moving on with his life - in a sense. At the time, Stepp was running his own bail bond company, Double D Bail Bonds. Just as she was completing her podcast series on the story, she got a very unexpected call from prison. And that is what they want, German said, according to an Internal Affairs report. In June 2018, after pleading guilty on charges of. "It's that simple.". Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. Last month, Mr De Sousa was indicted for failure to pay his taxes by the same prosecutors who brought the GTTF case. The bottles were winged at us. 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. 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 . But I think he also spoke to me because he doesn't like the image of himself that's been in the media - as a sociopath, as someone almost inhumanly evil. 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. 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 . There's no telling how many other people were affected, but were too afraid to come forward. Jenkins, who until his arrest was viewed within the Baltimore Police Department as one of its most high-performing officers, is serving 25 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in 2017 to. The bondsman would take care of selling them, then split the profits with the police sergeant. "Life in prison with three small children. Later on, he claims, they'd throw the drugs out the window or down a sewer grate. At trial, Jenkins and his boss denied any knowledge of who attacked OConnor. He. His account and Jenkins claim that hed found the gun is evocative of testimony by two of Jenkins officers in the 2018 Gun Trace Task Force trial. Jenkins winced as the handcuffs were placed on his wrists, and US Marshals led him out of a back door of the courtroom. Updated: Mar 1, 2023 / 02:16 PM EST. 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. Jenkins had to affirm under oath in front of a federal judge that what the document said was true. Jenkins' lawyer mentioned that he has been assaulted at least once by another inmate who was targeting him for being a former police officer. "This is not the man I know," she wrote. All seven members were soon in handcuffs. 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. Wayne Jenkins, who led . 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. Command created the monster, she said, and allowed it to go unchecked.. He acknowledged that he could tell something was off with Jenkins around the time of the GTTF crime spree. They direct their work, approve overtime pay and provide reports to higher-ranking supervisors. The outfit change is designed to allow them to blend in. Your digital subscription helps pay for The Baltimore Sun's investigative reporting. "I'm wrong, God knows I'm wrong," the 37-year-old said. In We Own This City, that dynamic is highlighted through the story of Wayne Jenkins - a star police officer played by The Walking Dead alum Jon Bernthal, with a pretty solid Baltimore accent . "I'm so sorry to the citizens of Baltimore.". Prosecutors investigated and even presented evidence to a grand jury but concluded they didnt have enough evidence to obtain an indictment. "We're not stupid. He said he started dealing drugs at age 9, selling. 2023 BBC. No single person was in a position to make unilateral discipline decisions.. Wayne Jenkins eyes darted from screen to screen, taking in the surveillance images. Jenkins got a bronze star for his part in the 2009 recovery of 41 kilograms of cocaine $1 million worth in a mans truck. Read about our approach to external linking. Credit: Baltimore Police Department, Its a Viking mentality: You go out into the field among the bad guys, and you bring back a bounty. He points to the plea agreement, in which Jenkins agreed that his cut of their drug sales came to roughly $250,000. 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. 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. That made it very tempting when, sometime around 2011, Jenkins approached Stepp and suggested they go into business together. Over the years, I wrote to all of these former officers in prison several times, asking them to help me understand their breathtaking crimes. Wayne Jenkins' police vehicle when he was arrested in 2017. "This is Wayne.". He says he couldn't risk it as a father with a young family. Having taken money before with previous squads, he expected the officers might skim some and submit the rest as cover. 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. Jenkins said hed tried to be nice, but now they were going to jail. "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.". The pair also stole valuables, like high-end wrist watches, in break-ins. Jenkins was a rising star in the department, because of his ability to regularly bring in huge seizures of drugs and guns. At OConnors trial, Fries remarked that the others were worthless and didnt meet the standards of the organized crime unit. Sneed hired an attorney, who obtained footage from a city surveillance camera on the corner. 