We Own This City True Story What Happened & What It Got Right
The HBO miniseries We Own This City is based on the investigation into and reform of the Baltimore Gun Trace Task Force, a group within the Baltimore Police Department who were arrested in one of the city's most prominent police corruption scandals. Much of the series is drawn directly from reporting and the legal indictments against the task force. There are some changes to create a more compelling narrative, but for the most part We Own This City is very faithful to the scandalous true story it is based on.
We Own This City sees The Wire writers David Simon and George Pelecanos returning to the setting of Baltimore and its ongoing issues with crime and policing. As with other Simon miniseries like Show Me A Hero and Generation Kill, the series is heavily based on journalism, in this case the 2021 nonfiction book We Own This City by former Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton. The story is set amidst public unrest and distrust in policing following the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, which saw six police officers charged with homicide. The negligence that led to Gray's death, and the subsequent acquittal or dismissal of charges for all of the officers, led to widespread protests and was seen by many as another example of police targeting and killing Black people with no repercussions.
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John Bernthal stars as the real-life Sgt. Wayne Jenkins, the leader of the Gun Trace Task Force. The Gun Trace Task Force effectively operated as its own gang within the city of Baltimore, conducting a number of robberies and keeping the money for themselves. While the Task Force largely targeted drug dealers, unlike The Wire's memorable Omar, they also harassed
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