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Thomas J. Baker served in the FBI for 33 years. During his career, he was assigned to leadership roles that had him with dealing with terrorist and criminal challenges. In this episode of FBI Retired Case File Review, Tom Baker reviews the FBI’s investigation of the March 1981, attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr, and discusses how lesson’s learned from the assassination of President Kennedy were immediately utilized in the initial management and coordination of multiple agencies under intense media scrutiny.
Tom Baker has extensive experience with police management and training issues, having served as a management instructor at the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia. He served as the Legal Attaché in Canberra, Australia, and Paris, France. He has been published in professional journals on aspects of biometrics, major case management, and police training and has also presented before national and international forums, and on television and radio, concerning these topics. Currently, he’s an international law enforcement consultant, and advises law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and worldwide on innovations in forensics, communications, and identification systems.
Special Agent (Retired)
Thomas Baker
1968 – 2000
“A crisis scene is not the time to be exchanging business cards.”
The following are links to newspaper articles, videos and documents from the FBI website regarding the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr, on March 2. 1981:
Anatomy Of An Assassination Attempt | TIME (VIDEO)
New York Times – 4/3/1981: EXPLOSIVE BULLET STRUCK REAGAN, F.B.I. DISCOVERS
Witness to History – National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund – APRIL 11, 2017: 1981 Assassination Attempt on President Reagan (VIDEO)
From the FBI Vault – Prosecutive Report re Investigation of John Hinckley, Jr.
