CLEVELAND — Attorney General William Barr is in Cleveland Thursday to speak about Operation Legend, a federal crime reduction effort that launched last month in Cleveland that has already resulted in the arrests of 32 people.
Barr spoke to News 5’s Tracy Carloss about Operation Legend, the violence in Cleveland, the Department of Justice's stance on the Chinese social media app TikTok, the recent issues around mail-in voting, the threat of China, and what keeps him up at night. Tune in to News 5 this evening beginning at 4 p.m. for her reports.
Barr said Cleveland was picked as a location for Operation Legend due to its strong police leadership and that the city had a mayor who was supportive of its police force.
"Cleveland fit the bill—it is really an ideal city for it and of course, the cities are selected also on the basis of whether there’s been some increased violence recently," Barr said.
Barr believes that programs like Operation Legend are one of the best ways to combat violence in city with a high crime rate.
"I think it will make the difference because I think the only approach that really has worked and reducing violent crime is to have this kind of partnership—state and federal working together, targeting the shooters, targeting the most violent criminals. the gang members and getting them off the streets," Barr said.
Operation Legend is a federal violent crime reduction effort that brought additional federal agents from the ATF, DEA, FBI and U.S. Marshals to seven U.S. cities, including Cleveland. In the three weeks since it began officially operating in Cleveland, nearly three dozen individuals have been arrested on federal charges for crimes committed in the city.
RELATED: 32 people arrested in Cleveland as part of Operation Legend
During the interview, Barr touched on calls for police to be defunded.
"I think all this nonsense about defunding the police, you know, is basically driven by sort of elite white liberals who don’t have to live with the consequences of having fewer police in the neighborhood," Barr said. "Every black leader that I've spoke to and I mean a real leader that lives in the community and supports the community and cares about the community, they're not interested in fewer police. If anything, they'd like more police—they want a good strong working relationship with the police and that's what police want too."
Barr continued, "So, this is about making those communities safe and realizing that all the other efforts we have, whether it be education or economic opportunity, they can't take root or help if the neighborhoods are run by gangs."
Cleveland Ward 6 Councilman Blaine Griffin took an afront to Barr's comments about what the Black community wants.
"I think it's very condescending that Attorney General Barr thinks that the entire Black community thinks in a monolithic way. You can't talk to one group of people, be it politicians, pastors, news media or whoever and say that you captured the hearts and minds of the entire black community," Griffin said.
While Barr said that black leaders want a heavier police presence, Griffin thinks that what the city needs is a redesigned police department that can better meet the needs of the community. He also believes that when people talk about defunding the police department, the phrase is often misunderstood.
"I think that that phrase is really pushing how can we make sure that we have better deescalation tools, how can we make sure we invest in our disadvantaged communities, how can we make sure we have more social workers and other types of services embedded in the police department so that police don't have to do all those different things," Griffin said.
The councilman said he doesn't support cutting the Cleveland's police budget, but he is for a redesign of the department to "make sure that we live up to 21st century policing."
The U.S. Attorney's Office stated that the operation has shown progress in a short period of time.
“In just a few short weeks, federal investigators working side-by-side with state and local law enforcement have begun to make significant progress towards reducing violence related to illegal firearms, drug trafficking and other crime in our neighborhoods,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman.
What is now Operation Legend has been in the planning stages since 2019 when the U.S. Department of Justice announced Cleveland was one of seven cities taking part in “Operation Relentless Pursuit.”
In 2019, Cleveland was one of seven cities to take part in “Operation Relentless Pursuit,” an effort targeted at getting violent fugitives off the streets. The first part of this operation wrapped up in March, with the other phases of this on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, Operation Legend was effectively a renaming of Operation Relentless Pursuit.
Operation Legend got its name after 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro who was shot and killed on June 29 in Kansas City as he lay asleep in his bed at home.
Less than two weeks following the boy’s death, Attorney General Bill Barr announced the creation of Operation Legend. Following that, more than 200 federal law enforcement agents were sent to Kansas City to help “curb the kind of senseless violence that took the young boy’s life,” according to The White House.
President Donald Trump later announced the expansion of the operation to additional cities.
“My first duty as President is to protect the American people, and today I am taking action to fulfill that sacred obligation,” Trump said.
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'Operation Legend' will bring dozens of ATF, DEA, FBI agents and U.S. Marshals to Cleveland
