President Trump started Operation Legend on July 8th, 2020. He named this law enforcement operation in rememberance of a four-year-old African American child named Legend Taliferro. Young Taliferro was sleeping in his room when he was shot and killed by an unknown assailant in Kansas City, Missouri on June 29th, 2020.
President Trump started this law enforcement task force in response to a letter sent to him by Mayor Quinton Lucas. Mayor Lucas had written Trump on July 3rd telling him that there was a crisis in Kansas City regarding crime and that the city needed help. In response to the letter President Trump had the Department of Justice send federal agents from different federal agencies to help Kansas City. As a side note, many people inside of Kansas City have been outraged over the death of Legend Taliferro and no one knows who killed the child, but everyone wants the responsible person(s) to be brought to justice.
Operation Legend has been met with criticism by many mayors throughout the country because President Trump has authorized this new federal task force to assist various cities throughout the country without anyone’s request. A small minority of mayors have praised the President’s help and thanked the President for his assistance with ongoing crime. Because crime has run rampant countrywide and many local law enforcement agencies have become overwhelmed the use of federal troops might be necessary.
Many people believe that the president has gone too far by authorizing the use of federal troops. Other people agree with the use of extra troops because they do force violent criminals to control their actions. Still, many Americans are not excited about federal troops being deployed to their streets. Ultimately, Operation Legend has only been around for a month and the results from this federal law enforcement program have yet to be determined. If it is successful, this federal response could become a routine method for controlling widespread crime within American cities in the future.
