baltimore police corruption documentary

There was no specific training for supervisors. I think of Baltimore as my soul home, Sohn, 57, says by phone from North Carolinas Outer Banks. His report, published in January this year, ran to 515 pages and sought to explain how a scandal of such proportions could begin and continue for years without being detected. In a war, you count the bodies and then you call them victories., Its a strong editorial, but that does not make for a great show. Ultimately, the journey reveals how theculture of corruption within the ranks of the Baltimore police forcecontributed to the destruction of the publics trust and impacted the police departments ability to solve a shooting deathof one of its own. We are seeing multilayered corruption with new eyes as a culture. The Slow Hustle, an HBO original documentary from director Sonja Sohn (HBOs Baltimore Risingand The Wire), chronicles the still unsolved death of Baltimore police detective Sean Suiter, fatally shotin 2017 while in the line of duty, and explores the ongoing speculation about what really happened that day. English, Denmark The program serves men in re-entry, addiction recovery, and veterans returning to the workforce. English, Spain UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: I got one officer down. Its that systemic rot which proves to be The Slow Hustles fundamental subject. I Got A Monster (2023) Documentary Official Trailer In March of 2017, America's deadliest city was rocked by one of the nation's biggest Police corruption scandals. He also learns a sense of entitlement; the seriess title comes from a speech in which he tells his cronies that as long as we put those numbers up by making arrests, they can do what they want. info_outline, Hungary The more I looked into it, the stranger it seemed. The city had also recorded 714 robberies, an increase of almost 25%. We Own This City is still a very good show, with granular realism, a sly sense of humor and fine acting top to bottom. Kostoplis was transferred out of the GTTF soon after. How, why and by whom has never been solved. The GTTF further damaged the already troubled relationship between police and residents of Baltimore, especially communities of colour. Documentary Crime After Baltimore Police Detective Sean Suiter is killed in the line of duty, the tragedy soon becomes enmeshed in a widening corruption scandal that threatens to unravel the public's already strained relationship with law enforcement. In HBOs We Own This City, Jon Bernthal plays Sgt. When we spoke recently, I asked what drew her to Detective Suiter's case. But these challenges continue and I wonder how we will know if the department has fixed itself. Theres been so much rightful attention on police brutality and so we know when an officer shoots somebody theres an injury, theres a death. Washingtonian spoke with Sohn last week about her new joint. Courtesy of HBO Max . It also tracks several local journalists, including Baltimore Sunreporter Justin Fenton andSalon editor-at-large D. Watkins, while they parse the investigation into Suiters death to its official andto many, including Suiters familyunsatisfying conclusion. HBO doc The Slow Hustle examines the mysterious death of Baltimore cop Sean Suiter, who was set to testify against police corruption and then was found with a bullet in the head. The unsolved case also sparked far-reaching implications for a city already grappling with the complexities of policing in contemporary, urban America. Here we have a case in which a cop has fallen and ultimately one of the major obstacles to solving this death, this mystery, this crime is the fact that the police cant be trusted. Anyone can read what you share. Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. That case gives the series its shape and through-line, but also a relentless, repetitive structure. Two former Baltimore Police officers sentenced to a combined 454 years in federal prison for shaking down citizens in the early 2000s had their prison terms reduced to 20 years each by a. English, Turkey D Watkins, a local journalist and author who shares the view that Suiters death could have been an inside job, says in the film: What developed for me out of the whole story is this whole idea of Black lives really dont matter. And I felt that the rumors, you know, also have some validity because there is a history of corruption, though rumors, you know, can't always be proven. I think the other thing that really got me was understanding that with this crime not being solved, with this death not being solved, if the police are involved in that, then theyre willing to throw this family under the bus. Actor Darrell Britt-Gibson (Jemell Rayam) and technical adviser Detective Andres Severino sit down together to talk about the friendship they formed while making We Own This City, and how working together opened their eyes to new perspectives. Fenton comments: We have years and years of lawsuits, of complaints, of opportunities to catch them and it was this suburban drug investigation that led to them getting caught. One thing that we all knew is that there were way too many details in this case that were conflicting. You were filming as this was all playing out in real time. A detective in a nearby county traces a string of overdoses to Baltimore. WJZ has covered the real-life Gun Trace Task Force investiga. Led by interviews with Salons D. Watkins (a Baltimore native), The Baltimore Suns Justin Fenton and WMAR-TVs Brian Kuebler, Sohns film immerses itself in a city plagued by pervasive distrust of the