A Push to Bring Operation Legend To the Capital Region
by Doug La Rocque
Operation Legend is described by U.S. Attorney General William Barr as a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative across all federal law enforcement agencies working in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight the sudden surge of violent crime in our cities. Operation Legend is named after four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed while he slept early in the morning of June 29 in Kansas City, MO.
On October 7, Rensselaer County Legislative Chairman Mike Stammel and County Executive Steve McLaughlin sent a letter to A.G. Barr, asking that Operation Legend be brought to bear in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy region and its encompassing counties. Their letter goes on to says the cities of Albany and Troy have seen unprecedented violence and tragedy un recent months. Albany has seen 18 homicides and Troy 13 homicides as of this writing, with shootings occurring on an almost nightly basis. Tragically, an 11-year old in Troy was among the victims of this senseless violence.
District 5 legislator Todd Tesman, who owns an automotive repair facility in Melrose, just north of Troy, is making this a personal crusade. He says he was encouraged by the recent meeting between Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District Antoinette Bacon and the police chiefs from the area’s three largest cities. This he says, however, is not enough and he wishes that the meeting had included other law enforcement agencies, such as the county sheriffs. He is calling on A.G. Barr to release federal funds and resources to help battle what he says is a “gang problem,” exacerbated by New York State’s bail reform law. This reform he claims leaves police and prosecutors unable to detain criminals on a majority of charges in state penal law, allowing hardened and often violent criminals to be back on the street within hours. In their letter, Stammel and McLaughlin contend federal charges are needed to combat violent drug gangs and will send a very clear message to those that put our communities at risk, that they will pay a high price for their actions.
All three gentlemen label this “a vital fight” and that could well shape the future of those who live in our cities across the nation, including in our county and region.