By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Kevin Jones, deputy commissioner of operations for the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), has spent more than 30 years in the force building connections between the police and the community.
His positive contributions to building better police-community relations, along with his promotion on Dec. 3, 2023 to deputy commissioner overseeing violence reduction efforts, have helped the department achieve record reductions in violent crime.
According to BPD, as of Sept. 11, homicides are down by 26.9 percent and non-fatal shootings by 19.8 percent year-to-date. The city is currently experiencing a 50-year low in homicides after eight consecutive years of more than 300 homicides annually.
As deputy commissioner of operations, Jones, 53, oversees the youth and community partnerships division, crime strategies and intelligence, victim services, patrol, the BPD detectives and forensic sciences and evidence division.
Prior to serving as deputy commissioner, Jones was a colonel and chief of patrol. He has also served as patrol officer in the Northwestern District, operations sergeant and captain and executive officer in the Southeastern District.
“What we’re doing is a lot of data driven focus,” said Jones regarding BPD’s work with reducing crime. “We’re analyzing it. What we do is identify the most vulnerable individuals who are group members, and we start to go after them. We’ve got to find those individuals who are more than likely going to be a victim or going to victimize so we can extract them, if necessary.”
Jones said the Group Violence Reduction Strategy was implemented with a layered approach, utilizing patrol officers and enforcement teams who then have the ability to do other investigations.
“It’s really making sure that all of the entities who have their responsibilities are focused unilaterally to get the job done,” he said.
Jones highlighted the work BPD is doing to help officers with their mental health, which he says helps to ensure a better officer. He said he is also particularly proud of their victim services unit, something BPD did not have 30 years ago. Through the unit, the officers are finding the root cause of violence, helping them break the cycles of violence.
“You have to make a decision, whether it’s the popular decision or not,” said Jones concerning what he’s learned about leadership and working in the police force. “You have to make it as quickly as possible with the information that you have, because not making the decision is a decision. People need to be led.”
Jones, a Baltimore native, was born on Oct. 29 in 1972. He attended and graduated from Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School in 1990. In 1994, he joined BPD, in part paying homage to his former Ames department store colleague, who endeavored to join the police force prior to his untimely death.
While at BPD, he earned a certificate from the University of Maryland University College in criminal justice leadership in 2009, an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice from the Community College of Baltimore County in 2019 and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Corrections from Strayer University in 2025.
Charlene Bourne, president of the Eastern District for the Community Relations Council, weighed in on Jones’ work and character.
“Deputy Commissioner Kevin A. Jones has been a constant joy to work with, I truly believe that he has the community’s best interest at heart,” said Bourne. “From all of his positions until becoming deputy commissioner he has always been approachable, ready and able to look into any issues community members would bring to his attention.”
“I have even called him at home when he was cutting grass to assist me with a community issue and providing an explanation to residents about a crime,” said Bourne. “He is a great example of police working with the community to solve issues.”