Jamie Hector is set to lead HBO’s limited series We Own This City alongside Jon Bernthal and Josh Charles. Reinaldo Marcus Green is set to direct and executive produce the series.
The series comes from the team behind “The Wire.” David Simon and George Pelecanos are writers and executive producers of the new series alongside Ed Burns and Bill Zorzi. Simon created The Wire and worked with Pelecanos, Burns, and Zorzi on the series.
READ: King Richard Biopic Cast The Roles of Venus and Serena Williams
The series is based on Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton’s book We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops and Corruption.
The six-hour limited series chronicles the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force. The force was a plainclothes unit that went completely rogue. They began hunting and robbing citizens and drug dealers alike as decades of a relentless drug war and mass incarceration in Baltimore spun wildly out of control.
The series will explore the corruption and moral collapse that befell an American city in which the policies of drug prohibition and mass arrest were championed at the expense of actual police work.
READ: Uzo Aduba, Andrew Bachelor Join Stephan James in Sports Drama National Champions
Hector will play Sean M. Suiter, a Baltimore City Homicide detective who was caught up in the GTTF case and called to testify before a federal grand jury. Tragically, Suiter finds he can’t outrun his past.
The series reunites Hector with Simon and Pelecanos, who worked with the duo on The Wire, which Hector starred in from season 3 to 5.
Bernthal will star as Sgt. Wayne Jenkins, one of 8 task force members charged with operating it as a widescale racketeering enterprise circa 2017. He is perhaps the central figure in the sprawling federal corruption case.
This series will be the third time Bernthal has teamed up with director Green. They worked on Warner Bros.’ King Richard, which will be released in November. They also worked together the Amazon drama series The Bottoms, which Bernthal created, stars in and co-writes.
READ: John David Washington to Star in Sci-Fi Film True Love
Charles will play Daniel Hersl, a cocky, swaggering cop known amongst Baltimore residents for his casual brutality who was the subject of multiple citizen complaints. Hersl was effectively banned from the Eastern District before his move to the GTTF.
Simon, Pelecanos and Burns also executive produce with HBO’s former President of Miniseries Kary Antholis, Nina K. Noble and Green. Zorzi is the co-executive producer, with Dwight Watkins also writing.