JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Saying she loves her job, State Attorney Melissa Nelson confirmed Monday she will be seeking a third term in office.
It was one of several topics discussed during and after a lunchtime speech Monday on “the state of the State Attorney’s Office.” Her wide-ranging speech covered everything from high profile cases like the murder of Jared Bridegan, to gang violence and the opioid epidemic – which she said claims four times as many lives as homicides on the First Coast.
Nelson also offered a dramatic demonstration of her office’s Shot Spotter technology, which alerts law enforcement to gunfire exchanges that go un-reported. She said four out of five shootings in Jacksonville are not reported to 911.
“That remains just a shocking audio,” she said after the speech. “It was three different guns, a three-way gunfight, I think there’s over 40 shots fired.” She continued, “I use that [audio clip] because it is shocking but it’s real. It’s a fact. I wanted people to hear what our fight is about.”
Nelson also showed surveillance video of a child standing on his grandmother’s porch before he’s caught in a hail of gunfire. The drive-by wasn’t fatal, but Nelson said gun violence between gang members continues to be a focal point of prosecutors and a significant contributor to the city’s homicide rate.
Nelson also highlighted the surging number of opioid deaths, which she said exceeded 500 last year compared to 132 homicides. Many of those deaths are related to the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is lethal in small doses, but increasingly mixed with other drugs to increase their potency and addictive qualities.
“I’ll tell you what’s quite scary,” she told the Meninak Club members gathered at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Jacksonville. “I am waiting – I hope it does not come to pass – but for a college party or a high school party where kids are using recreational drugs and we have a rash of deaths because those drugs are cut with fentanyl.”
“I have actually chills,” she added. “It scares me.”
Nelson said the state of the office is strong, but noted it faces recruitment challenges, including the 47th lowest starting salaries for prosecutors in the country.
“Arresting dangerous criminals does no good if there not a prosecutor to carry the ball down the field,” she said. “The police are half of the equation and the prosecutors -- just like “Law and Order” says, we are the other half.