Bad Cops | 5. The Takedown

Summary

The Burden: Bad Cops | Episode 5. The Takedown

Podcast: The Burden
Host: Orbit Media (Jessica Lussenhop)
Date: July 21, 2026

Episode Overview

This gripping episode, “The Takedown,” reveals the dramatic downfall of Baltimore’s notorious elite police squad, the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF). Led by Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, once hailed as “the Golden Boy,” the unit devolved into a criminal syndicate, robbing citizens, framing suspects, stealing money and drugs, and undermining justice in Charm City. The episode tracks FBI Special Agent Erica Jensen as she navigates a dangerous wiretap investigation, piecing together evidence, and ultimately orchestrating the spectacular simultaneous arrests of the entire crew. Alongside the procedural, the episode gives voice to the victims of the GTTF and exposes the shattering impact of systemic police corruption.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Escalating Corruption and FBI Surveillance

• Wiretap Revelations
  • Agent Jensen’s wiretaps catch GTTF members implicating themselves in criminal activities and indicate growing paranoia (“...they might be under investigation.” [03:45]).
  • “She’s still got the wiretap running on one of the cops’ cell phones, and she’s hearing the task force officers say a lot of stuff that they shouldn’t be.” (Jessica Lussenhop, 04:04)
• Criminal Operations Continue
  • The GTTF, notably Jenkins and Detective Mamadou Gondo, surveil and rob suspects, such as Ronald Hamilton, under false pretenses. They steal $20,000 cash and a pricey watch after raiding his house, yet find no drugs (05:15–07:18).

2. Breakdown of Trust Among Officers

• The officers start mistrusting each other, with missing cash causing tension:
  • “Yo, real talk... I’m counting again. Yo. Hey, I would never let you know me...” (Mamadou Gondo, 10:04)
  • “Someone skimmed some money off the top of that $20,000. And it just wasn’t how we thought that they were with each other.” (Agent Erica Jensen, 10:37)

3. The Takedown Operation

• Planning the Arrests
  • With evidence mounting and suspicions growing, the FBI fast-tracks the takedown before the unit goes further to ground or covers their tracks.
  • Jensen coordinates with Baltimore PD’s brass and devises a ruse involving a trivial internal affairs complaint to lure the officers in for questioning (12:31).
• The Arrests Unfold
  • On March 1, 2017, the task force officers are arrested at Internal Affairs HQ.
  • Sergeant Jenkins, proud and defiant, stares down Commissioner Kevin Davis:

    “He looked right back at me, right into my eyes, right through me as if to say, 'F you.'” (Commissioner Kevin Davis, 17:07)

4. Public Fallout and Victims’ Vindication

• Impact on the Community
  • Victims like Gary Brown, who reported having been robbed by GTTF years earlier, are finally validated:

    “You telling people that the police took some money from you, they like, oh, man, go ahead. You talking on the side of your head, you know. Nobody... believed me.” (Gary Brown, 18:59)

  • Umar Burley, serving a 15-year sentence for a crash precipitated by Jenkins, sees his case re-opened as the arrests unfold.

5. Unraveling Cases, Betrayals, and a Mysterious Death

• The Domino Effect of Confessions

  • Under the pressure of overwhelming evidence, some officers quickly begin to cooperate, exposing deeper wrongdoing—including the planting of evidence against Burley (23:57–25:14).
  • For the first time, federal prosecutors tell Burley, “We already know that the drugs is [sic] planted in your car, and all we want you to do is tell your side of what happened.” (Prosecutor to Umar Burley, 25:04)

• The Death of Detective Sean Suter

  • As prosecutors prepare to call Detective Sean Suter—a one-time colleague of Jenkins now with a reputation for honesty—as a witness, he is found dead days before his scheduled testimony. The circumstances remain unresolved, fueling speculation and city-wide controversy (26:16–26:30).

