Crime And Place In Episodes 1-4 Of The Wire

Upon watching episodes 1-4 of season 3 of The Wire, there are a multitude of examples in the show that place factors into the crime and policing in Baltimore. First, I will take a deeper look into episodes 1 and 2 to explain examples of the connection between crime and place in these episodes. Next, I will describe the policing styles depicted in episodes 1 and 2. Then, I will shift to episodes 3 and 4 to explain Major Colvin’s “free zone” initiative and the issues he encountered. Finally, I will discuss the concept of this “free zone” and how successful or unsuccessful the initiative may be. The Wire displays many examples of the intersection between crime and place throughout the episodes. Episode 1 of the third season of The Wire begins

Further, the episodes depict how the Barksdale enterprise members dislike snitching, exemplifying a clear example of the code of the street. According to Rosenfeld et al. (2003), snitching occurs when criminals give information to the police in exchange for a reward, which violates the code of the street, a regulation of interpersonal disputes by community members (p. 291). In episode 2, the police attempt to persuade a man to snitch after catching him admitting to murder on tape (though unbeknownst to the officers it was a dog that the man euthanized), but the man does not comply. Similarly, episodes 1 and 2 depict examples of using place to inform certain policing strategies. The police officers in The Wire use many different strategies in an attempt to control crime in certain neighborhoods. The police’s most common strategy in episodes 1 and 2 was to use a wiretap on suspects’ phones, which was not always effective because many offenders met face-to-face or used burner phones. Another strategy the police used in these episodes was intimidation and police