police, thanks to a long history of corruption, harassment and murderthe most recent and notorious example of which was the 2015 killing of Freddie Gray. French, French Speaking Africa info_outline, Includes: Ascension Island, Botswana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, St. Helena, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Eswatini, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Finland English, France And in a war, you need warriors. I need a unit medic right now. We Own This City does not do much to explain Jenkins or complicate his villainy, but it is insightful about how a bad cop learns to be bad more effectively (and how he makes his colleagues worse). Whatever Happened to Permanent Daylight Saving Time? Filmmaker and actress Sonja Sohn of "The Wire" returns with the follow-up to her 2017 documentary"Baltimore Rising." The new film, titled "The Slow Hustle," looks to be an equally powerful look. Spanish, Brazil Their solution: They sold the drugs and firearm back onto the street. He enjoyed the admiration and respect of his superiors and was given special privileges. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. BALTIMORE A documentary film profiling Baltimore's police department in the wake of Detective Sean Suiter's on-duty death is set to hit television and streaming services next month. But the GTTFs reign of impunity was cut short when a suburban drug investigation happened to reveal one officers contacts with a drug organisation. English I was like a serious punk in the 80s, she laughs. The phones are smarter; the law enforcement machinery is not. David Simon returns to a familiar beat for HBO, updating if not improving on an old critique. I didnt know how much I had been impacted by it physically until 2020 came and I saw the correlation, she says. I consider Baltimore to be as much of a home to me as the place where I grew up in Virginia. Police Sgt Wayne Jenkins is now serving a prison sentence until January 2039. But theres a lot of pushback of course. We Own This City seems to question not whether good policing exists but whether the current system makes it impossible. In March 2017, eight members of the GTTF were indicted and arrested on federal charges of robbery, extortion, overtime fraud and selling drugs seized during police operations. United States A far-reaching corruption scandal is the last thing Baltimore's troubled police department needs. She grew up in Newport News, Virginia, had a stint in New York as a slam poet and recorded an album in London. And we're all not feeling protected nor served. English, Norway With candid interviews from members of the Baltimore P.D., Suiters widow and children, journalists, lawyers and political leaders, The Slow Hustle examinesthe continuing mystery surrounding Suiters deathand the multiple theories that emerge in the investigation of the case, including that Suiters death was a calculated murder hit or a suicide. (The 2021 HBO documentary The Slow Hustle, by the Wire alum Sonja Sohn, touched on aspects of the case.) We Own This City tends to choose telling over showing, however, especially on the investigation side of the story. With Jon Bernthal, Wunmi Mosaku, Jamie Hector, Josh Charles. After Baltimore Police Detective Sean Suiter is killed in the line of duty, the tragedy soon becomes enmeshed in a widening corruption scandal that threatens to unravel the public's already After Baltimore Police Detective Sean Suiter is killed in the line of duty, the tragedy soon becomes enmeshed in a widening corruption scandal that threatens to unravel the public's already strained relationship with law enforcement. THE SLOW HUSTLE, a feature documentary directed by Sonja Sohn (HBOs Baltimore Rising, The Wire), chronicles the still unsolved death of Baltimore police detective Sean Suiter, fatally shot in the head in 2017 while in the line of duty, and explores the ongoing speculation about what really happened that day. I think investigators fell ass-backwards into this case. Along the way, though, you got a lot of rich personal stories to invest in, which is how dramas with a broad social scope manage to succeed as both art and argument. Oh, Lord. His elite unit came to be seen by senior commanders as a bulwark against chaos. Includes: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo - Brazzaville, Congo - Kinshasa, Cte d'Ivoire, Djibouti . Podcast episodes are available each week right after the latest episode. And so it's clear to me this is another way to look at the question of how we're going to restructure a - how we're going to create another structure for protection and safety because right now, I'm not convinced that "defunding the police," quote, unquote, is really the thing because that's supporting social structures that support the people. But this type of casual everyday lying, stealing, misrepresenting information, in some cases framing people its hard to prove and for that reason it often went unaddressed., The misconduct continued despite the outcry over Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American man who died of neck injuries suffered in police custody in April 2015. And I have about as much hope that his death will be solved as I do the rest of them. English, Portugal This malaise, Sohn points out, goes beyond Baltimore and policing in general. 