A.G. Gancarski
Wednesday saw 4th Circuit State Attorney Melissa Nelson address the Southside Business Men’s Club.
Nelson, who assumed office at the start of the year, is in the tail end of her honeymoon period. She’s been given a wide berth by many locals — media and otherwise — who remember the excesses of the Angela Corey era and who have been sympathetic to reforms introduced.
Nelson’s speech on Jacksonville’s heavily Republican Southside, offered minutes before Nelson embarked to a high-profile hearing, continued the era of good feeling as Nelson outlined her reform platform and accomplishments to a receptive crowd.
Nelson had spoken to this club during the campaign as a reform candidate and today she talked as an incumbent — and reformer, discussing the strategic prosecution unit and other reforms.
“In the beginning of the year, I said yes to every invitation to speak, constantly telling people what we were going to do.”
Nelson campaigned on building trust and transparency, and she asserted some achievements in that realm.
One such accomplishment: promulgating public safety as “foremost in our minds” at the SAO.
“We’ve begun to think of our role differently,” Nelson said, moving from a “reactionary” posture to something more holistic.
“We are trying to implement a two-prong approach,” Nelson said, incorporating prevention and strategic appropriation of prosecutorial resources.
Regarding the strategic prosecution unit, Nelson noted that Manhattan has a program like that.
Also key: technologies, such as ShotSpotter and NIBIN.
The goal: a “crime/gun intelligence center,” such as the one Denver has. There are six in the U.S. and Nelson hopes Jacksonville will have the seventh.
That center will allow prosecutors to be “embedded” with law enforcement, “sharing intelligence and information constantly about known offenders.”
Those offenders will be “plastered” in the center, and targets will be identified.
Even early on in this effort, Nelson says intelligence sharing is improving.
Regarding prevention, Nelson said diversion and treatment courts were integral to a “thoughtful and deliberate” resolution of cases.
Results are positive, Nelson said, especially regarding veterans and those with mental health issues.
“We know these treatment courts work, and in seven months we have increased our use,” Nelson said.
The felony case count: considerably down, year over year, with a planned closure of the felony criminal division amounting to $600,000 of budget savings.
Nelson attributes those cost savings, in part, to the reform vision being put into play.
Regarding juvenile civil citations, Nelson noted that Sheriff Mike Williams was “anxious” to get “greater latitude” toward using these.
“Across the board [in the 4th circuit], law enforcement wanted” this discretion, in cases like misdemeanor battery and other such infractions.
Juveniles in this program: diverted to teen court, and sent to a neighborhood accountability board.
“They are incredibly effective,” Nelson said about the NABs, with localized, community-based solutions that lower recidivism.
The previous state attorney had held up the process, delaying outcomes three to four weeks.
“We took the State Attorney’s office out of the process,” Nelson said, which is what law enforcement wanted.
Civil citations for juveniles were 24 percent a year ago; now, almost 50 percent, which Nelson saw as a “statistical positive trend.”
Nelson noted, that in cases like the Hemming Park process, the way the SAO announced its decision was an example of “transparency.”
“Once the cases are finished,” Nelson said, “you the public have the right to see our work.”
Public records, likewise, were delivered quickly — in the Hemming case, zip files with detailed case records were released to the press.
“We won’t play games with public records requests,” Nelson said, and the local newspaper has credited her with that improvement.
In the works: a community prosecution pilot program, which helps the SAO engage in the community and build trust.
“The concept of community prosecution is that prosecutors get to know their community,” Nelson said.
Interest in this concept has been robust, Nelson said.
“It sent a message to me that not only was the community interested,” Nelson said, but also people in the SAO, who are “ready and excited to do things differently than in the past.”
“If we can start thinking about our job holistically,” Nelson said, “we’ll all be better off for it.”
Nelson is excited about the trajectory of the office, as well as the energy in the building, and her “great team.”
Despite the reform agenda, Nelson is not soft on crime.
As an example, the SAO is seeking a life sentence for Joshua Phillips, the killer of Maddie Clifton who is now up for re-sentencing based on the Miller V Alabama case.
“No matter what happens this week,” Nelson said, “Phillips will be back in front of this court in six years.”
The SAO is dealing with numerous juvenile resentencing cases, Nelson said, and will handle all of them on a case by case basis.
An audience member lauded the synergy between the Sheriff’s Office, the SAO, and the Public Defender’s office.
Nelson’s response?
“You made my day.”