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tension Within the Task Force

  • “Someone skimmed some money off the top of that $20,000… when they go to split it now, the split is less.”
    — FBI Special Agent Erica Jensen, 10:37

• The FBI SWAT Takedown

  • “He enters the lobby, checks his gun... Before he can even take a step, he’s met by the sight of a heavily armed FBI SWAT team. They scream at him to get his hands up and handcuff him.”
    — Jessica Lussenhop, 14:14

• Commissioner Davis Confronts Jenkins

  • “He looked right back at me, right into my eyes, right through me, as if to say, F you.”
    — Commissioner Kevin Davis, 17:07

• A Victim’s Long-Sought Validation

  • “That’s him. That’s the guy that took my money… you telling people that the police took some money from you, they like, oh, man, go ahead... Nobody believed me.”
    — Gary Brown, 18:59

• Federal Prosecutors to Burley

  • “We already know that the drugs is planted in your car, and all we want you to do is tell your side of what happened.”
    — Federal Prosecutor, 25:04

• Reactions to the Suter Case

  • “Was the timing of Sean Suter’s death a coincidence? Was someone trying to stop him from testifying? Or was this tragedy something else altogether?”
    — Jessica Lussenhop, 26:33

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:06–04:13]: Recap of previous episodes and set up for the takedown
• [04:13–07:18]: GTTF’s raid and robbery of Ronald Hamilton
• [09:51–10:29]: Rift grows in the unit after missing cash
• [12:26–13:57]: FBI and Baltimore PD collaborate on the arrest ruse
• [14:14–16:11]: The morning of the arrests; officers taken down one by one
• [17:07–17:44]: Commissioner Kevin Davis confronts Jenkins in custody
• [18:59–19:19]: Gary Brown sees his assailant arrested on TV
• [19:45–23:57]: Umar Burley’s story—from street life to being framed by police
• [23:57–25:14]: Officers start flipping, confessing to new details
• [26:16–26:33]: Detective Sean Suter’s mysterious death prior to testifying

---

Conclusion & Tone

In a style both investigative and compassionate, this episode underscores the pain of systemic betrayal and the long road to justice for victims of police abuse. The episode ends on a tense cliffhanger—did Detective Suter’s death result from attempts to silence him or was it tragic coincidence? Orbit Media’s “Bad Cops” continues to blend narrative suspense with real raw human stories, shining necessary light on a dark corner of American law enforcement.

---

Transcript

[McDonald's Advertiser]

All new drinks are now at McDonald's with refreshers like the Strawberry Watermelon Refresher and the Mango Pineapple Refresher with popping boba. To crafted sodas like the Sprite Berry Blast with berry flavors and cold foam. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire six? All new drinks are here now at McDonald's.

[Ben Ndiff Afry]

Refreshers contain caffeine. Thirty years ago, an island off Manhattan almost brought down New York City.

[Narrator]

Who will you trust? Your friends and neighbors? Who will you trust? The people five miles overseas.

[Ben Ndiff Afry]

This is a story about neighbors turning on each other and what happens when a forgotten place decides it's had enough.

[McDonald's Advertiser]

But we're not stopping, are we?

[Ben Ndiff Afry]

Listen to revisionist history. The Staten island problem on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

Hey, everybody. I'm Tareka Foster Brasby. What's up, y'?

[Sheryl Swoopz]

All?

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

I'm your girl, Sheryl Swoopz. When you tune in to a new episode of our podcast, levels to this, you're definitely gonna get some spicy WNBA analysis. But we're more than just hoops and the real conversation is what we actually bring. But so it's been really, really cool

[Jessica Lussenhop]

seeing kind of these women just really step into their power off the court and understand that they are basketball.

[Mamadou Gondo]

Right?

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

And they're not asking for permission. Listen to levels to this with Sheryl Swoopes and Tarika Foster brasby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Podcast Host/Promoter]

A quick reminder, all episodes are available now with a subscription. To subscribe, go to True Crime Clubhouse on Apple podcasts. It's just $2.99 a month. Half the price of a cafe latte. Please follow US on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube OrbitMediaFM.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

Previously on Bad Cops. An elite unit of police officers has gone rogue in the city of Baltimore. They're called the Gun Trace Task Force, and their leader is Sergeant Wayne Jenkins. Their job is to get illegal guns off the streets. But they've also been planting evidence, framing people, stealing money and drugs.

[McDonald's Advertiser]

I was robbed by Baltimore City police. You know, robbed with a gun, armed robbery.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

FBI Special Agent Erica Jensen has been on their tail for months. In an attempt to catch them red handed, she set a trap. A motorhome stuffed full of cash. She was hoping the cops would steal the money. But they didn't fall for it. They seemed to smell a rat, and Agent Jensen was forced to pull the plug.