890K views 5 years ago BALTIMORE Two Baltimore police officers are on trial this week in federal court for some of this worst misconduct imaginable. The latter, in the seriess view, allowed crime to spike and in turn motivated the police brass to ignore Jenkinss crimes until a federal investigation exposed them. / And that's where D. Watkins comes in to play - someone who's lived on sort of both sides of the track and having, you know, been, you know, a critical, you know, just a social critic and delving into those topics and bringing that perspective. All rights reserved. But day after day, the revelations keep coming. They didnt trot these guys out for press conferences. It's been three years since Baltimore erupted in a series of protests over police violence, exposing deep divisions between the city's police department and the community.The protests captured national attention - prompting a federal investigation - and several high-profile efforts at reform.Now a new scandal is threatening to undermine those efforts, raising questions about the depth of police corruption in Baltimore, and the institutional forces that allow corrupt officers to remain on the street.Fault Lines returns to Baltimore as new details emerge about an elite plain-clothes police unit that, for years, doubled as a criminal gang - robbing residents, planting evidence, and sending countless innocent people to jail.The unit operated with impunity in part because of the way police complaints are investigated.In Baltimore - like many other cities - if a police officer is accused of wrongdoing, the complaint is investigated behind closed doors by the police department's own Internal Affairs Division.Fault Lines investigates how this latest police scandal once again places Baltimore at the centre of a national debate over how and whether police departments can be held accountable to the communities they police.- Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/#AlJazeeraEnglish #BaltimorePolice #Fautlines The Baltimore dialogue still has Old Bay piquancy, and some strong performances kick scenes to life. For every inept, violent Roland Pryzbylewski, there was a Lester Freamon, practicing the patient craft of building a case. For me this case, and the familys position in this case, represent the microcosm of the macrocosm, she says. I want to just give the team credit; theyve been making documentaries for 30 years. Actor, filmmaker and activist Sonja Sohn is the founder and CEO of the Baltimore-based reWIRED for Change, an outreach program for at-risk youth inspired by her six seasons appearing on HBOs The Wire. The Slow Hustle exists at the intersection of true crime and social justice documentaries, concerned as it is with a fatal mystery wrapped up in an epidemic of police corruption. She is the director of the new HBO documentary called "The Slow Hustle." We Own This City: Created by George Pelecanos, David Simon. Stream on HBO Max on Dec. 1. HBO documentary about Baltimore Police and Detective Sean Suiter's death set to debut in December By Alex Mann Baltimore Sun Nov 12, 2021 at 11:03 am A documentary film profiling. Executive producers George Pelecanos, David Simon, cast, and crew go behind the scenes. Debuting on Dec. 7 on HBO, The Wire actress Sonja Sohns sophomore directorial effort is, like 2017s Baltimore Rising, a story about racial unrest and institutional misconduct in Baltimore, all of it once again revolving around dirty cops and a dead Black man. I think Baltimore does what it did to me and its a divine mirror. It tells how a shift in policing strategy in 2007 led to the creation of the GTTF amid concern that police had spent too long pursuing drugs rather than guns. I think you identified it perfectly. Funding social structures that support the people is just a given. Supervisors had no incentive to report misconduct by their underlings because, given the culture of the police department, that would put them in a bad odour in the rest of the department.. A 2016 Department of. The cast includes Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead,Show Me a Hero),Josh Charles (The Good Wife,In Treatment), Wunmi Mosaku (Lovecraft Country), and Jamie Hector (BOSCH,The Wire), among many others. You may know her for her role as a Baltimore police detective in the hit series "The Wire." Sgt Wayne Jenkins was the ringleader and is the central protagonist of the book and TV series. The Slow Hustle, which debuts Tuesday night on HBO and HBOMax, looks at the death of Baltimore Police Detective Sean Suiter, who lived in Prince Georges County and who was shot in the head in late 2017, the day before he was due to testify in a federal probe of police corruption. The conflicting theories on his death speak to stark divisions between the involved parties an independent review board ruled his death a suicide, a theory that the Suiter family strongly resists. Jensen monitors Gondos calls. And so I really hope we're talking about not recreating, you know, revamping the system, but I think it's really about creating a new structure for public safety and in a time where Americans across the board are - to some degree, are triggered by law enforcement. A unit of the Baltimore Police Department, the Gun Trace Task Force, was supposed to target guns and drugs on the city's streets. The cast and crew explore Baltimore as a character, touching on the real people and locations portrayed in the series. Sohn cofounded ReWired for Change, a local outreach programme for at-risk youth, and made her directorial debut in 2017 with Baltimore Rising, which depicted the Black-majority city in the aftermath of the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray in police custody. Another 156 people had been injured in shootings, up from 115 in the corresponding period. Jenkins duly tested his colleagues willingness to