Q&A with State Attorney Melissa Nelson: Here's what she had to say about several topics

From gun crimes to fentanyl overdoses and homicides on the decline, one thing State Attorney Melissa Nelson didn't have to address in a recent interview was the upcoming elections.

She is unopposed and assured a third term leading the 4th Judicial Circuit that covers Duval, Clay and Nassau counties. In fact, only four of Florida’s 20 state attorney offices have contested races this year, according to The Florida Bar.

Nelson took over in 2017 defeating polarizing incumbent Angela Corey . Charlie Cofer did the same to embattled Matt Shirk in the Public Defender's Office and is unopposed as well this election season.

In addition to discussing the circuit's new Gun Violence Offender Court , Nelson sat down Wednesday with The Florida Times-Union to talk about a broad range of topics from her tenure and moving forward. Here are some of the highlights and excerpts:

Homicides are currently at 54, compared to 88 this time last year. The city is well on pace to have fewer than 100 . How has the State Attorney’s Office factored into this?

“I would say for the last seven years violent crime has been a top priority, and we at the State Attorney’s Office have tried to be creative in our approach — Novel Prosecutions is one example about that. We recognize that we’re a bunch of suits, we’re lawyers… If we show up in a bad area of town wearing jackets, we’re not going to deter crime. The police presence absolutely I think deters crime. But we did have a discussion what … we have that we can contribute, either act as a force multiplier or contribute, to the fight against crime. We just don’t need to be thinking about once we get the case and what we do in the courtroom.

"And to that end, we spearheaded Mayor [Lenny] Curry and the City Council to give us the funding for the Crime Gun Intelligence Center . We led the effort to bring NIBIN [ National Integrated Ballistic Information Network ], which has been a game-changer in investigating these cases. We have partnered with law enforcement and have such strong relationships I think that ultimately make for better cases and more successful outcomes. Because it’s no good if they arrest a bad guy and we can’t convict the person.

"So we’ve done a whole bunch of things with the goal of making an impact on public safety. So the numbers are encouraging to me. I know that they are just a moment in time and they can change. I think under Sheriff [T.K.] Waters’ leadership, his contacts with people, and again police presence matters, that certainly I would believe contributes to this. But I would like to think that our efforts here at the State Attorney’s Office, we’re starting to maybe see the fruits of our labor.

“There’s a lot that we can do when we know the vindictive cycle, the kids in the gangs … in some cases it’s incapacitating the person, getting them off the street and making sure they can’t hurt anybody. It’s identifying those cases before they start shooting.

"The other piece that I think is so important is identifying … the little kids watching. We can predict the path they’re going to take, right. If their uncle is a quarterback of a football team, they’re going to want to be a football player. If they’re watching their uncle or their dad or their brother flash cash and do gang signs and carry an extended magazine, they’re going to want to be him too. This obviously is not an enforcement question for the State Attorney’s Office but it is a broader question that I think the community should grapple with … identifying those most at-risk kids and trying to change the predicable trajectory where they might end up.”

How has the State Attorney's Office 'On High Alert' focus on fentanyl overdose deaths and manslaughter charges been faring?

“When I talk about doing some creative things, I would say that campaign, that PSA , is an example of thinking outside of the box for the State Attorney’s Office. … Our goal with that, and averting crisis is a difficult thing to measure — was to tell a story through the lens of the people impacted by losing someone to overdose. They’re impactful. ... I think everybody knows the extent of the problem and I would say most people have been touched in some way by this because it so pervasive and it’s not limited to one group at all.

"That was our goal, an awareness campaign. It did really well, one of the clips went to the Jacksonville Film Festival. That idea was born out of the discussion, we have for years gone to schools and given talks about the dangers of drugs and I thought is that really effective? … Video seems to be king, and sending a message in a shorter but hopefully more powerful way than somebody giving a speech, that was our hope in that.

"With the prosecutions, we are very aggressive in holding people accountable who deal drugs that result in an overdose death. I’ve met with so many families, and sometimes it’s cases where the dealer is cutting the drug with fentanyl to make the drug cheaper, and it makes it a lot more dangerous. … And some are where the victim is actually seeking fentanyl.

"Now we’re working really well with JSO, they have an overdose team and they know how to work the cases really well. We have developed expertise in our own office. We have a couple of prosecutors, the cases they don’t personally handle they’re plugged in on and overseeing, but for the most part they’re handling these cases from start to finish and they know how to prosecute them.”

Communications Director David Chapman provided some statistics about the cases: From January 2018 through mid-June of this year, they've had a total of 204 cases involving overdoses , 45 resulting in manslaughter convictions, 13 that are pending and an additional 125 overdose-related convictions.

“They are challenging to put together and so those are really successful numbers because they take a lot of work on the front end to make sure we can prove them beyond a reasonable doubt," Nelson said. "But I know there were a lot of academics who said this was the wrong way to go about addressing this problem. There are people who are critical … but I think if you’re dealing drugs and you know the dangers of that, we’re going to send a message that if you’re dealing drugs and cause an overdose, that’s what the Legislature has passed and given us the tools to do, we’re going to follow the law.”

You’ve been a proponent of juvenile diversion programs to try to give troubled youths a way to get their lives back on track. Have you found positive results?

“Yes, we have found a lot of success in juvenile citations . I think that’s because of the way we went about standing it up. Everybody involved in that process was at the table and gave feedback. Another thing that we do is we are giving feedback to our law enforcement partners. If we see an arrest that could have been a citation, we’re communicating to say hey, there’s a feedback loop. Then if we see a civil citation has gone well, we’re making sure the officer who gave the citation knows the outcome of that case too.

"It allows officers to stay in service. They’re not wasting a bunch of time booking someone. When I talk about swiftness in punishment, civil citation sanctions are more quickly administered than in the courthouse. If I’m reprimanding my kid, I don’t say come see me in 90 days with a lawyer and then we’ll figure out what was going to happen. I think the swiftness and you come face to face often through either teen court or how they do civil citations in the neighborhood accountability boards, often you’re face to face with the person that you’ve hurt or stolen from or something, that has an impact. So we see good recidivism numbers and we see great numbers in tax dollars being saved.”

You’re unopposed in the upcoming election and entering your third term. Can you reflect on what things you’ve felt good about during your first several years and what perhaps has been more difficult?

“I’m really proud of lots of the things we accomplished and the initiatives we’ve rolled out , many of which that we talked about today. I’m proud of the Crime Gun Intelligence Center and the Targeted Prosecution Unit. I’m excited about the number of trials that we are ensuring are taking place this year. I’m proud of the fentanyl awareness campaign. I’m proud of the way we’ve communicated with the public over the course of the last several years, and with the media, making sure that you’re informed about the things that we are doing and making sure that the community knows what we are doing.

"But I always say the thing I’m most proud about really are the people I work with, and I mean that sincerely. We have an unbelievable team here, people who care, are passionate about justice, are passionate about victims, are passionate about doing the right thing and they inspire me every day. So the thing I’m most proud about are the folks that I work with.

"The thing I found the most challenging is managing an organization of this size and all that comes with that. The HR issues, administrative issues, operational issues, that was new to me. But the challenge has been great, and again I am surrounded by a team of people who have taught me a lot and have made the organization successful. I’ve always said when I leave here, I hope that the mark we together have left on this office will remain for a long time."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Q&A with State Attorney Melissa Nelson: Here's what she had to say about several topics