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
“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.
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