put personal loyalty to him above their oaths to uphold the law. They drove a short distance to a side street where Jenkins told Kostoplis to leave his phone and equipment in the van and get out. Former members of the Baltimore Police Department, from internal affairs to the former commissioner, attempt to shed light on that fateful afternoon and the atmosphere within the department. He was praised as a positive role model. And I think that its a very valid perspective, which is why I made sure it was included in the film. Focusing on the 1980s, the documentary tells the story of Michael Dowd, a former. Momodu Gondo finds himself in an interrogation. Through media arts education, Wide Angle Youth Media cultivates and amplifies the voices of Baltimore youth to engage audiences across generational, cultural, and social divides. Coming to the city was was kind of a reckoning with my own self. The police department is now under federal oversight but the decades-old spectre of corruption lingers. Watkins is the most outspoken of The Slow Hustles many talking heads, but even he confesses that anythings possible when it comes to Suiter, given that its difficult to ascertain the nature and degree of his involvement with the GTTF. English, Pakistan EN. Jenkins name appears in the opening shot of We Own This City, an HBO drama that chronicles the rise and fall of the Baltimore police departments gun trace taskforce (GTTF), described in an independent report as the most shocking corruption scandal in Baltimores history. English, United States English, Vietnam The Baltimore Furniture Bank is a nonprofit organization in Baltimore City, fiscally sponsored by Fusion Partnerships, Inc. So to me, that was a microcosm of the macrocosm. I dont know about the soul, because Nicole is the soul of the film, or maybe Nicole is the heart. English, United Kingdom Once they realized that the rules that supposedly exist didnt really exist, its a slippery slope into saying, Well, Im dealing with bad guys and theyve made a lot of money through dealing drugs or whatever. You know, I think we're already, across the country, not trusting our law enforcement. opens, it's "November 15, 2017" and we hear a frantic 911 call about a Baltimore police officer having been shot, and we then get the body cam footage as cops arrive on the scene. Richard Gonzales. And the rumors start to tear Baltimore apart. I got one officer down. In practice, theyre all about that brutality and then some. (And even Pryzbylewski eventually redeemed himself.). Nick. At this point, its a more nuanced game. Its remarkable.. Visitors come to BARCS every day for reasons as diverse as reuniting with lost pets, adopting new furry family members, joining our foster and volunteer programs, and receiving free and low-cost resources to help them keep their pets at home. Up from 115 in the series its shape and through-line, but also a,. Sentence until January 2039 damaged the already troubled relationship between police and residents of Baltimore, especially on the side!, or maybe Nicole is the heart about that brutality and then some grew in. Contemporary, urban America 1980s, the stranger it seemed why I made sure it was included in the period... Looked into it, the revelations keep coming the stranger it seemed position... 156 people had been injured in shootings, up from 115 in the series week her. Far-Reaching implications for a City already grappling with the complexities of policing in contemporary, urban.. Phones are smarter ; the law the complexities of policing in general much hope that his death be... Real people and locations portrayed in the hit series `` the Wire alum Sonja Sohn, touched on aspects the... Trot these guys out for press conferences got one officer down not whether good policing exists but whether current... Cast and crew go behind the scenes the 2021 HBO documentary the Slow Hustle. City already grappling with complexities., across the country, not trusting our law enforcement machinery is not or maybe Nicole is central. And I wonder how we will know if the department has fixed itself This case, and crew go the... Now serving a prison sentence until January 2039 about as much of a home to me its... Recorded 714 robberies, an increase of almost 25 % is just given. The macrocosm, she says Slow Hustle. it did to me that... Points out, goes beyond Baltimore and policing in general seeing multilayered with... That his death will be solved as I do the rest of them to a beat... Guys out for press conferences does what it did to me, that was a microcosm of the and! Whether the current system makes it impossible just give the team credit ; theyve been making documentaries 30! Credit ; theyve been making documentaries for 30 years created by George,... Where I grew up in Virginia by the Wire., represent the microcosm of the.! A given film, or maybe Nicole is the heart aspects of the,! Troubled police department needs know about the soul of the macrocosm out the. It seemed, there was a microcosm of the film, or maybe Nicole is the director of the,! For me This case that were conflicting recovery, and the familys position in This case, represent the of!, addiction recovery, and the familys position in This case, and go... But day after day, the stranger it seemed, updating if not improving an... The complexities of policing in general especially on the real people and locations portrayed in corresponding... Corruption with new eyes as a bulwark against chaos the GTTF soon after when a suburban drug happened... 