[FBI Special Agent Erica Jensen]

I knew if we got discovered that we might lose the whole Case, the whole case might fall apart.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

But despite her disappointment, Agent Jensen can now see just how jumpy these officers in the unit have become. I'm Jessica Lussenhop, and you're listening to Bad cops on the BBC world. The true story of Baltimore's gun trace task force, part five, the takedown. FBI agent Erica Jensen has been investigating the gun trace task force, an elite plainclothes unit of the Baltimore police department that she knows is deeply corrupt on wiretaps. She's heard them talking about how they might be under investigation. And as their suspicions grow, agent Jensen has to tread carefully. She's still got the wiretap running on one of the cops cell phones, and she's hearing the task force officers say a lot of stuff that they shouldn't be.

[Mamadou Gondo]

What's up, Jay?

[Jessica Lussenhop]

That's sergeant Wayne Jenkins, leader of the gun trace task force, calling one of his officers, Detective Mamadou Gondo.

[Mamadou Gondo]

We headed down now. We got got the package.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

We got the package.

[Mamadou Gondo]

Hold on one second.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

Gondo means the guy he's got handcuffed in the backseat of his car. Earlier that evening, Gondo and his partner, Jamel Raym, were secretly watching the man and his wife as they shopped for blinds at a home depot in northwest Baltimore. The couple were on their way home when the task force officer stopped them.

[Mamadou Gondo]

Okay, hey, did you tell him anything at all? No.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

Jenkins tells Gondo he's on his way, and then.

[Mamadou Gondo]

All right, just tell him you gotta wait for the U.S. attorney. Like, hey, sir, how are you? We got our target. And then you can introduce me as the U. S. Attorney. I got you. All right, dog.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

When I get there, introduce me as the U.S. attorney. That's another Jenkins ploy, claiming to be a prosecutor or a DEA agent. The idea is to intimidate a suspect, make them think they're in much bigger trouble than they really are. And using this tactic, Jenkins is planning to lean on the guy, handcuffed along with his wife in the back of Gondo's car. His name's Ronald Hamilton, and the unit's been watching him for a while. He served time for drug dealing, and he's been out of prison a couple of years. But according to an informant, Ronald Hamilton is back dealing drugs. And if he is, he could be what Jenkins calls a monster. A big time dealer sitting on a pile of cash and drugs. The perfect target for the unit to rip off. When Jenkins arrives minutes later, he grills Hamilton. But the whole U.S. attorney act, it doesn't work. Hamilton is adamant. He doesn't sell drugs anymore. He sells used cars and he's got the receipts to prove it. Jenkins doesn't believe him, so he sticks the Hamiltons in the backseat of his car and the whole unit heads for their house in the suburbs. When they arrive, they find the Hamiltons children in the house. They order them out. Then Jenkins and his officers go inside. In a bedroom they find $70,000 in cash and they take $20,000 of it. They also pocket a super high end wristwatch but they've found nothing illegal. Ram walks out the front door with the 20,000 in a bag and slips Hamilton his business card. Hamilton is flabbergasted and later, once he discovers his money is missing, he texts robbed me.

[McDonald's Advertiser]

All new drinks are now at McDonald's with refreshers like the Strawberry Watermelon Refresher and the Mango Pineapple Refresher with popping Boba to crafted sodas like the Sprite Berry Blast with berry flavors and cold foam. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire six? All new drinks are here now at McDonald's.

[Ben Ndiff Afry]

Refreshers contain caffeine. Thirty years ago, an island off Manhattan almost brought down New York City.

[Narrator]

Who will you trust? Your friends and neighbors? Who will you trust? The people five miles overseas.

[Ben Ndiff Afry]

This is a story about neighbors turning on each other and what happens when a forgotten place decides it's had enough.

[Narrator]

We reached for a feeling that exists in this city.

[McDonald's Advertiser]

But we're not stopping, are we?

[Ben Ndiff Afry]

I'm Ben Ndiff Afry and for my new series on revisionist history, I took a deep dive into Staten Island's attempt to secede from New York city in the 1990s and what it all has to do with the politics of resentment that dominate America today. Listen to Revisionist the Staten island problem on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff]

In 2015, teenager Joy Morgan discovered strangely compelling YouTube sermons from the religious group Israel United in Christ, or iu. Her initial curiosity developed into devotion. She distanced herself from friends and family, embraced new identity, immersed herself in the IUIC and believed she'd found the truth.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

IUIC is the best family that I've ever had.

[Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff]

In fact, she had found what many called a cult. And On Boxing Day 2018, joy disappeared forever. In the new six part investigative podcast, the Missing Sister Joy, Charlie, Brinkhurst, Cuff and Freeturn explored Joy's story, the family she left, and the religious group she found.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

You know when you get that feeling where you just I don't want to be here. I Want to get out?

[Sheryl Swoopz]

I kind of want to go home now.

[Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff]

It's a story about truth, lies, a young woman yearning to belong, and a family still waiting for answers. All episodes available now to binge listen to the Missing sister on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

A few hours later, Ram realizes he's also missing some of Hamilton's money. He's just counted it, and they're $3,000 short. So he calls his partner and buddy, Mamadou Gondo.

[Mamadou Gondo]

Yo, real talk. I'm counting. No, negative. I'll never. Come on, man. Hey, I'm counting again. Yo. I'm gonna count it again. Yo. Hey, I would never let you know me. Hey, bro. Well, I'm just letting you know it's a mistake, but it's not I'll make mistakes kind of money. I'm letting you know. All right, man. Unless they did something in the car. Okay, brother. All right. I don't got no reason to lie, man. I'm just letting you know. Yo. All right, all right.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

This is something Agent Jensen hasn't heard before. It seems the task force officers now can't even trust each other.

[FBI Special Agent Erica Jensen]

Someone skims some money off the top of that $20,000. And it just wasn't how we thought that they were with each other. They wouldn't have taken money from each other like that, because when they go to split it now, the split is less.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

FBI Special Agent Jensen has been piecing together the crimes of the gun trace task force from wiretaps, but also from listening to the jail calls of people the unit's been arresting. She's hoping to identify victims without approaching them directly as another precaution against leaks. But despite Jensen's best efforts, there's a suspicion creeping through the squad, a feeling that they're being watched. And it's around this time that the unit's leader, Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, steps away. He takes three months of paternity leave. It's good timing for Jenkins. It gives him an opportunity to let things cool off. And without him, the rest of the crew seems to slow down. The kind of criminal activity Agent Jensen is used to hearing almost stops. She knows there's no point in waiting any longer. It's time to pull the trigger. It's also now time, finally, to brief the Baltimore Police Department's top brass on what their golden boys have really been up to and to start plotting their takedown. Arresting police officers is a potentially deadly task. Agent Jensen doesn't know what the officers might be capable of if they're backed into a corner, they're armed, and they've all got a lot to lose. What if they try to make a run for it or turn their weapons on themselves or even on others?

[FBI Special Agent Erica Jensen]

We were concerned about things like suicide by police or other reactions.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

Agent Jensen is hoping she can avoid the worst case scenario. So, working with the Baltimore Police Department leadership for the first time, they come up with a ruse. Soon after Wayne Jenkins is back from paternity leave, he gets a call. It's from the Department of Internal affairs, the division of the Baltimore Police Department that investigates its own officers. He's told there's a complaint against him. It's something trivial, nothing to worry about. They've found some damage on one of the unmarked cars he's been using. They just need Jenkins and the rest of his unit to give an explanation for the damage so they can close the case. He'll be motivated to sort it out. He's been gunning for promotion to lieutenant and he won't get it with a complaint hanging over him. But it's a trap. It's early morning, March 1, 2017. The sky is still pitch black when the FBI SWAT team sneaks into Internal affairs headquarters. This is it. The day FBI special agent Erica Jensen and her team have been working towards all these months. It's also one of the most precarious moments of the whole investigation. She's nervous, worried that the task force officers might sense something.

[FBI Special Agent Erica Jensen]

I don't know that we all thought everyone would show up, but we were certainly concerned that they had advance notice.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

To her frustration, Erica is not where the action is.

[FBI Special Agent Erica Jensen]

My role was to be at the command post. It's not the most desirable place to be, but that's where the case agent ends up.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

She's at the FBI base outside the city, monitoring all the moving parts of the operation, Feeding information back to her colleagues at the Internal affairs building. It's 8:45. Wayne Jenkins pulls into the Internal affairs parking lot. He's right on time. He enters the lobby, checks his gun. He's then escorted to the elevator where he takes it up to the second floor. The doors open. Before he can even take a step, he's met by the sight of a heavily armed FBI SWAT team. They scream at him to get his hands up and handcuff him. He's hauled off into a side room. Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, leader of the gun trace task force, is now in custody. Detective Jamel Ram is the next to arrive. He enters the lobby, checks his weapon, and goes up to the second floor. One after the other, the officers are taken down. Detective Mamadougondo arrives last. He's almost 40 minutes late. He strolls into the building dressed in a crisp maroon shirt. He checks in his gun and enters the elevator. Seven officers from the Elite Gun Trace, one of the crown jewels of the Baltimore Police Department, are now in custody, held in separate rooms. But at the FBI command post outside the city, Agent Jensen doesn't feel like it's a time to celebrate.

