Operation LeGend, launched in Kansas City, sparks more than 2,000 US arrests, feds say
More than 2,000 arrests have been made across the country, including 163 in homicides, as part of Operation LeGend, the federal crime-fighting initiative started in Kansas City, officials said Wednesday.
Of those apprehended in homicides, 36 were arrested in Kansas City, including three suspects who were wanted in other states, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Missouri told The Star.
While some have been charged, it’s unclear how many arrests have led to prosecution. Kansas City’s murder cases are handled by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, but officials there have said they don’t know how many involved Operation LeGend.
Speaking Wednesday in Chicago, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said about 600 defendants nationwide have been charged with federal crimes. That includes 113 in Kansas City. Other defendants have been charged by local prosecutors, officials said.
In Kansas City, 68 of those charged federally were for “firearms-related offenses,” federal prosecutors said. Thirty-four were charged with narcotics-related crimes and 11 with “other violent crimes,” officials said.
Citing a police statistic, Barr said violent crime has fallen about 30% in Kansas City since the start of the operation. Additionally, he said, homicides have decreased by 18% and aggravated assaults, which include nonfatal shootings, have dropped by 47%.
In St. Louis, one of the cities the operation has been expanded to, homicides have decreased by nearly half in four weeks, Barr told reporters. In Detroit, another city with the additional aid, homicides have dropped by 25% in seven weeks, he said.
Federal officials throughout the U.S. have also recovered more than 1,200 weapons and about $5 million in drug proceeds, among other things, as part of the operation.
The operation is named after 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was fatally shot while sleeping in a Kansas City apartment in June. It sent additional federal agents to Kansas City to help curb a surge in gun violence.
Kansas City is on pace to suffer its deadliest year ever. As of Wednesday, 141 people have been killed in homicides this year in the city, compared to 106 by this time in 2019, according to data maintained by The Star.
Gun violence will be the subject of a new, statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
The Star’s Robert A. Cronkleton contributed reporting.
This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 4:41 PM.
