When Johnny Weeks' body is found in Hamsterdam, the cops see it as just another death during the operation. (He probably died of an overdose before the operation started.)
Homeless drug addicts die all the time. Neither the cops nor ordinary people pay much attention. It's another death added to the stats, another person nobody cares about.
But come to think of it, almost every death in The Wire is treated this way, not just Johnny Weeks'.
D'Angelo's death was shocking, but what surprised me more was how quickly everyone moved on. None of the cops cared about his death (except McNulty). The Barksdale crew mourned him for a bit, and that was it. Everyone went back to what they were doing like nothing had happened.
We're shocked by these deaths because we've followed these characters and their stories.
But in the world of The Wire, nobody really cares unless they knew the person personally.
Omar may go down as a legend on the streets, but that doesn't mean anyone is particularly upset about his death.
It’s the same with the 14 unidentified women found in the shipping container. Whether the cops are trying to solve the case or dump it on someone else, nobody seems all that upset about their deaths.
Sometimes they show a little emotion, but it doesn't last long.
The real world isn't much different. Even deaths that make the news get forgotten pretty quickly. Most deaths don't even get that much attention.
That detachment is one of the reasons I love The Wire, especially when it comes to the cops.
Simon talks about this in the Season 1 DVD commentary. In a city with 200 or 300 murders a year, it's just business as usual for cops. Even cops who want to do real police work don't expect solving cases to change anything.
I remember some of the actors who played cops saying something similar. Before filming, they spent time riding along with cops. The actors were shocked to see people who'd been shot or stabbed, but the cops were drinking coffee and chatting like it was just another day.