Baltimore police scandals

Wayne Jenkins, a former amateur mixed-martial-arts fighter, told them to carry BB guns in case they needed to plant weapons, conspired with a crooked bail bondsman, and occasionally posed as a federal agent when shaking people down. Two of the detectives, Momodu Gondo and Jemell Rayam, admitted to leading double lives as police officers and armed drug dealers, even running interference for a heroin-trafficking ring run by Gondo's childhood buddy.

Public defenders are calling into question each and every case touched by the disbanded unit's officers, several thousand of them over the last decade.

Currently, roughly tainted cases involving the eight indicted Baltimore law enforcers have been dropped. Police leaders have said the corruption revolved around a small group of rotten officers, but critics say the rogue unit was a product of the department's own deep flaws. Last week, acting Police Commissioner Darryl DeSousa announced the creation of a Corruption Investigation Unit to probe not only the activities of the disbanded unit, but also that of a number of current officers whose names popped up during testimony.

Days later, he said he was receptive to the idea of an outside review. He said he's committed to cleaning house, but it's an open question as to whether Baltimore's police force has enough integrity and resolve to expose other rogue officers. Like this: Like Loading About csidds Dr. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:.

Email required Address never made public. Name required. This included giving advice to a drug dealer after he discovered a police GPS tracker attached to his car. During the trial, Gondo testified he and another officer planned a burglary, which included using a police tracking device to determine when their target was not home. They stole g of heroin, jewellery, watches and a gun. Gondo admitted he routinely stole cash from people's homes when given the opportunity, and split the take with his fellow officers.

He told the jury that after one particularly large score, Jenkins told them, "Don't be greedy. We can do this three times a year. Detective Jemell Rayam. Rayam admitted that he'd been stealing money long before he joined the Gun Trace Task Force, as early as He also re-sold stolen drugs and split the proceeds with Jenkins. While committing a different masked home invasion with Officer Momodu Gondo, Rayam was surprised by a woman in the home and held her at gunpoint with his police-issued firearm.

On the stand, Rayam wept after listening to a tape of himself and other members of the task force failing to render aid at the scene of a serious car accident they caused. Any of you, my mother, my father" he told the jury. Sergeant Thomas Allers. As the former head of the GTTF, Allers admitted stealing cash from civilians on several occasions in the course of his police work, along with officers Hersl, Rayam and Gondo. According to Allers' plea agreement, the man was later shot and killed by another man because he could not repay a drug-related debt.

Detective Evodio Hendrix. Hendrix admitted stealing money on several occasions, with his fellow officers, during traffic stops and while executing search warrants.

He told the jury that Jenkins instructed them to carry BB-guns in their police cars "in case you need to get yourself out of a situation" like shooting an unarmed suspect. Detective Maurice Ward.