In response to the staggering level of violent crime in May, June and July of this year, St. Louis implemented Operation LeGend. The goal of the operation is to provide additional federal and state law enforcement resources and support to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and to combat aggressively the rising rates of gun violence in our community.
Federal law enforcement personnel from the Department of Homeland Security, United States Marshal’s Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and Drug Enforcement Administration, and state law enforcement at the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Missouri Attorney General’s Office have all effectively joined forces with local authorities to attack violent crime.
The United States Attorney’s Office has dramatically increased the volume and speed of federal prosecutions to support the Operation.
Operation LeGend is working. As of November 5, 2020, Operation LeGend has resulted in 828 arrests, including 43 homicide suspects, and 259 guns seized. The arrests and seizures of crime guns were conducted by units supported by Operation LeGend agents and funding.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri has federally charged 357 defendants in St. Louis City and County. The federal prosecutions include firearms offenses, drug crimes, and sex crimes against children.
During this same 12-week period, crime in St. Louis City alone has been reduced from the extraordinarily high levels seen in the 12-week period preceding Operation LeGend as demonstrated below.
| CRIME | BEFORE LeGEND(May 21-Aug. 12) | DURING LeGEND(August 13-Nov. 5) | LeGEND CHANGE (Total) | LeGEND CHANGE % |
| Homicide | 111 | 53 | -58 | -52.25% |
| Rape | 29 | 27 | -12 | -41.38% |
| Robbery | 341 | 331 | -10 | -2.93% |
| *Carjacking | 96 | 97 | 1 | 1.04% |
| Aggravated Assault | 1417 | 991 | -426 | -30.06% |
| *Aggravated Assault with Firearm | 1041 | 723 | -318 | -30.55% |
| Total Crimes Against Persons | 1898 | 1392 | -506 | -26.66% |
*Subcategories do not add to totals
As was the case after eight weeks, comparing the 12 weeks after Operation LeGend was fully implemented, crime has dropped. These numbers are based on the Uniform Crime Reports gathered by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.