We Own This City is a miniseries based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Baltimore reporter, Justin Fenton. It was developed and written by George Pelecanos and David Simon. Fans of Simon’s police show The Wire (which is considered one of the best TV shows ever made) will undoubtedly notice similarities and differences in We Own This City, though we cannot ignore or forget the brilliant show. Of course, we were totally enthralled with this miniseries, a great cop show that shows us how much more excitement Baltimore has to offer after The Wire.
While we were pleasantly greeted with some familiar faces (though with new roles), this time, Baltimore faced a completely new story, one which, unlike The Wire, was actually true. This series details the fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Track Force (GTTF) and the immense police corruption and scandal that came with it. The story follows the true story of Sergeant Wayne Jenkins who was one of eight police officers who were arrested and convicted for corruption between 2018 and 2019. Throughout the series, we are shown extremely raw portrayals of the real people involved in the story. It no doubt leaves the viewers shocked, disgusted, and feeling extremely vulnerable. Let’s take a look at how Simon succeeded this year with a more specific story.
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The Real Crime in Baltimore
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Simon felt it was the right time to revisit Baltimore, still with crime and polite, but this time taking a different and more specific route into a true story. While his masterpiece, The Wire, was very much involved in law enforcement and its relationship with corruption, We Own This City is far more specific, and perhaps even more intriguing, taking a look at a very specific corrupt cop rather than the corruption woven into multiple facets of Baltimore.
The true story (in further detail) follows eight Baltimore cops in 2017, who were proven guilty of fabricating police records, abusing their positions as officers to get cash out of innocent people, and even scamming the system for overtime checks. Jenkins, the ringleader, was even involved in a careless car chase in 2017 which caused the death of an innocent person. However, being the corrupt cop that he was, he covered it up by framing the two men he was chasing, planting evidence of drugs. This resulted in those men being sent to prison for an awful crime that they did not commit. Wayne Jenkins is now serving a sentence until 2039. We Own This City looks at the crimes committed by him and the other seven officers, mostly through the perspective of Jenkins (in a great Jon Bernthal performance).
We Own This City is Immersive and Comprehensive
Simon also interestingly decided to follow the story in a non-linear narrative. The plot flicks back and forth, which means that we can see both what caused the crimes, and the aftermath and effect they had on people. These time jumps are cleverly choreographed to document the whole spectrum of the events and allows us to follow Jenkins and what he is doing, as well as how his actions developed and led to him being a dangerous criminal.
In following this technique, it allows the viewers to feel as though they have been given every single bit of information and instead of just telling us a story, we are actually involved in the ins and outs, behind the scenes of the events and crimes, giving us a perspective from every angle. It is also filmed in a way that feels extremely realistic, which makes us feel like we are watching the real story happening in front of us. It means that it becomes more than just a TV show; it feels like we are being informed, like we are part of it, and even down to the fights and violence, We Own This City never fails to feel believable.
A Chance To Spread Awareness
While viewers may be aware of horrific crimes caused by law enforcement like police brutality, which often happens in our society, when addressing this, author Justin Fenton (who wrote the nonfiction book We Own This City and also helped in the process of creating the series) shared with The Guardian:
This point (and the story told throughout We Own This City) raises an important thought to everyone in society, that the system makes it very difficult for good policing to happen; the series educates, informs, and proves that unseen and unaddressed corrupt policing does occur right under our noses. Simon has indeed done a fantastic job of not only creating a very realistic, well-thought-out, and entertaining TV series, but also gained success in raising awareness of corrupt law enforcements and the dangers that it brings.
“There’s been so much rightful attention on police brutality and so we know when an officer shoots somebody there’s an injury, there’s a death. But this type of casual everyday lying, stealing, misrepresenting information, in some cases framing people – it’s hard to prove and for that reason it often went unaddressed.”