[FBI Special Agent Erica Jensen]

You know, you're relieved that all of them showed up, but then we still had lots more work ahead of us.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

With her at the command post is the Baltimore Police Department's top cop commander, Commissioner Kevin Davis. He's been watching the operation unfold alongside her. With all of the unit now under arrest, Commissioner Davis makes his way to the Internal affairs building.

[Sheryl Swoopz]

I told the FBI that I wanted to look each and every one of these guys in the eye. I wanted them to see the disgust and disappointment and frankly, the anger and outrage on my face.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

He goes from room to room, saying nothing. The officers either drop their eyes or look away. Finally, he gets to the room where Sergeant Wayne Jenkins is being held. It's less than a year since he awarded Jenkins the Bronze Star for bravery.

[Sheryl Swoopz]

I'll never forget it. He's a big guy, so they used two sets of handcuffs. And I remember taking two or three steps into the room. I was probably five or six feet away from Wayne Jenkins, and I stared him right in the eye. And he didn't do what the other detectives did. He didn't look away. He didn't look at his feet. He looked right back at me, right into my eyes, right through me, as if to say, f you.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

Now to a shocking corruption scandal in Baltimore. Seven police officers indicted on federal one

[Narrator]

sergeant and six detectives, all at some point assigned to the department's gun trace task force, are in handcuffs today.

[Tarika Foster Brasby]

They were arrested and photographed by the police department before taken to federal court.

[Narrator]

This case started a year ago after digging into a separate drug conspiracy investigation involving one of those accused officers. Turns out that was just the tip of this criminal iceberg.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

They were even wiretapped by the FBI. The U.S. attorney involved is calling this

[Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff]

a major abuse of power.

[Narrator]

This kind of conduct by police officers

[Umar Burley]

tarnishes the reputation of all police officers.

[Narrator]

Commissioner Kevin Davis calls them the lowest of the low.

[Sheryl Swoopz]

These officers, they're 1930s style gangsters as far as I'm concerned.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

At the time the news breaks, Gary Brown is sitting at home watching tv. It's been eight years since he went to internal affairs to complain that he'd been robbed by a bunch of cops. One of them, detective Jamel Ram from the gun trace task force. Now, eight years later, he's watching the news and learning that the same cop that robbed him has been arrested.

[McDonald's Advertiser]

And his face popped up. And I said, that's him. That's the guy that took my money. You know, you telling people that the police took some money from you, they like, oh, man, go ahead. You talking on the side of your head, you know. Nobody you know, believe me, you know, this guy was working under Baltimore city for years.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

Nearly 2,000 kilometers away in Oklahoma, a man named Umar Burley is also watching tv. Sitting in the rec room of a federal prison. He's serving a 15 year sentence after he was arrested by Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, when the news flashes up on the screen. Burleigh, or little Baltimore as he's known inside, isn't really paying attention until the other inmates call him over.

[Umar Burley]

The guys in there said little Baltimore, a bunch of police officers from the task force just got arrested for doing a lot of crazy stuff. You should check that out.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

On the screen, he sees the man who helped put him away. Burley tries not to get his hopes up. He's told his story about Jenkins many times, but no one has ever believed him.

[Umar Burley]

I didn't want to get too excited because this thing been going on for a while and I didn't know if it's real or not

[Jessica Lussenhop]

until he was shipped off to a federal prison. Umar Burley spent his whole life in Baltimore.

[Umar Burley]

At first I was an all a student, and then I would say it was my high school years. Street influence became a bigger part of my life. The girls trying to be the popular guy. So I began to hang with the wrong crowd and I began to cut school and get into other things. And that's when it all started.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

Burleigh says he got caught up in a drug case involving his uncle and spent years in juvenile detention. As an adult, he got deeper into the drug game and was arrested multiple times. But it was an incident in April 2010 that would land Umar Burley in federal prison. He was sitting in his car with his cousin when an unmarked car pulled up in front of him. And then a second vehicle tried to block him in. Behind the wheel of one of the cars was Wayne Jenkins. The officers jumped out, guns drawn. Burleigh insists he had no idea they were cops.

