Stop Snitchin’

Throughout The Wire, nothing has been a faster path to harm for a character then the perception that they were helping the police, known as  being a snitch. In the Fourth season, just seeing Bodie with McNulty was enough for his death, and Randy is mercilessly teased at school and his group home for being a “snitch.” The idea of not being a snitch is embedded in the culture of the streets.  The violence seen in The Wire for citizens who snitched, like Gant are not unprecedented, and mirror the real life story of men like John Dowdery Jr., an East Baltimore resident who cut a deal with police to be a witness in a murder charge and was shot six times.  According to the article in The Atlantic where Dowdery’s story was told, a great deal of this stems from a growing distrust of the police. This distrust can be seen by the interactions of the people of Baltimore with the police force in The Wire.  Highly publicized murders of witness murders, like the alleged one used by Carcetti as an election platform further the common idea that the police will not protect people.

Image Courtesy HBO's The Wire. Randy in his group home, about to get beaten up for "snitchin'"

Part of the issue is that the idea of not snitching has become commercialized, according to Geoffrey Canada, a youth advocate who grew up on the streets of Brooklyn.  Lyrics about snitching are embedded in several rap songs.  In an interview with Anderson Cooper, rapper Cam’ron said that he would not inform the police of criminal activity. In response to criticism after the interview aired, Cam’ron defended himself, saying

Cam’ron on Snitchin

“Where I come from, once word gets out that you’ve cooperated with the police that only makes you a bigger target of criminal violence. That is a dark reality in so many neighborhoods like mine across America. I’m not saying its right, but its reality. And it’s not unfounded. Here’s a harsh reality around violence and criminal justice in our inner cities.”

Click here for more of Coopers report

 

In Baltimore, the culture of “not snitching’” was crystallized in an underground 2004 DVD called Stop Fucking Snitching. The DVD, contained clips of drug dealers threatening snitches, and a local rap personality saying To all you snitches and rats … I hope you catch AIDS in your mouth, and your lips the first thing to die, yo bitch” (Atlantic Article)  The video which resulted in T-shirts, The articles of clothing with the Stop Snitching emblem infiltrated court rooms, appearing on the families of defendants. It also appeared in several rap songs, and popularized the cultural norm. In reaction to this DVD, the BPD released a counter campaign called Keep Talkin’ where they aim to tell the people from the stop snitching video that their intentions have failed, as the video itself has served to inform police about the identity of key players in the drug game. The BPD video discusses how they arrested several people in the video.  (Baltimore Sun)

This culture against snitching makes it difficult for police, as seen in The Wire, where an emphasis is put on trying to “flip” witnesses.  In order to counter this, the Metro Crime Stopper Movement was developed in the 1970’s by a police officer frustrated with the difficulty of convincing witnesses to share their stories and has expanded across the country.  Metro Crime Stoppers allows many ways for people to offer anonymous tips, even receiving rewards without ever sharing their names.  Recently, they have enabled the use of text message tips.  However, this is not enough to keep those who help police from living in fear, and the extensive list of “snitches” that have been murdered or harmed shows this is not unfounded.

Hamsterdam and the free market

The constant refrain for the downtrodden is that they need to work and enter in the system of capitalism.  However, drug dealing is not only capitalism but the free market in its purest form. In Season Three of The Wire, Bunny Colvin concentrates the drug dealers into confined places, where they can sell drugs without constraint and create a microcosm of the free market in its purest form.  It is an experiment in modernity. This video gives a good overview of the Hamsterdam plot line.

The structure of capitalism is based on a classed society, with those achieving high and those struggling to get by.  In Hamsterdam, there are the middle level dealers, who form the Hamsterdam bourgeoisie, and the hoppers/lookouts who are the proletariat.  Capitalism is based on the highest amount of efficiency, and the way to make the most amount of surplus value. This is why the hoppers are let go when they are no longer valuable. Capitalism is constantly finding new ways to improve, and reduce the positions of those involved. In some forms of capitalism, this is the mechanization and the use of machinery to replace human skills. (This can be seen with Frank Sobatka’s disgust with the mechanized dock in Season Two)

Capitalism is also based on systems of competition. In Hamsterdam, the different drug dealers are brought together, shouting over each other to be heard in the market. The whole operation is meant to deliver the drugs in the easiest and most efficient way possible, and to have people remain loyal to their organization. The whole Hamstedam ordeal is said to make money for the drug dealers at incredible return rates. Hamsterdam is isolated, but full of competition. This is nothing but pure capitalism, with no extenuating factors.  The creation of the drug industry leads to other forms of capitalistic ventures, such as Bubbles and his shirt cart, and other people peddling items in the streets. However, Hamsterdam shows the dark side of free capitalism, as Bubbles is accousted at night and Johnny becomes absorbed in the world of Hamsterdam.

In an interview, David Simon explained that he “[believes} in capitalism as the only viable motivating force to create wealth. But I believe that there have to be certain social frameworks that allow for a distribution of a share of that wealth throughout the classes.”  This is reflected in his treatment of Hamsterdam in The Wire, which can be seen as a praise of the benefits of capitalism, and how if it is not monitored it can propagate negative items, such as making it easier for addicts to obtain drugs.  However, Hamsterdam had to die because Simone believes “raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society – it’s a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, needless tragedy, and ultimately a coarsening of our society.”   This conflicting view is embedded in The Wire.

The show itself can also be seen as an example of this. According to this article, in order to be the most efficient and offer the best product, company HBO creates its own original shows in edition to having deals with popular movie studios.  It was created as a product of capitalism, to fill a space in the market by pioneering cable television.  However, HBO does contrast some aspects of capitalism, as it gives products more of a chance to mature before canceling products that are immediately successful. Overall, it has allowed HBO to be successful, perhaps indicating a positive example of the moderated version of capitalism Simon talks about: an emphasis on quality and not just delivering instant profits. However, as a piece of media, The Wire is ultimately a product to be marketed. Although it was more critically acclaimed then popular with audiences, it has continued to gain revenue, through the sales of DVDs.  The Wire as a product has been sold in the market, through licensing deals, and trickling down to independent sellers. Ironically, one of these sellers offers as T-Shirt that says Hamsterdam, using capitalism to sell capitalism.

Image courtesy Spreadshirt.com