{"id":50992,"date":"2020-10-14T16:28:42","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T22:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/us-attorney-general-touts-success-of-federal-crime-fighting\/"},"modified":"2020-10-14T22:28:42","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T22:28:42","slug":"us-attorney-general-touts-success-of-federal-crime-fighting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/us-attorney-general-touts-success-of-federal-crime-fighting\/","title":{"rendered":"US attorney general touts success of federal crime fighting"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"U.S.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr, left listens as David L. Bowdich, Deputy Director of the FBI gives an update on Operation Legend, which was launched earlier this year by the Trump administration in honor of a Kansas City boy who was killed in June, during a news conference, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, in Albuquerque, N.M. Barr said Wednesday that the federal government\u2019s efforts to crack down on violent crime in Albuquerque and other U.S. cities is paying dividends and that community support of law enforcement is an important part of getting chronic offenders off the streets and behind bars.(Adolphe Pierre-Louis\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Barr and FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich visited New Mexico to provide an update on Operation Legend, which was launched earlier this year by the Trump administration. It\u2019s named after LeGend Taliferro, a Kansas City boy who was shot and killed in June while he slept in his home.<\/p>\n

The operation, built around joint task forces comprised of federal and local officers, has taken advantage of everything from tougher federal drug and racketeering statutes to digital forensics, mapping technology, hotlines and reward programs to begin chipping away at the surge in crime that some cities have experienced in recent years.<\/p>\n

Officials reported that Kansas City has seen a 30% reduction in violent crime, including a reduction in homicides and armed robberies. Overall, the Justice Department reported that the operation since its inception has netted more than 3,500 arrests, with more than 800 defendants facing federal charges that often come with more severe consequences.<\/p>\n

More than 100 people have been arrested in Albuquerque, a city that Barr said has seen violent crime rates between three and four times the national average.<\/p>\n

\u201cViolent crime is solvable. It\u2019s not something people have to live with at the levels they\u2019re living with it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Targeting repeat offenders and justice reforms aimed at ending what Barr referred to as a \u201crevolving door\u201d are among the tools to curb surges in crime. He added that the support of local leaders, prosecutors and judges is part of the equation.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will get what they pay for in law enforcement. If you want a professional effective police force, you have to make the investment in that \u2014 not defund the police force but make an investment in the police force,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if you want to be safe, if you are tired of the blood and mayhem on the streets, then you have to start paying attention to who you vote for.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has seized on the operation as public safety has been among the themes on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n

Federal cooperation with local authorities in New Mexico is nothing new, but Democrat leaders voiced concerns when the operation was first announced in July, fearing that federal agents would target protesters. Authorities say the focus has been on drug and firearm cases and other violent crimes.<\/p>\n

Federal officials also said Wednesday that the city of Albuquerque has yet to accept a nearly $10 million grant that was awarded earlier this year for hiring an additional 40 police officers. However, city officials took issue with that claim, saying the City Council passed a resolution to accept the funding and Mayor Tim Keller signed it weeks ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Attorney General William Barr, left listens as David L. Bowdich, Deputy Director of the FBI gives an update on Operation Legend, which was launched earlier this year by the Trump administration in honor of a Kansas City boy who was killed in June, during a news conference, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, in Albuquerque, N.M. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[815],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-50992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-associated-press-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50992"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=50992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}