1. The Wire Social Problems Notes – Part I Meggan Jordan, PhD Candidate University of Florida

2. Stats on West Baltimore • Once the center of Baltimore's Jewish community, has undergone white flight since the 1960’s & become an almost exclusively African American area. • Once a major industrial town, city suffered deindustrialization which cost residents tens of thousands of low-skill, high-wage jobs. • Crime Stats: 276 homicides in Baltimore in 2006 (2nd highest rate per 100,000 of all U.S. cities of 250,000 or more population). The homicide rate in B’more is 7X the national rate, 6X NYC, and 3X LA. • Simon: “The point of the show is not that Baltimore is any more f**** up than a lot of places. We have these problems and we're going to speak to how they feel to us, since most of the writers are from Baltimore. But presumably these problems are universal problems, or at least American problems.”

3. The Wire’s Main Conflict Within Institutions • stats vs. methodical casework • following the drugs vs. following the money • Always in a political struggle to justify the wiretap to build strong felony cases

4. Critique of Policies • No Child Left Behind • The War on Drugs

5. Critique of Values Meritocracy: “Deserve’s got nothing to do with it” - Good things come to those in the right place at the right time Quick reform: Extraordinary efforts to get an at-risk kid into a stable environment. Beyond “If we can just elect the right leader…” Fiscal Restraint: public servants are completely hamstrung by budget constraints. how much are we willing to pay to fix social ills with any degree of permanency? Justice: justice sys sets up roadblocks for solving systemic problems (conspiracy, racketeering, white collar crime, corruption, money laundering, grand larceny) while making it very easy to prosecute people for minor drug offenses or for assaulting an officer

6. Money Laundering Illegal drugs  legitimate business ownership  political contributions Wholesaling drugs to invest in mainstream businesses, rental properties, and development deals Benefits for Kingpin: Political donations to buy off candidates, bribery for judges, witnesses, cut corners on building codes for speedier development, access to federal housing grants, tax evasion, assets are difficult to confiscate Benefits for politician: Steady stream of campaign cash, ribbon-cuttings

7. Same Problems, Different Scales Teacher or a dope fiend, a state senator or a corner kid -- everyone is dealing with the same problems & concerns, just on different scales. Actions taken on all levels have a way of reaching out and affecting all other levels. Over the course of this season, decisions will be made in City Hall and police headquarters that will trickle all the way down to people like Bubbles or Namond, while random street events in turn alter the fate of the entire city.

8. Terms • Clearance Rate • Buy-and-bust / dope on the Table • Re-up/Package • Hoppers • Slingin’ • Burner • Snitchin’