Mayor Brandon M. Scott announced the appointment of Anthony Barksdale as Baltimore’s Deputy Mayor for Public Safety on July 8, 2022. 

In this role, Deputy Mayor Barksdale oversees the policies and operations of the City’s public safety agencies: Baltimore Police Department, the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE), and the Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD), including the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and the implementation of the City’s Consent Decree. He is tasked with coordinating the implementation of the Mayor’s Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan (CVPP) in partnership with MONSE.

He brings years of law enforcement expertise and a deep knowledge of Baltimore to the position. He joined BPD in 1993 and served in numerous roles in both Patrol and Detective Divisions. He rose through the ranks, becoming Baltimore’s Deputy Commissioner of Operations in 2007. Deputy Mayor Barksdale created and oversaw Baltimore’s crime plan that ran from 2007-2012, a plan that simultaneously lowered arrests and reached a historic low of 200 homicides in 2011. 

After leaving BPD in 2012, Deputy Mayor Barksdale continued work in the public safety space serving as Director of Security for Horseshoe Casino, Senior Vice President of Assured Protection, and a national Law Enforcement analyst for CNN.

A longtime champion of proactive public safety strategies, Deputy Mayor Barksdale is a native of West Baltimore and a proud graduate of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.