Gary Barksdale was appointed chief postal inspector for the United States Postal Inspection Service in March 2019. In this role, he oversees all operations of the Inspection Service, which includes its National Headquarters, 17 field divisions, two service centers and a national forensic laboratory. The installations are staffed by more than 1,200 postal inspectors, more than 550 postal police officers and nearly 600 support personnel. He is also the chairman of the Universal Postal Union’s Postal Security Group. He reports to the Postmaster General.

Before his appointment, Barksdale served 3 years as deputy chief inspector at National Headquarters. He was responsible for several of the Postal Inspection Service’s functional areas, including Criminal Investigations; Communications, Governance and Strategy and Security; and Contraband Interdiction and Investigations. He was instrumental in leading the agency’s strategic planning and its responses to critical incidents, driving its strategies to enhance drug interdictions and representing the Inspection Service before Congress.

Barksdale began his law enforcement career as a police officer in Chesapeake, VA, where he served for 7 years, including 4 years as a detective. In 1999, Barksdale was appointed as a United States postal inspector. During his career, he has served in the Los Angeles, Houston, and Phoenix Divisions. During his tenure as an inspector, he conducted numerous criminal investigations of identity theft, mail theft, robbery and assaults. Barksdale has also held several executive leadership positions within the Inspection Service.

Barksdale received a Bachelor of Science from Old Dominion University. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators.

Latest update: March 2019