Then when the police stood down and drugs and murders erupted again the cycle would repeat. When police tactics went over the top and people reacted, a new commissioner would be selected to reign in the police. They told the force to do whatever it took to bring down the murder rate and flow of drugs. Responding to rising crime rates, get-tough commissioners were selected. Most of the action takes place between 20 in a city in turmoil.

He builds a stellar record of arrests and drug busts, but he learns to bend the rules to get the job done: arresting without probable cause, searching without a warrant, planting evidence, lying and more. He follows the career of Wayne Jenkins who rises through the ranks to lead a special plain clothes unit. Kudos to the author for presenting such a cohesive look at the sequential events that brought these criminal cops down.įenton, A Baltimore Sun reporter, gives us an account of corruption in the Baltimore Police Department. I would have loved some in depth analysis of the psychology of the rogue cops (forensic and/or clinical psychologist), how a police force could allow this to go unchecked for so very long (organizational or political sociologist) and some historical context of how all these events were brought to the forefront by a local historian with a focus on race relations.Īll in all, an eye-opening and truly poor reflection on Baltimore. What would have made this a four or 4.5 star book is some collaboration with experts. If I see it.I will report back as an addendum in this review. HBO has also produced a six part series docudrama based on these events. This is absolutely excellent and impartial investigative journalism. The clear prose allows the reader to keep all the many subjects relatively clear in your mind. The writing is precise and logical and you can see in your mind's eye all that transpires over the years. The focus is on Wayne Jenkins who appeared to mastermind and bring colleagues into the fray as well as protect some friends and family to sell the drugs of all the drug busts he had committed. This group was brought down by the FBI and most culprits have been locked away for 12 to 25 years. This was a very good to excellent compiling of events in 2010's Baltimore about an elite group of plainclothes officers that got away with many years of racketeering, false arrests, corruption and led to the ruining of many lives as well as the loss of others. I am going to keep this review relatively short.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and both Faber & Faber as well as Random House Publishing for an ecopy of this book. 3.5 'detailed, fast paced, disillusioning' stars !!!

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