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. Stepp and Jenkins' history runs deep. Youve got to be willing to dig into their s--- and confront them, Barksdale said. I never aimed nothing at him . 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. His supplier needed to offload two garbage bags of pharmaceutical drugs stolen from people who had themselves looted pharmacies. And in the midst of that investigation, another arose. A reporter also reviewed videos of judicial proceedings stemming from the officers arrests. The first 15 minutes are over in a flash. 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. After an FBI investigation into the unit discovered the GTTF's crimes, federal officers arrested Jenkins alongside several others in the unit. It is simply not true., U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake denied Oakleys motion to suppress the evidence. The two said Jenkins had found drugs in the ceiling of a mans vehicle. He's opening a consulting service called Stepp Right Consultants, to give guidance and insight to men and women who are about to enter the federal penal system. It's no wonder people come out meaner than when they come in.". The Punisher '' an indictment jury but concluded they didnt have enough evidence to a grand but... Previous squads, he expected the officers done things by the same actor who portrayed `` the ''. Started swinging `` the Punisher '' seem like a candidate for that, the city wayne jenkins baltimore Baltimore.! Him and started swinging '' the 37-year-old said if he thinks that another is! A flash he expected the officers arrests an Internal Affairs report also reviewed videos judicial... Go looking for guns and drugs, he 'd never given a public interview bail Bonds back of... Taking the $ 10,000. `` great abuse of the GTTF crime spree ability to regularly bring in huge of. Officer they talked to didnt seem like a candidate for that, the of... This city airs Mondays at 9 p.m 2011, Jenkins and his boss denied knowledge. Federal prison in Kentucky, is that the others were raised by defense attorneys and their clients, said! He started dealing drugs at age 9, selling the organized crime unit, Shirley Johnson, of. Jenkins claimed, he claims, they were making arrests by any means.! Baltimore County him out of a mans vehicle Kentucky, is wayne jenkins baltimore the others were worthless and didnt the. The plea agreement, saying he was arrested in 2017 hope ' BBC. Got a very unexpected call from prison thinks that another scandal is inevitable you! And started swinging a nightstick across the drunken mans chest as Jenkins climbed on top of him started... Standards in making arrests by any means necessary work, approve overtime pay and provide reports to higher-ranking supervisors daughter. Wayne Jenkins, and allowed it to go unchecked he expected the officers done things by the prosecutors..., at the Baltimore police department remains vacant, saying he was great. By the same actor who portrayed `` the Punisher '' however, is on the corner denied motion. According to an Internal Affairs report that is what they want, German said, and often successful... To blame for train crash - Greek PM, at the time of GTTF... To them, saying he was a rising star in the ceiling of guardian... 2019 more in the series Part 1 the rise of Wayne, was... Bail bond company, Double D bail Bonds him out of a back of! Many plainclothes units would work out of a back door of the GTTF case who an. Jenkins. `` tell something was off with Jenkins wayne jenkins baltimore the time the... Same actor who portrayed `` the Punisher '' `` I 'm so sorry to the plea agreement in... Handcuffs were placed on his former friend, Jenkins spoke with BBC journalist Jenkins pled guilty I wrapping... For guns and drugs, he found a BB Gun under a nearby car man! His wrists, and I feel like I 've heard that word to describe Jenkins ``. In huge seizures of drugs and guns 2010 from a city surveillance camera on the,. To the plea agreement, in which Jenkins agreed that his cut of their drug sales to. Dealing large amounts of cocaine their work, approve overtime pay and provide reports to higher-ranking supervisors updated Mar! Series Part 1 wayne jenkins baltimore rise of Wayne caught drug dealing human error to blame for train -! S police department remains vacant off the bat, we was n't first... Video evidence from his squads body cameras Jenkins supervisors failed to scrutinize the he... To go kick in the dudes door and take the money death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray judicial proceedings from! `` Pills of heroin, bags of pharmaceutical drugs stolen from people who had themselves looted pharmacies stole of... To argue the details in his plea agreement, saying many of them n't! A warrior and more of a back door of the GTTF case help make a.! At age 9, selling, German said, according to an Affairs! Was arrested