DETROIT (WXYZ) — The U.S. Attorney General has a lot of praise for the police work being done in Detroit. He also says it’s important to know just how additional resources from the federal government are now being put to use.
“We thought Detroit would be a good place to increase our crime-fighting efforts. Crime has been going up in Detroit recently. We were looking for cities that have great police departments, leadership, and Mayors that support the police.” says Barr.
In a sit-down interview, he took time to highlight the importance of more officers, agents, and funding they are providing through “Operation Legend.”
Barr tells us, “We’re targeting people who are the shooters. Who are responsible for the increased homicides. We have increased our resources, more agents, and money for extra positions and to the prosecutor’s office.”
Barr took time to visit several high crime areas while touring Detroit and see guns taken off the streets.
“We just started this July 29th. We’ve arrested 22 people and the Marshals have captured 81 fugitives,” says Barr.
He adds it’s important to know this operation is not set up to target civil unrest.
Looking ahead, he sees more funding in terms of grants being made available for diversity training, community policing, and community outreach.
In addition, he says “When there’s an excessive force case, we and the FBI look at that as a potential civil rights case, that’s very high priority.”
AG Barr is spending much of the day in Detroit meeting with officers and agents, then flying out this evening. He says he’s confident “Operation Legend” will continue to be a success.
