Anthony Barksdale, a Baltimore native whose tenures as the city’s deputy mayor for public safety and deputy police commissioner corresponded with steep declines in gun violence, died Thursday, Mayor Brandon M. Scott confirmed. He was 53.
“Tony Barksdale was the epitome of what it means to be a public servant — but more importantly, he was a standard bearer of what it means to be a good man," Scott said in a statement. “For three-plus decades, he served his city with one purpose: to make it safer for all Baltimoreans.
“Baltimore is better because a boy from West Baltimore made it his mission to make it safer.”
Barksdale rose through the ranks to become the Baltimore Police Department’s deputy commissioner for operations at age 35, said to be the youngest to reach that position in the department’s history. He served in the post from 2007 until 2012, when the city saw fewer than 200 homicides for the first time since the 1980s.
Amid years of record-breaking homicide rates, Scott welcomed Barksdale back as deputy mayor for public safety in July 2022, a year that ended with 329 slayings. There have been three straight years of massive declines, including a more than 30% reduction this year.
In both roles, the hulking Barksdale loomed large behind the scenes but rarely sought the spotlight. Within the police department, Barksdale was known for emphasizing accountability from commanders, though critics say that was achieved through a heavy-handed approach that translated into aggressive policing.
A cause of death was not immediately known, but Barksdale had suffered from health issues. After jockeying to become commissioner following the retirement of then-Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, Barksdale went on medical leave for heart and stress issues, eventually retiring in 2014.
Barksdale always credited former Mayor Sheila Dixon with giving him a chance to run the operations and implement a plan alongside Bealefeld.
“Barksdale played a huge role in where we are today. He was just so solid and so committed and so driven,” Dixon said Thursday. “And was just a great individual who loved Baltimore, loved the police department but also wanted to see the best for Baltimore City.”
Former Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young credited Barksdale with bringing crime down during his time running the patrol division. Young called Barksdale a teddy bear and said he used to wonder how he belonged with the police department.
“He was truthful with me about what you can do and what you can’t do. Quietly, he got the job done. Bealefeld got the credit, but he was the architect behind that stuff.”
After his retirement, Barksdale made appearances on CNN and emerged as a vocal critic of the police department’s strategies, including regularly blasting then-Commissioner Michael Harrison on social media.
Scott said in 2022 that hiring Barksdale was “not a decision that I came to lightly but which I made because this is someone that I believe in and someone that I know and trust, who has a heart for Baltimore and wants it to be the safest city it can be.”
Barksdale publicly apologized to Harrison upon taking the post.
“I am man enough to say I am sorry,” he said. “I want to work with you.”
The pair did not work together long. Harrison resigned from the position in the summer of 2023 and was replaced by Richard Worley.
“Tony wasn’t just a colleague - he was a mentor, a friend and someone who believed deeply in the power of public service,” Worley said in a statement. “Over the decades we worked together, he taught me so much about leadership, perseverance, and what it truly means to serve and protect as one of Baltimore’s Finest, with heart and purpose.”
Barksdale was born and raised in West Baltimore. Early in his career, he was part of Commissioner Ed Norris’ security detail and said he learned about the fundamentals of policing from Jack Maple, the New York police officer who created that city’s CompStat data analysis program, which then-Mayor Martin O’Malley brought to Baltimore.
Norris recalled meeting Barksdale after the young officer made a major drug seizure.
“His smile was huge — until I said, ‘So where’s the rest? Where’s the guns that goes with this?’” Norris said. “He was crestfallen, but he told me years later that was the day he learned to never stop.”
Norris said he recognized how smart Barksdale was and transferred him to his security detail.
“The best way to teach him everything I learned from Jack Maple was to ride the streets with him every day,” Norris said. “He was a sponge. He took everything I knew and amplified it.”
Barksdale was instrumental in creating the Violent Crime Impact Division, a beefed-up version of the plainclothes units that were praised by police during their time for cracking down on crime in historically violent neighborhoods and later lamented for how they too often achieved those results — through unconstitutional policing.
Barksdale asserted he did not know of such abuses and worked to hold officers accountable when he became aware. A review of the Gun Trace Task Force corruption scandal would fault leadership during those years and others for turning a blind eye.
“I had complaints in my career. But the thing is, I was doing the job. And sometimes, if you’re a good cop, some of these organizations will pay people to make complaints on you,” Barksdale said in 2019. “That’s why the internal affairs process is so crucial. You trust the internal process.”
Barksdale ran the weekly intelligence-sharing sessions in which commanders were grilled on their performance, which during his tenure were considered to have devolved into such browbeating that the meetings were paused in 2010. When they resumed, Barksdale sent out a memo: “It is better to admit ignorance than to make inaccurate or misleading statements. Integrity violations will not be tolerated.”
Bealefeld said Barksdale was tireless, a private person who wasn’t in public service for fame or recognition.
“He was really dedicated to doing something good for the people of Baltimore. He and I were aligned in the sense of, there are bad people, there are people who do bad things, and it’s the responsibility of the police to hold them accountable,” Bealefeld said.
“We didn’t always agree on strategy, but he was the kind of teammate that, when you broke from the huddle, you could be confident he was going to run the play,” Bealefeld said.
He recalled being surprised at Barksdale’s breadth of knowledge. When Bealefeld mentioned he was taking his son to see a Modest Mouse concert, Barksdale rattled off the artist’s discography. He also had sports statistics at the ready.
“In order to be that well informed, you’ve got to get up early and stay late. He put in the hours to be that well informed,” Bealefeld said.
One of his fondest memories was New Year’s Eve in 2011, as the city was closing out the year with fewer than 200 homicides for the first time in decades. It was a violence reduction number “that a lot of people, a lot of teams had chased.” Bealefeld remembered turning around to unexpectedly see Barksdale behind him and sharing a warm embrace.
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