A Positive Tool In The Fight Against Crime

Yesterday The Epoch Times posted an article about Operation Legend.

The article reports:

Operation Legend, the federal initiative to drive down violent crime in major inner cities, has had a positive effect on fighting violent crime, with cities seeing falling rates of homicide and shooting incidents in recent weeks, Attorney General William Barr said.

“I am pleased to report that Operation Legend is working, crime is down, and order is being restored,” Barr said during a Sept. 9 press conference in Chicago.

The crime-fighting initiative is credited with more than 2,500 arrests, including 592 individuals who were charged with federal crimes, the Justice Department (DOJ) said in an update. Federal authorities have also seized 1,024 firearms, 241 other weapons, more than 17 kilograms (37 pounds) of heroin, more than 75 kilograms (165 pounds) of methamphetamine, more than 7 kilograms (15 pounds) of fentanyl, more than 12 kilograms (26 pounds) of cocaine, and about $5.19 million in drug proceeds.

Operation Legend is the latest major law enforcement program by the DOJ to crack down on violent crime across the country. It began to combat a surge in crime rates in major metropolitan cities.

This is a successful program, but the article points out that some of the Democrats whose cities are positively impacted by the program are very reluctant to give any credit to the program for reductions in crime.

The article notes:

We are absolutely making progress, we are absolutely leaning into those federal relationships, but the cause and effect that Attorney General Barr tried to make today, I don’t think the facts bear that, not yet,” Lightfoot (Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot) said. “I’m hopeful that these relationships and these additional resources would really bear fruit, but we’re still in the early stages.”

Similarly, Kansas City saw similar drops in violent crime following the launch of the program. The city’s police department stated on Aug. 25 that overall violent crime had decreased by 30 percent when comparing six weeks of crime statistics prior to the operation with current data. Homicides went from 33 cases between May 6 and July 7 to 28 cases between July 8 and Aug. 23—a 15 percent decrease.

Non-fatal shootings also fell to 84 incidents from 112 over the same comparable period—a 25 percent fall.

“While we can’t say Operation LeGend is the cause of this decrease, there’s certainly a correlation,” Kansas City Police Chief Richard Smith said in a statement.

The article concludes:

“The increase in violence that has plagued Chicago and other cities is what prompted the department to launch Operation Legend two months ago in Kansas City, Missouri,” the attorney general said. “The Operation is named for LeGend Taliferro, a 4-year-old Kansas City boy shot and killed.

“The purpose of the operation was to make clear that his life mattered, his name should be remembered and other innocent victims like him, including the 8-year-old girl killed in Chicago on Labor Day, should not suffer such senseless death.”

In Chicago, authorities have charged 124 individuals with federal crimes. Other cities have also seen a similar trend: 113 federal arrests in Kansas City; 45 in Albuquerque; 66 in Cleveland; 58 in Detroit; 16 in Milwaukee; 123 in St. Louis; 16 in Memphis; and 31 in Indianapolis.

The fact that the program is working is good news. This program is another reason we need four more years of President Trump.