[Umar Burley]

I didn't know who it was. I panicked and I just took off.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

And the other two cars gave chase. He Was flying through a stop sign when at the last second, he saw another car pull into his path.

[Umar Burley]

So I tried to turn away from the car, and the car actually turned the same way I'm turning. So boom.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

The other driver was 86 year old Elbert Davis, on his way home from visiting one of his children. His wife was sitting alongside him. Elbert davis was killed and his wife was badly injured. As paramedics were trying to save the couple, Wayne jenkins and the other officers at the scene were busy searching the wreckage of burleigh's car. They pulled out 32 grams of heroin.

[Umar Burley]

I was like, man, I had 32 grams of nothing in my car. I didn't have anything in my car.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

From the moment he was arrested, Umar burley insisted the drugs were not his. They were planted. But that's the kind of story that gets little sympathy from prosecutors. They've heard it a thousand times before. Burley had no proof, and he was a repeat offender who had just killed someone while trying to outrun the cops. The best option, the prosecutor told him, was to plead guilty and hope for a short sentence. If he pled not guilty at trial and lost, he might spend the rest of his life behind bars.

[Umar Burley]

She said. You will be old and gray, probably not even be able to walk before you get out if you come out.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

So umar burley pled guilty to manslaughter and drug charges. He was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. What was it like to say that, to have to stand in front of a courtroom and say that you did those things?

[Umar Burley]

It was hard, but it was a must Because I know if I didn't do it, then I would never see the light of day. You know, I would never walk the streets again. So, you know, I mean, it was a hurtful and a painful thing, But I knew there was nothing I could do and no one to help me to get out of it.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

With the officers from the gun trace task force now in custody, the work for investigators and prosecutors is only just getting started. Similar cases in the past collapsed because the officers simply stuck together, refusing to admit anything. And that's what some of the task force officers vow to do that first, first night after their arrest, Locked up together in a jail outside Baltimore city. But as they learn just how much evidence the prosecution has against them, Some of the officers begin to crack and they start cooperating. They meet with federal prosecutors, offering up any information they think might help them get more favorable treatment. And one of the first stories offered up is about a car crash, the death of an elderly driver and and 32 grams of planted heroin. Six months after Burley saw Wayne Jenkins face on the prison tv, prosecutors pay him a visit. It's not the kind of meeting he's expecting. When they walk in, they tell him right away, we believe you.

[Umar Burley]

We already know that the drugs is planted in your car, and all we want you to do is tell your side of what happened.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

But even as his former crew is turning against him, Wayne Jenkins denies that he was the one who planted the drugs in Burley's car that day. So the prosecutors reach out to the other cops at the scene of the fatal accident. One of them is a homicide detective, Shawn Suter. At the time of the burley crash in 2010, Souter was a plainclothes drug detective like Jenkins. Then he'd gone over to homicide, where he gained a pretty stellar reputation. Defense lawyers and even drug dealers say he was respectful, trustworthy, the kind of cop who didn't harass the neighborhood kids for no reason. He seemed to genuinely care about his job. The FBI. The FBI reaches out to Souter. They ask him to testify about what he knows in the Umar Burley case. But within a month, Sean Souter will be dead, Shot with his own weapon in a dusty vacant lot in west Baltimore. He was killed the day before he

[Podcast Host/Promoter]

was scheduled to testify in a case

[Jessica Lussenhop]

against indicted Baltimore officers. The revelation sends the city of Baltimore into a fragment frenzy of rumor and speculation. What killed Detective Sean Suiter remains an

[McDonald's Advertiser]

open question for police, prosecutors, and the medical examiner.

[Jessica Lussenhop]

Was the timing of Sean Suter's death a coincidence? Was someone trying to stop him from testifying? Or was this tragedy something else altogether? That's next time. You've been listening to Bad Cops on the BBC World service With me, Jessica Lussenhop. The program was mixed by Neil Churchill, Additional mixing by James Beard. The producer is Ben Crichton, and the editor is Richard Varden.

[Podcast Host/Promoter]

If you're enjoying Bad cops, make sure to check out season one of the Burden. You'll meet the greatest detective in Brooklyn history. He takes on the worst criminals, until one day, the criminals take him on.