CLEVELAND — *Editor's Note: The video in the player above orgianlly aired on August 20, 2020.
U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced the end of Operation Legend in Cleveland on Monday.
In a final update, the operation saw the arrests of "122 drug traffickers, firearms offenders, domestic violence convicts and other violent criminals this year,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman in a press release. "Of this total, 61 defendants have been charged with narcotics-related offenses, 57 have been charged with firearms-related offenses and four have been charged with other violent crimes," he reports.
Herdman went on to applaud the efforts of local federal investigators, prosecutors, Cleveland Police and local community leaders to reduce violent crime and get violent offenders off the streets of the city.
"I'm proud of what we have accomplished in just a few months and believe that we are in a great position to continue this work well into 2021 and beyond," he said said in the release.
According to Herdman, the resources provide to the city to facilitate the operation are "long-term and will not be going away anytime soon."
Operation Legend, was launched nationwide in Kansas City, Missouri in July of 2020. The operation is named after a 4-year-old boy, LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed in his sleep on June 29 in Kansas City.
Since its launch, over 6,000 arrests have been made nationwide. Of the 6,000 individuals arrested, approximately 1,500 have been charged with federal offenses.