I Got a Monster
To protect and to serve the police motto that originated in 1963 in California and later spread throughout the United States has been perverted too many times in modern America. More than $1.5 billion has been paid out in settlements for alleged police misconduct nationwide involving thousands of officers who were accused of wrongdoing again and again.
In March 2017, seven Baltimore police officers were federally indicted on corruption charges. Complaints from citizens and defense attorneys about their conduct had gone unheeded for more than a decade. What’s come to be known as the Gun Trace Task Force Scandal (GTTF) still haunts Baltimore. GTTF became a place where “you get people coming onto the force, cops teaching them how to rob people, cops that are partners with people who lack accountability,” according to one officer involved. In these instances they took advantage of victims, robbing and framing the same people they were sworn to protect.
The story of the GTTF is told through the eyes of a dedicated defense attorney named Ivan Bates, based on the book “I Got a Monster. The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Corrupt Police Squad” by Baynard Woods with Brandon Soderberg. Bates represented victims whose lives were ruined by Sgt Wayne Jenkins’ uncontrollable and questionable tactics that caused mental terrorization or incarceration of citizens who were doing nothing other than just being in Baltimore city.
“No one’s helping. No one’s there. No one’s listening,” Bates says in his opening court statement during this film “How could the system fail this badly for this long? The signs were there, we just didn’t pay attention.”
“I Got a Monster” feels like if “The Untouchables” was a documentary mixed with “The Wire.” But it’s Bates’ sincerity while testifying for court that starts and ends this movie, which fills you up with so much hope inside your heart. Whether he’s sharing the story of being pulled over and harassed until an officer sees his badge then apologizes, making him just another Black man, or explaining how police departments have always been an extension of slave catchers [see “The 1619 Project” and “The 13th”], Bates made it all real and impossible to ignore.
Maybe Freddie Gray would still be alive today if officers like Sgt Wayne Jenkins were properly trained, supervised, and held accountable. “It’s scary to think that Jenkins and the GTTF had such latitude and resources to go after people,” says director Kevin Casanova Abrams.
After years of work and sting operations, Jenkins along with other members of GTTF were sentenced to federal prison and Baltimore city has paid over 15 million in settlements related to their misconduct. The federal investigation into the Baltimore police department is ongoing.
In one of the film’s closing shots, Wayne Jenkins’ wife calls Ivan Bates asking him to represent her husband. “It was flattering, but what Jenkins did was wrong, and I would never represent him,” said Bates.
One of the producers happens to be the legendary Norman Lear, which I did not miss. With his television projects, Lear has never been one to shy away from controversy, therefore, it comes as no surprise that he continues to put his money where his mouth is by exposing Baltimore PD in particular as the most flagrant example of systemic racism within our country’s police departments. This won’t be the first or last time corrupt cops are caught and exposed.
From every angle and without reservation, Director Abrams shines artistically while unveiling all the dirty laundry associated with this doc. “I Got a Monster” tells it like it is about a city and its inhabitants and once you’ve seen it, changed forever should you be. More importantly though, may this also light a fire under you for justice rather than lifting up wrong arm(s) in “law & order” name with overwhelming desire for control over others?
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