2 min read July 2023 — Tasha Mosley, Clayton County district attorney, talked to Focus: about efforts to educate the community in hopes of reducing crime. Part of that is providing anti-gun and anti-gang literature with its school drive supplies, while community outreach is another vital part of decreasing crime, she said.
What have been some key highlights for the Clayton County DA’s office in the past year?
A major highlight was starting jury trials again. We were given permission to start running grand juries in May 2021. In September, we went to one jury trial per week. As a result, we have been very backed up but in January the new chief judge had us reopened. For the next 12 months, I am hoping to reduce the caseload for our prosecutors.
What are your priorities right now?
Community outreach and gun safety are big ones. We are continuing to work with our school system to provide gun locks and self defense training. We are also going to be focusing on creating new partnerships. We have ideas for helping entrepreneurs start businesses and want to begin by teaching financial literacy to the youth. These are the endeavors we want to start, continue and build upon. As a prosecutor, I have to heal the entire community. I want to focus on preventing kids from becoming part of our judicial system. I must be present in my community and hear what people have to say.
What initiatives are in place to reach underserved communities?
Every year, we have school supply drives for back-to-school time. We give away supplies and include anti-gang, anti-gun, and cyber-bullying literature. If we continue to educate parents and students, hopefully, some of these trends will stop. From July to September, you can find us at homeowners’ associations handing supplies to kids and talking with them about these issues. We do a 5k Domestic Violence marathon with Sisters Empowerment Network to raise funds for domestic violence. We have a health fair in April to provide information for victims of domestic violence, and to provide resources for dental and high blood pressure screenings along with other medical needs. We are able to give victims information on how to get out of a bad domestic violence situation and provide the medical resources they might need afterward. We are also partnering with Area in Need, a local nonprofit, to hold a drive for clothes, school supplies, toiletries, pantry food and more. When we visit an elementary school with Area in Need, we educate parents about crime and how to keep their children safe. Every outreach that we do involves educating the community so that we can prevent more crime later down the road.
Do you have any initiatives in place for mental health?
We have three accountability courts, including drug, veterans and behavioral health courts. The behavioral health and veterans court have been developed more recently. We try to get people the help they need as soon as we can and stable housing is a huge part of this. We don’t want to put some of these individuals in jail if they are productive citizens who just have mental health issues and are unmedicated. We strive to get these members back into society where they belong.
What is the relationship between public safety and economic development?
If we don’t have public safety, nobody will move here. There aren’t enough people who want jobs in public safety since they are low paying. There is a lot of stress that comes with the job as well; what you can see or hear can be very overwhelming. We, as a society, have to do a better job taking care of first responders. They should be paid better as well; they need to be paid what they are worth. They put their lives on the line to protect us. By taking care of them, they take care of us. When they are taken care of, the economy grows and people feel safe moving here.
How has the legal profession changed in recent years and how is the DA’s office evolving with those changes?
COVID hurt us a lot. People were able to work from home but that wasn’t possible here. We were required to do our everyday activities in a completely different way. It forced us quickly into a digital realm, which a lot of people did not like. Many people quit the industry after this and found other ways to make more money easier. It is hard to attract and retain people in this profession since we aren’t able to work online. You also have to be mentally capable of handling this job; if you aren’t, this job will break you.
What does the industry need to do better to attract capable talent?
There should be more prosecution clinics in law school to prepare them. The state legislatures and local governments need to understand that if we fail, that is it. They need to put forth the money to do so.
What do you look for when hiring?
I look for free thinkers rather than cookie cutters. I want someone innovative who isn’t afraid to tell me when I’m wrong. I love recent law school graduates because they are in a new generation and have fresh thoughts and ideas.
What would you tell a young lawyer about navigating the industry?
I would tell them to take their time and be picky about where they are going to start. Even if a position offers good money, they have to ask themselves if it is a good fit for them. Mentally, they need a place they can grow and prosper.
What unique or defining characteristics would you highlight about Clayton County?
We truly are a hidden gem. We are a logistics hub with an airport and several highways just South of Atlanta. We also have a lot of land and the best water system in the state of Georgia. There are a lot of positives. Our cities have great leadership, so we are the perfect place for industries looking for a place to headquarter. We have some issues, such as public transportation, that still need to be addressed.
What is your outlook for Clayton County and the DA’s office for the next five years?
We will continue to grow the community and have more outreach programs. I hope we will see gang and gun violence drop. I want the youth to understand there are people here who care about them. We will continue helping entrepreneurs lay the foundation for the businesses they want to start. I hope that our murder numbers go down as a result of educating our people on domestic violence. Clayton County is going to have a rough economic period but if the citizens are patient, we will come out of it as a better county.
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