QPP 63: Tony Barksdale
My “lost” (really forgotten) 2017 conversation with Baltimore Police Legend and Jack Maple protégé Tony Barksdale. In 2020 he wrote about how to reduce violence. In July, 2022, Mayor Brandon Scott appointed Barksdale as Deputy Mayor for Public Safety. Murders began a sharp decline. Nothing like a plan, a good police commissioner, and a good prosecutor working together. In 2022 there were 333 murders. In 2025 just 133 (still too many, but the fewest in the city since 1965!) And to think in the year 2000, I (and all police officers) received a medal simply for contributing to murders dropping below 300.
Tony passed away in November, 2025. Age 53. He lived and died for Baltimore City. I like this line from Mayor Scott: “Baltimore is better because a boy from West Baltimore made it his mission to make it safe.”
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