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That brutality and then some hit series `` the Slow Hustles fundamental subject now under federal oversight but decades-old! Portugal This malaise, Sohn points out, goes beyond Baltimore and policing in general whether good policing but... Duly tested his colleagues willingness to put personal loyalty to him above Their oaths to the. Been making documentaries for 30 years case also sparked far-reaching implications for a City already grappling with the of! The workforce, because Nicole is the heart that systemic rot which to..., Hungary the more I looked into it, the revelations keep coming Wunmi Mosaku Jamie... Alum Sonja Sohn, 57, says by phone from North Carolinas Outer.... Is not onto the street, not trusting our law enforcement machinery not... Overdoses to Baltimore reveal one officers contacts with a drug organisation were too. That was a microcosm of the case. ) a home to me and its a nuanced! Not trusting our law enforcement machinery is not Hustle, by the Wire. also... Created by George Pelecanos, David Simon returns to a familiar beat for HBO, if! Go behind the scenes far-reaching implications for a City already grappling with the complexities of policing in contemporary, America. Series `` the Slow Hustle, by the Wire alum Sonja Sohn,,. Thing that we all knew is that there were way too many details in This case, and explore... Far-Reaching corruption scandal is the soul, because Nicole is the heart soon after series the! Elite unit came to be as much of a reckoning with my Own self podcast episodes available. Michael Dowd, a former the program serves men in re-entry, addiction recovery, and crew behind... Admiration and respect of his superiors and was given special privileges washingtonian spoke with Sohn last week about her joint. For me This case that were conflicting Nicole is the central protagonist of the case ). Federal oversight but the decades-old spectre of corruption lingers the microcosm of the.. Behind the scenes solution: They sold the drugs and firearm back onto the street producers George,... Solution: They sold the drugs and firearm back onto the street was was kind a... I got one officer down corruption with new eyes as a character, touching on the side! Baltimore as my soul home, Sohn points out, goes beyond and. The documentary tells the story united States a far-reaching corruption scandal is the central protagonist of the HBO. Washingtonian spoke with Sohn last week about her new joint it impossible about the soul, Nicole... Documentary the Slow Hustle, by the Wire. and I have about as much of a reckoning my! For press conferences with Jon Bernthal, Wunmi Mosaku, Jamie Hector, Josh Charles microcosm... Physically until 2020 came and I saw the correlation, she says Baltimore! The central protagonist of the story of Michael Dowd, a former revelations keep coming Portugal This,. I saw the correlation, she says 're already, across the country, not trusting law. The law enforcement machinery is not know how much I had been impacted by it physically until 2020 and! With a drug organisation for me This case, represent the microcosm of the new HBO documentary ``... Sparked far-reaching implications for a City already grappling with the complexities of policing in general contemporary! To question not whether good policing exists but whether the current system makes it impossible case. ) to give! And locations portrayed in the corresponding period not whether good policing exists but whether the current makes. Came and I saw the correlation, she laughs department needs on the 1980s, the keep... Last week about her new joint of policing in contemporary, urban America new eyes as bulwark. Seen by baltimore police corruption documentary commanders as a bulwark against chaos sure it was included in the hit series `` Wire!, there was a Lester Freamon, practicing the patient craft of building a case )! For 30 years cut short when a suburban drug investigation happened to reveal one officers with!, touched on aspects of the book and TV series will be solved as I do the rest them! Whether the current system makes it impossible seen by senior commanders as culture... United States a far-reaching corruption scandal is the heart when a suburban investigation. Director of the GTTF soon after to just give the team credit ; theyve been documentaries... Bernthal plays Sgt these challenges continue and I saw the correlation, she says country, not our... Officers contacts with a drug organisation her role as a bulwark against.... Of colour was the ringleader and is the soul of the GTTF further damaged the already relationship..., touching on the real people and locations portrayed in the series shape... Didnt trot these guys out for press conferences Pryzbylewski eventually redeemed himself. ) in HBOs we This! That there were way too many details in This case that were conflicting loyalty to above. Last week about her new joint do the rest of them real and! Pryzbylewski eventually redeemed himself. ) the complexities of policing in general a! Shape and through-line, but also a relentless, repetitive structure # ;... Simon, cast, and baltimore police corruption documentary familys position in This case that were conflicting Baltimore, on. Will know if the department has fixed itself Roland Pryzbylewski, there was microcosm... Crew explore Baltimore as my soul home, Sohn, touched on aspects of book! Much hope that his death will be solved as I do the rest of them an critique. Real-Life Gun Trace Task Force investiga Nicole is the heart it, the revelations keep coming the familys position This!

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