The Facts on Operation LeGend

On Wednesday July 22 President Trump announced that the Justice Department would be sending hundreds of additional federal agents into major cities, in an attempt to reduce the number the shootings and violence that has escalated in recent in weeks, and compensate for weak local governments.

“We will never defund the police. We will hire more great police. We want to make law enforcement stronger, not weaker. What cities are doing is insanity.”

Trump emphasized in his speech that these officers were not assigned in response to protests or protest-related violence, but instead intended to “help drive down violent crime.”  He called on local government to strengthen and support their local police departments, adding  “Americans must hold their city leaders accountable.  They must insist that community officials fully support, fully back, and fully fund their local police departments.  There is simply no substitute for a police department that has the strong backing of city leaders.”

In response to rapidly climbing crime rates, Trump introduced Operation LeGend, named after LeGend Taliferro, a four-year-old boy shot in his home.

Attorney General William Barr followed Trump’s remarks, announcing that the plan includes sending 200 agents to Chicago and 35 to Albuquerque to strengthen pre-existing violent crime task forces that currently work with the local police. These new agents come in addition to the 200 agents already appointed to Kansas City, Mo. The White House plans to add more officers to more cities across the country.

A New York Times article cited Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot as being cautiously optimistic about the plan. In a news conference on Wednesday, she said that the plans described by President Trump (implementing additional federal agents to work within existing partnerships with local police) were more acceptable and far different than this work in Portland.

While the Times article frames the initiative as politically motivated, Trump’s remarks, followed by Barr’s outline of Operation LeGend, stated that the only motive behind integrating the additional federal agents is safety.  At the press conference Wednesday, Attorney General Barr explained “The first duty of government is to protect the safety of our citizens. And we’re here to explain the initiative to combat rising violent crime in a number of cities. Our goal is to help save lives.”

In his speech, Trump pointed out “Democrat-run cities” have seen a spike in crime, and it’s true. There has been a significant increase in shootings and violent crime in Chicago and New York, both of which are run by Democratic mayors. However, cities with Republican-run local governments are not exempt from a rise in crime. Jacksonville, Florida, the site of next month’s Republican National Convention, is experiencing one of its highest crime rates in decades, according the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department. Fort Worth, Texas is also experiencing extremely high crime rates, with 51 homicides this year as compared to 36 at this time last year.

At the end of the Times article, the authors comment that some of the largest American cities are on track to hit higher numbers this year than they have in decades. However, they also cite criminologists saying that homicide rates and other violent crime rates remain significantly lower now than they were in the early 1990’s.  While this may be true, it is both an outdated and irrelevant statistic.  Operation LeGend is underway in response to rapidly rising crime rates in America’s major cities, as compared to rates in recent years.