COPS AS ROBBERS

TWO OF THE MOST FAMOUS NAMES BEHIND The Wire are back with another story examining the underbelly of law enforcement in Baltimore. David Simon and George Pelecanos, who worked together on the acclaimed 2002–2008 HBO drama, have teamed up for the new HBO Max miniseries We Own This City, about a real-life rogue gun-tracing unit in the Baltimore Police Department.

Adapted from former Baltimore reporter Justin Fenton’s 2021 book by the same title, the show, arriving April 25, chronicles one of the most shocking instances of police corruption in the city’s history. In 2017, eight members of the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), assembled to remove guns from the streets in an effort to stamp out violent crime, were charged with robbery, extortion, racketeering, and overtime fraud. Six of the officers pleaded guilty, while another two were convicted in 2018. Sentencing for those involved ranged from