#Feds send agents into three US cities amid ‘Operation Legend’ initiative

The Department of Justice will deploy federal officers from an array of law enforcement agencies to three US cities as part of an expansion of a crime-fighting initiative called “Operation Legend.”

In an announcement Wednesday, Attorney General Bill Barr said new agents from the FBI, US Marshals Service, DEA and ATF will be assigned to Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee as part of the operation.

“For decades, the Department of Justice has achieved significant success when utilizing our anti-violent crime task forces and federal law enforcement agents to enforce federal law and assist American cities that are experiencing upticks in violent crime,” Barr said in the statement, noting the three cities have seen an uptick in homicides.

“The Department of Justice’s assets will supplement local law enforcement efforts, as we work together to take the shooters and chronic violent criminals off of our streets,” he added.

In Cleveland, 25 federal agents from the FBI, DEA, and ATF will be assigned to existing task forces that bring together federal, state and local authorities.

Detroit will receive 42 new federal agents — and and additional 25 agents will be deployed to Milwaukee as part of the expansion.

Operation Legend is named after 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed in Kansas City while she was sleeping, and launched earlier this month in the city.

It expanded to include Chicago and Albuquerque on July 22, according to the DOJ.