28 May 2022

Justin Fenton: Baltimore’s corrupt cops in follow-up to The Wire

From Saturday Morning, 10:07 am on 28 May 2022

Photo: Josh Sisk

If you thought there wasn’t any more to say about crime in Baltimore after watching The Wire, think again. Justin Fenton was a crime reporter for the Baltimore Sun newspaper for 13 years and has written a shocking true account of a corrupt police force in his new book, We Own this City

It was David Simon, also once a crime reporter for the Sun and one of the co-creators of The Wire who encouraged Fenton to write the book. Simon then turned it into an HBO series. It features cop Wayne Jenkins, who was tasked with fixing Baltimore’s drug and gun crisis, but who also turns his taskforce into a gangster enterprise, operating with impunity for years.

Fenton is now with multi-platform outlet the Baltimore Banner, which launches next month. We Own this City is currently screening on Sky and Neon.