Breathe

I'm not here to tell you that you're not gonna fight.

-(MONITOR BEEPS) -(KEYBOARD CLACKING)

See, there is gonna come a time,

every single one of you,

you are all gonna have to fight to control your post.

It's gonna happen.

All the talk in the world,

all that authority you think you have, that just...

...that goes out the window

when some cat out there wants to try it.

(OFFICER SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER RADIO)

And here's the thing.

When you have to fight...

man, you gotta win.

There's people who think that police brutality

-is when police win fights. -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

But last time I checked,

aren't we supposed to win the fights?

So, if we're in a fight,

fuck any talk of police brutality.

(OFFICER SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER RADIO)

Check it.

If we lose the fights, we lose the streets.

Let that sink in.

But I'm not here to talk to you about the fights

that you have to have. See, I'm here to, uh...

I'm here to talk to you about the ones you--

that you wanna have.

And ones you... you think you're entitled to,

just because you're wearing a badge.

See, that, that's the real brutality.

The thing is you don't need that kind of brutality.

And, hey, not 'cause it's not fun.

Right? I get it.

Get a few licks in on some mouthy asshole

who just can't shut the fuck up.

I mean, come on. Fun is fun, right? Yeah.

-(CHUCKLES) -(CADETS CHUCKLE)

But see, that kind of brutality just--

it only gets in the way of doing the job.

-First off... -(FIST THUDDING ON PODIUM)

...no one's gonna talk to you if you're beating on 'em.

I mean, no one is gonna tell you what you need to know.

And here's the thing. If you really wanna kick ass

out on those streets, it's information.

There it is. Find out who's who.

No, it ain't! That ain't mine.

Who does what dirt, where do they do it?

Who is it that they do that dirt with?

Information. That's what will get you cases.

-That's what will get you guns and drugs. I don't know, man.

So, you can think you're the baddest dude

behind a badge,

Baltimore City badass, you're beating on people,

but by the time you walk into court,

-what are you walking in with? Lift your hands!

A bunch of failures to yield?

Disorderlies, some ticky-tack nonsense?

You got nothing that's gonna make a state attorney

sign your court slip. So, what are you doing?

You're getting paid to sit on a bench

-in a hallway... -(DOOR ALARM BUZZES)

...outside Wabash for a few hours

for a case that's only gonna get dismissed?

You will exit on the right.

Truth is, man, you ain't doing jack

by being brutal. See, you ain't getting guns.

You ain't getting drugs.

You ain't getting those big, hairy, balls-out cases,

the ones that'll get you paid, get you promoted.

Here's the other thing about, uh, being brutal.

Get the fuck off me, yo. I ain't do something.

Not only does it get in the way of doing the job,

but I'ma tell you right now, when you beat on people,

-you will get IAD complaints. -(BARKS)

You'll get files. You get enough complaints,

you get a reputation. Maybe even transferred

out of your unit. And even if you can write

your way out of the hassle, and most police worth a shit,

well, they can write their way out

-of pretty much anything. -(CADETS CHUCKLE)

I'm telling you, it just gets you the kind of attention

that only makes it harder to do the job.

And I've heard it all before. "No, Sarge,

I never got charged for that.

We never even went in front of a trial board."

But then a month, two months down the road,

a civil suit comes behind you.

City's gotta pay money for you.

You get a reputation for that, then you get pulled off

the street. Then what good are you to anyone?

Look, bottom line, if beating on people made cases,

shit, I'd tell you, go on out there, kick everybody's ass.

But you know what? It just don't work like that.

So, if that's the kind of work

you wanna do, I'ma tell you right now,

you're not coming anywhere near my unit.

Gun Trace Task Force, we are not about that bullshit.

So, what am I saying?

When you leave here tonight, are you gonna say,

"Man, was Wayne Jenkins up here

telling me that we can't fight if we have to fight?

Wayne Jenkins, he was telling us

that we can't control our post

if we have to control our post."

Man, I'm telling you, you better control your post.

"But Wayne Jenkins, he was telling us

that our hands are tied?"

Your hands are not fucking tied.

-(POLICE SIREN WAILING) Get this.

Police officer on the street, if he knows the law.

-Fuck you! (CHUCKLES) If he knows

how to use the law,

if he can write a report,

if he can make that report read clean,

if he understands his own authority,

he wins. And that's not sometimes.

That's every time. That is every fucking time.

And no matter what you're doing out there in those streets,

by the time you walk into any courtroom in this city,

your word prevails.

And if you're getting good cases,

if you're getting drugs and guns,

you're bringing in shooters, shit.

-(DOOR CLOSING) -(KEYS JANGLING)

Man, you can't lose.

Now, go out there and give them hell.

-(POLICE SIREN WAILING) -(OFFICER SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER RADIO)

Dang!

(HELICOPTER PROPELLERS WHIRRING OVERHEAD)

(OFFICER SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER RADIO)

-Back up! -Back up!

Baltimore is a poster child

for the basic failure to stop lawlessness.

No justice, no peace!

I have heard your calls for no justice, no peace...

No justice, no peace!

Where there's smoke, there's fire.

These officers, they're 1930s-style gangsters.

So, just so I don't keep

misspelling it...

uh, give me your correct first name.

-My correct first name? Momodu. -(PEN SCRAPING)

M-O-M-O-D-U.

Just like it sounds. -Just call me G-Money.

Tell us about Wayne Jenkins.

Wayne Jenkins? (CHUCKLES) That cop is fucking crazy.

No, he's off the hook, P.

But he understands something

the way the rest of you fucking people do not.

And what you know is everything. You understand me?

It's elementary shit.

If you're on the inside of everything,

if people are talking to you and you're talking to them,

then you're a step ahead of everybody.

Now, this drug game is about information.

Who got it, who gets it.

You dig?

Yeah, she got it.

Come on, Jenkins.

-While we're young. -(KEYBOARD CLACKING)

Will you hold the fuck on, man?

Let's get this shit done, man.

What the fuck are we waiting for?

I just like it when your panties get all up in a bunch, Marcus.

You know that shit makes me happy.

-You ready? Yes.

-I feel like he's ready, y'all. Shit, man.

Aw. Fuck it. All right. Let's go.

BPD.

-Motherfucker! Police. -Get the fuck out.

-Get out of here. -Shit!

Police! Get your hands up.

-Get on the floor! Get down, now!

What'd I just say? Get on the fucking ground.

What part of "on the ground" don't you understand, dumb-dumb?

What the fuck I just say?

Let's go. Anybody on the second floor?

-Your mother is. -Anybody on the second floor?

Hey, get off the couch, man.

And shut that shit off, motherfucker. Let's go!

Hey, man, you good? Is there anyone upstairs?

Answer the question.

-Anyone upstairs? -Nah.

All right. Let's go. Cuff him up.

Hey, gun.

Now, you're talking. Okay. Now, we eating.

Go ahead and bag those. You on me.

All right, we're up.

-Yeah. Baltimore Police!

Let's go. Who's upstairs?

Get the fuck outta here with that.

Baltimore Police, search warrant.

Fine, all right. We'll talk.

I got the door on the left.