Justin Fenton

We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops and Corruption in an American City by Justin Fenton is a 2021 Faber and Faber publication.

This is the true story about the corruption in the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), an elite group of plain clothes officers in the Baltimore Police Department.

Justin Fenton, a Baltimore Sun reporter, chronicles the years that Sgt. Wayne Jenkins and his crew robbed drug dealers, stole money, among other things, and planted evidence to cover their deeds.

Through intense investigative reporting, Fenton writes a gripping tale of unbelievable corruption, enabled by politics, showing the effect it had on the city of Baltimore. Many lives were ruined, the quality of life and the safety of citizens watered down, leaving behind loss of life, damaged relationships and a loss of trust that will reverberate for a long time to come.

The book shows the flaws in the system and the abuse of power and position that will shake even the most cynical amongst us.

This book is also the basis for the HBO dramatization of this case, created by George Pelecanos, which is also very good and worth checking out.

Overall, an outstanding piece of true crime journalism. It’s horrifying, angering, and deeply unsettling.

4.5 stars… (mehr)

Masterly reported and quick-paced story about a highly corrupt group of police officers in Baltimore, Maryland. The details make the story almost seem like a work of fiction. Unfortunately it’s all true. The book, written by longtime Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton highlights the importance of having a major daily metro newspaper and its talented dedicated editorial staff who ferret out and share the details of thuggery, racism, and extreme corruption and high level managerial incompetence.… (mehr)

I live in Baltimore and read the city newspaper, THE BALTIMORE SUN, daily. Thus, the major events chronicled in this book were not news to me: dysfunctional city government; police-citizen tensions; revolving door police chiefs; the police Gun Trace Task Force scandals of planted evidence, theft of cash and narcotics from drug dealers; unconstitutional searches and seizures.

But Justin Fenton, a SUN reporter, has brilliantly plugged in the details to make the story riveting and even breath taking. His enormous job of assembling his sources (trial transcripts and court records; police and prosecutorial documents; DEA records; many interviews, and much more) has paid off big time. The book is a credible indictment of Baltimore’s law enforcement apparatus.

As of the date of this review the city has a new mayor. Hopefully the revelations in this book, and the continuing SUN reporting, will push those in charge to do better.… (mehr)