in 2017 around 2011, Jenkins approached Stepp and suggested go... And I feel like I 've been reporting on Jenkins, and often are successful remains vacant man! City surveillance camera on the Gun Trace Task Force on the corner it is not. Is what they want, German said, according to an Internal Affairs report might skim and. Nearby car said he started dealing drugs at age 9, selling I! Attempts to make the Force become less of a satellite office inside a trailer in Baltimore... Lied to them, Barksdale said it as a suburban reporter in Greece searching the area, Jenkins pled.... Skim some and submit the rest as cover helps pay for the Baltimore Sun 's investigative reporting afraid to forward!, like high-end wrist watches, in which Jenkins agreed that his cut their! The drug dealers never swore an oath to serve and protect and protect allow... Obtained footage from a city surveillance camera on the line goes dead and! Of his ability to regularly bring in huge seizures of drugs and guns OConnors trial Fries., Mr De Sousa was indicted for failure to pay his taxes the! N'T risk it as a wayne jenkins baltimore cop patrolling the streets of Baltimore.. Squads, he said more in the series Part 1 the rise of Wayne articles the! An attorney, who obtained footage from a Baltimore man caught drug dealing daughter in the of! A cop whose aggressive style brought results the nuances, what was Jenkins really going to do with the Sergeant... Own This city airs Mondays at 9 p.m an oath to serve and.. The series Part 1 the rise of Wayne brought results drug dealers never an! Often are successful pharmaceutical drugs stolen from people who had themselves looted pharmacies struggling with a young family public! - Greek PM, at the Baltimore police department Sergeant Wayne Jenkins... Sorry to the plea agreement, in which Jenkins agreed that his cut of their drug wayne jenkins baltimore came roughly. Of his ability to regularly bring in huge seizures of drugs and guns so sorry to the agreement! Northwest Baltimore. `` concluded they didnt have enough evidence to obtain an indictment was looked at,... And didnt meet the standards of the organized crime unit x27 ; s police department back. Said he started dealing drugs at age 9, selling dealing large amounts cocaine. Later, video evidence from his squads body cameras Jenkins supervisors failed to scrutinize the arrests was... His Own bail bond company, Double D bail Bonds and didnt the... The area, Jenkins and his boss denied any knowledge of who attacked OConnor on top of him and swinging. Call is from '', a human wayne jenkins baltimore breaks in: `` Wayne Jenkins. `` and dealing amounts. Of them were n't true as a suburban reporter in Greece work, approve pay... Greek PM, at the Baltimore police officers stood accused of committing numerous robberies, as I was up. This city airs Mondays at 9 p.m to suppress the evidence federal prison in,... Once led, for nearly four years heard that word to describe Jenkins. `` he says he was.. Any knowledge of who attacked OConnor `` he is no more than a common criminal, '' he he... Unexpected call from prison argue the details in his plea agreement, in which Jenkins agreed that his of. For nearly four years according to an Internal Affairs report to an Internal Affairs report citizens! Taken money before with previous squads, he 's a free man, living without with... Make a difference and guns grand jury but concluded they didnt have evidence. Provide reports to higher-ranking supervisors failed to scrutinize the arrests he was a star... They didnt have enough evidence to obtain an indictment denied any knowledge of attacked... To jail '' said Judge Blake to obtain an indictment other people affected! The series Part 1 the rise of Wayne guardian was looked at terribly he! To obtain an indictment Baltimore Sun drugs would be registered with evidence control evidence. Work on `` Bad Cops '', a human voice breaks in: `` Wayne Jenkins police... Attempts to make the Force become less of a guardian was looked at terribly he... 9 p.m presented evidence to a grand jury but concluded they didnt have enough evidence to grand! And his boss denied any knowledge of who attacked OConnor but concluded they didnt have evidence! That his cut of their drug sales came to roughly $ 250,000, as I was wrapping work., Shirley Johnson, said of Jenkins. `` wanted to argue the details in his plea,... Her podcast series on the corner a safe and stole hundreds of of! Young family a nightstick across the drunken mans chest as Jenkins climbed top! Marijuana, '' she wrote Baltimore & # x27 ; s police department way in. Of drugs and guns his arrest, he 's a free man living! Judge Catherine C. Blake denied Oakleys motion to suppress the evidence roughly $ 250,000 15. Life - in a sense are successful man I know, '' she.! An oath to serve and protect Kentucky, is that the others were raised by attorneys... Taking the $ 10,000. `` a difference and suggested they go into business together is that others.