Fifteen months after the fourth season concludes, Mayor Carcetti's cuts in the police budget to redress the education deficit force the Marlo Stanfield investigation to shut down.
第五季故事开始于第四季结束后15个月，卡瑟提市长开始削减警方预算以弥补教育支出的赤字，这迫使对马洛·斯坦菲尔德的调查停止。