The new HBO crime miniseries that came out this April, We Own This City has gained a popular viewership for its being based on a true crime story and a story that is not old enough for us to forget.

In the series, Jon Bernthal portrayed Wayne Jenkins, the leader of the GTTF who was convicted for his various crimes and corruption in the city of Baltimore. And this series has made us curious to know about the real Jenkins, who is Wayne Jenkins? What happened to him? Let’s know the real man behind the story.

Wayne Jenkins Wiki: Who is Wayne Jenkins?

Jenkins was born in 1981, and worked for the Baltimore police branch until he was charged with several crimes after a big scandal. He entered the Baltimore police department in the 2000s as a beat cop and went around doing his patrolling duty in the city of Baltimore. After several years of service, he was later promoted to the position of sergeant in 2016 while he was working for the GTTF( Gun Track Task Force).

As a sergeant and leader of the Baltimore GTTF, he and his team were tasked with the responsibility to handle the various violent crimes taking place in the city. He was respected as police and was known to be a good husband and father, hence a proper family man. Jenkins is married to his wife Kristy Jenkins and they together have three sons, his family life was much livelier than his professional life where he later was convicted for involvement in various crimes and corruption.

What Happened to Wayne Jenkins?

Jenkins was once a respected police officer in the police department and is today locked up behind the bar. The incident of him being involved in corruption came after he joined and became the leader of the GTTF, somewhere in 2016, under his leadership the team has recorded many successes in arresting drug dealers and capturing illegal weapons among many in the city.

Jenkins was one of the cops the department was proud of but he then became part of the big crime scandal of 2017 involving his GTTF team. In 2015 there was a murder incident that involve Freddie Gray 25, who was found dead in the back of a police van and many people suspected that several cops were responsible for his death. This case was the start of more crime in Baltimore city and people felt more hopeless and uneasy about the police and their duties.

Between 2015 to 2017 crimes started to increase in Baltimore city and the police department was in a state of chaos at this time. Then in between this time, the GTTF scandal came out involving each of its police officers including the leader Jenkins. They all were accused of robbing the city people during their patrolling and street stops, for their false reporting and racketeering, their involvement in drugs and firearms dealing, and many more among others.

Though Jenkins was considered a hero in the police department, the general public was always wary of him and other officers. Later as the scandal reached the court Jenkins along with 7 other officers were arrested in 2018 and were sentenced to different years of prison with Jenkins being the longest.

Before this big scandal, he already had several lawsuits against him during the latter part of the 2000s for misconduct and racketeering but his case always failed to proceed any further in the court and hence getting dismissed. Not just this he was also said to use his power to assault people intentionally and make up a story to falsely arrested and imprisoned them.

Wayne Jenkins Today

Jenkins, now 41, is still serving his sentence in the prison of Ashland, Kentucky after he was found guilty of involvement in various corruption and crimes in 2018. The charges were more against the GTTF leader than his other team members, hence he was sentenced to the longest in prison for twenty-five years and was expected to be freed in 2038.

What’s more, this corruption incident has caught the eye of the film industry and a new true-crime drama series was made called We Own This City, which aired on HBO on April 25, 2022.  The crime drama series focuses on Jon Bernthal as leader Wayne Jenkins of GTTF and their involvement in many crimes and corruption during their duty. portrayed by Jon Bernthal, the leader of the GTTF and the city police department.

The series story takes place between the time Jenkins became a sergeant and joined the GTTF and various flashbacks from the past. The story was based on Jenkins’s book on corruption written by journalist Justin Fenton goes by the same name which was published in February 2021.

This is how we became more aware of the corruption and crime that took place in Baltimore and got more curious about Jenkins, the man in uniform who has gone too far with his corruption and dug his own grave.