Attorney General William Barr revealed on Wednesday task forces have made significant progress against violent crime since the launch of Operation Legend.
Appearing at a news conference in Kansas City, Missouri, Barr emphasized the importance of supporting law enforcement and announced several arrests have been made under the program.
“Rather than demonizing and defunding our police, we are supporting and strengthening our law enforcement partners at the state and local level,” Barr said.
He added, “So far federal-state task forces involved in operation legend have made almost 1,500 arrests, I think it’s 1,485 to be precise and many of those arrests are for violent state crimes including 90 homicides like LeGend’s murderer.
Watch his comments below:
Barr noted of those arrested, they have have charged more than 200 for federal crimes and of those 200, 100 have been charged with federal gun crimes.
Operation Legend was launched on July 8 and began in Kansas City and later expanded to Chicago and Albuquerque.
The program is a “sustained, systematic, and coordinated law enforcement initiative across all federal law enforcement agencies working in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight the sudden surge of violent crime,” according to a statement released by Barr.
The initiative was created as a result of Trump’s pledge to help cities suffering from recent violence.
The name Operation Legend comes from LeGend Taliferro, a four-year-old who was shot and killed in Kansas City on June 29.
“LeGend’s death is a horrifying reminder that violent crime left unchecked is a threat to us all and cannot be allowed to continue,” Barr said.
Barr released a statement on July 29, announcing the Trump administration would be sending additional agents to Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee, indicating these cities have seen increases in violent crime, especially homicides, as IJR previously reported.