In 2017, the city of Baltimore woke up to a reality that sounded like a plot from a gritty HBO drama. Seven members of the Baltimore Police Department’s elite Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) were indicted on federal racketeering charges. This wasn't just a case of a few "bad apples" taking a bribe. It was a systematic, years-long criminal enterprise operating out of a police precinct. Honestly, it changed the way people in Maryland view the badge forever.
The GTTF was supposed to be the tip of the spear in the fight against the city’s skyrocketing murder rate. Instead, they were basically a gang with sirens. They didn't just bend the rules; they broke them into a thousand pieces. They robbed drug dealers, planted evidence on innocent people, and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash—all while billing the city for overtime they never worked.
The Ringleader and the "Monsters"
Wayne Jenkins was the man at the center of the storm. To his superiors, he was a superstar. A "high-flyer." He had a knack for getting guns off the street, which is the only metric the department seemingly cared about at the time. But Jenkins lived a double life that would make a novelist blush. He didn't just stumble onto crime; he hunted it so he could profit from it.
Jenkins referred to high-level targets as "monsters." He used illegal GPS trackers to follow them. Once he knew where the money was, he and his crew would swoop in. They carried "burglar kits" in their police cruisers—crowbars, grappling hooks, even black masks. Think about that for a second. These were sworn officers of the law carrying breaking-and-entering tools in their trunks next to their issued shotguns.
In one particularly egregious incident, the squad stopped a couple leaving a Home Depot. There was no probable cause. No crime. But the GTTF knew they had money. They ended up following them to their home in the suburbs and walked away with $20,000. It was pure, unadulterated extortion.
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How the Gun Trace Task Force Baltimore Got Caught
You’d think a crew this brazen would be caught by Internal Affairs. Nope. The BPD’s internal systems were almost useless. The break actually came from a completely different investigation.
The DEA and the FBI were looking into a drug trafficking ring in Baltimore and Harford County. They had a wiretap on a dealer named Anthony Shropshire. One day, Shropshire found a GPS tracker on his car (the feds had put it there). He didn't call his lawyer. He called Momodu Gondo, a member of the GTTF. Gondo told him to "take it off" because he was being tracked.
That call was the "smoking gun." The feds realized that the drug dealers they were chasing were being tipped off by the very cops tasked with catching them.
From there, the house of cards collapsed. The investigation expanded to include:
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- Wayne Jenkins: Sentenced to 25 years.
- Daniel Hersl: Convicted of racketeering and robbery; recently passed away in 2024 while serving his sentence.
- Marcus Taylor: Sentenced to 18 years.
- Jemell Rayam: Admitted to multiple robberies and planting evidence.
- Momodu Gondo: The link between the cops and the streets.
The Human Cost and the "Tainted" Cases
The damage wasn't just financial, though the city has paid out over $22 million in settlements. The real tragedy is the human lives wrecked by these men. Take Ivan Potts, for example. In 2015, GTTF members slammed him to the ground and, according to Potts, planted a gun on him. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. The court believed the officers' lies over his truth. He spent years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit because the "elite" squad needed another stat.
When the scandal broke, the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office had to start a massive review. We’re talking about thousands of cases. If a GTTF officer was a primary witness, the conviction was essentially "poisoned." Over 800 cases were dropped or vacated almost immediately.
The ripple effect on the community’s trust was devastating. How do you tell a neighborhood to "see something, say something" when the police are the ones they should be reporting? The GTTF didn't just steal money; they stole the legitimacy of the entire justice system in Baltimore.
Why It Still Matters Today
Some people think this is old news. It isn't. The fallout is still happening in 2026. The BPD is still under a federal consent decree, partially because the GTTF showed how deep the rot went. The department has implemented new "integrity stings" and stricter body camera policies, but culture is a hard thing to change.
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The GTTF story is a warning. It shows what happens when "results" are valued more than "process." When you tell a police officer that you don't care how they get the guns as long as they get them, you're inviting the ghost of Wayne Jenkins into the room.
Actionable Insights for the Future:
If you live in a city dealing with police reform or you're just following the legal aftermath, here are the three things you should keep an eye on:
- Settlement Transparency: Watch the Baltimore City Comptroller’s "GTTF Settlement Tracker." It's a public tool that shows exactly where your tax dollars are going to fix these officers' mistakes. It's a sobering look at the cost of corruption.
- The Role of Plainclothes Units: Many experts argue that "jump-out" squads or plainclothes units are inherently prone to this kind of behavior. If your local department is expanding these units, ask about the oversight.
- Body Cam Audits: The GTTF frequently turned their cameras off or used the "30-second buffer" to their advantage. Real reform requires independent, random audits of this footage, not just checking it when something goes wrong.
The story of the Gun Trace Task Force Baltimore is a dark chapter, but it’s one that had to be written for the city to have any chance of moving toward a more honest form of policing. It’s a reminder that accountability isn't a one-time event; it’s a constant, often exhausting necessity.