Outgoing Attorney General William Barr announced that Operation Legend, a Justice Department initiative designed to reduce violent crime, has resulted in more than 6,000 arrests since its inception, more than 400 of which were murder charges.
In a press statement released on Wednesday, Barr praised the program’s record of reducing crime.
“Operation Legend removed violent criminals, domestic abusers, carjackers and drug traffickers from nine cities which were experiencing stubbornly high crime and took illegal firearms, illegal narcotics and illicit monies off the street,” he said. “I commend our federal law enforcement and prosecutors for seamlessly executing this operation in partnership with state and local law enforcement.”
Operation Legend was inspired by the story of 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was killed on June 29 in his Kansas City home while he was asleep. Ryson Ellis, 22, was subsequently arrested and charged with the murder in August.
The release of the data coincides with a reported surge in violent crime in major cities. Gun arrests increased 112% during the month of November in New York City. Kansas City, the birthplace of Operation Legend, saw an “absurd number” of homicides in 2020, with 171 deaths recorded this year.
In St. Louis, which was ranked as America’s least safe city, 2020 marks the deadliest per capita year on record, with more than 200 homicides reported so far. Of Missouri’s five cities with 100,000 or more residents, all were found to be at or near the highest 40% in terms of dollar cost of crime to city residents.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson made addressing crime in his state a signature campaign promise, railing against a spike in crime that might have resulted from challenger Nikki Galloway’s “liberal agenda.” Parson called a special session of the state Legislature this summer in hopes that lawmakers would pass his anti-crime package. Two of his six proposals were adopted.
While Parson acknowledged that the votes did not go as he wanted, he nonetheless celebrated the adoption of two anti-crime measures.
“You’re not going to hit a home run every time in this building,” Parson said. “We’re very content with what we got moving. Anything we can do to help law enforcement, to help victims in this state [and] to fight violent crime is a win, no matter how big or small it is.”
