The Wire writers revisit Baltimore corruption in We Own This City teaser

Nearly 20 years after The Wire premiered, producers David Simon and George Pelecanos are revisiting police corruption in Baltimore with their new HBO limited series We Own This City.

Starring Jon Bernthal, Josh Charles, Wunmi Mosaku, and more, the series is based on a book by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton that shares the same name, and is set in the aftermath of citizens demanding justice for the death of Freddie Gray, who died while in police custody.

Specifically focusing on the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force, the screenwriters are, in a way, continuing the work they did on their beloved HBO series, looking at corruption within the Maryland city that has developed in reaction to the War on Drugs.

Highlights from the teaser include Bernthal's cop character Wayne Jenkins asking a hypothetical about stealing money from drug dealers as viewers see him lead an intense raid. Guest star Treat Williams' character later explains how law enforcement cracking down on drugs led to police militarization and cops violating citizens' Fourth Amendment rights. And after, ​​Darrell Britt-Gibson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) pops up as a conflicted police officer saying "They put me in a unit made up of a bunch of the biggest crooks in the whole goddamn department. There's money to be made and I'm somehow supposed to be playing by the book with these motherf---ers?"

The show reteams Bernthal with King Richard director Reinaldo Marcus Green, who helms all six episodes. Chatting with EW last December, the actor says fellow DMV area-native Simon is a hero of his. "He's got this unbelievable integrity, this unbelievable commitment to journalistic truth that I love. We're always trying to go for the truth on this show," says Bernthal. "I think police and race and the intersection of those two things is something that's enormously important to me in my life, and to sort of get this front row seat to it in Baltimore is an unbelievable honor to me, and I think David and George are national treasures."

We Own This City premieres on Monday, April 25 on HBO. Watch the full teaser above.

Additional reporting by Clark Collis

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