Operation Legend, a federal initiative to combat murder and violent crime in major U.S. cities, has recorded over 2,000 arrests and seized large quantities of narcotics since the program’s July inception, according to the Department of Justice.
A total of 147 people have been arrested for homicide, 544 firearms have been seized, and around 182 pounds (83 kilograms) of narcotics—including heroin, cocaine, meth, and fentanyl—have been removed from the streets during the operation, according to a Thursday Department of Justice press release.
Around 480 of the arrestees were charged with federal offenses throughout Kansas City, Missouri; Chicago; Albuquerque; Cleveland; Detroit; Milwaukee; St. Louis; Memphis; and Indianapolis, the release said.
Chicago had the most felony arrests with 103 since the program took effect in there on July 22, according to the news release. Kansas City, Missouri, was a close second with a total of 99 felony apprehensions, the DOJ wrote.
#OperationLegend: Update on Federal Charges https://t.co/FKJ2Pa0WMr pic.twitter.com/9nZoZlXBAu
— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) September 3, 2020
Operation Legend began July 8 under the direction of Attorney General William Barr. It was named after 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was fatally shot at his Kansas City, Missouri, home, the press release said.
Taliferro’s alleged killer has since been arrested and the program has spread to crime-ridden cities throughout the nation, offering federal assistance to investigate and prevent violent crime, according to an Aug. 13 DOJ press release.
Civil unrest, rioting, and crime has risen in cities across the country since the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, video showed.
Unrest was sparked again after the officer-involved shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man, who was shot multiple times in the back during a confrontation in Kenosha, Wisconsin, video showed.
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