"I am pleased to report that Operation Legend is working. Crime is down and order is being restored," Barr said at a press conference in the Windy City. "Operation Legend’s success is perhaps most dramatic here in Chicago."
Since the operation was expanded to Chicago on July 22, Barr added, homicides in the city have fallen by 50 percent.
Barr said, overall, the nine-city initiative has resulted in more than 2,000 arrests, federal charges against 592 defendants and the seizure of 587 guns.
The operation was launched in Kansas City on July 8 before expanding to Chicago, Albuquerque, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Memphis, and Indianapolis. The move came amid riots that erupted during nationwide anti-racism protests.
The FBI, the US Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have been involved in the program. The operation is being coordinated with state and local law enforcement agencies, according to the Justice Department.
