Issues
When it comes to criminal justice, we have to begin prioritizing. Our county has unique issues. Violent crime and overdose rates are soaring. Child sex abuse crimes have been put on the backburner. Resources have been wasted. We have to focus on what matters most to our community. Read more about the issues Coty cares the most about…
Law Enforcement
The relationship between law enforcement and the District Attorney’s Office must be rebuilt and reinforced. The District Attorney is the chief law enforcement officer of the judicial district—as such, the role of the District Attorney should be to support and stand behind our local law enforcement officers. Successful prosecution will only be accomplished through collaboration and teamwork between the DA’s Office and our law enforcement agencies.
As District Attorney, Coty will be an unwavering ally of law enforcement and will commit to working alongside officers on a daily basis in order to effect change. The District Attorney should protect the community through prosecution of criminal offenders. But Coty believes that another significant role of the District Attorney is to protect and defend our law enforcement officers. Her commitment to law enforcement is that if our men and women in blue treat people well and respect constitutional rights, she will have their back.
Since announcing her campaign, Coty has received endorsements from both major police unions — theInternational Brotherhood of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police.
Gangs & Violent Crime
We have a gang and violent crime problem that is plaguing our city, destroying families, and threatening our way of life. As District Attorney, Coty will pour resources into both the prevention and prosecution of gang and violent crime.
In Hamilton County we must determine what our criminal justice priorities are — Coty will focus on prosecuting the criminals who are tearing our community apart by seeking to harm others. This will begin with the creation of a Gang and Violent Crime Unit in the District Attorney’s Office that replaces the current Cold Case Unit. The Gang and Violent Crime Unit will work directly with the Chattanooga Police Department’s major crimes division and gun team. Under Coty’s leadership, this Unit will have a dedicated prosecutor whose sole responsibility is to work with major crimes, the gun team, and the gang and violent crime unit. The goal is to ensure that when one of these three groups brings a major case through the court system that the District Attorney’s Office has already been heavily involved in the investigation on the front end. The prosecutor dedicated to the gang and violent crime unit will be a resource for law enforcement, an advisor when called upon, and once the case is made will carry it through the justice system.
We must also begin trying more felony cases. In 2019, there were nine felony jury trials held in Hamilton County. With all of the violent crime we are seeing in our community, we should be having at least triple the amount of trials per year. Defendants are sitting in the jail, using taxpayer dollars, for years before they go to trial or until their case is pled. We can create a more efficient system with the right leadership.
Policy Changes & Wasted Resources
Within the District Attorney’s Office, Coty plans to enact policy changes intended to promote a more efficient criminal justice system. In Hamilton County, our court system is clogged. Cases remain pending for entirely too long, not enough cases are tried, and misdemeanors are bound over to criminal court that do not belong in criminal court, thus placing a burden on the grand jury and the dockets. Simple changes in priorities and office structure can alleviate a lot of these problems. Coty is committed to working with the Judges, Chiefs of Police, the Sheriff, and other elected officials to come up with workable solutions.
Currently, there are three positions in the District Attorney’s Office that have been created in the last eight years—Chief of Staff, Communications Director, and BULLSEYE Coordinator. When elected, Coty will immediately eliminate all three positions. There is no precedent in Hamilton County for any of these three positions to exist in the DA’s Office. Eliminating these positions alone will create close to $200,000 extra dollars in annual salaries for prosecutors. The District Attorney should focus on and allocate all office resources to the prosecution of criminal cases. Creating positions not related to prosecution, and then filling those positions with family members is a waste of resources and lacks transparency.
Drugs
Heroin and fentanyl are our two major killers. Because violent crime receives most of the media attention, we have neglected to address the opioid epidemic that plagues our young people. In 2021 there were 947 overdoses in the city of Chattanooga, 109 of which resulted in death. We do not need to shame the addict, instead, we need to prosecute the drug dealers.
If elected, Coty believes individuals caught manufacturing, selling, or delivering heroin and fentanyl should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. The fullest extent of the law is a mandatory prison sentence. If, for the past eight years, our District Attorney’s Office was sending all major opioid dealers to prison, we would have dozens less dealers on the streets. If the State has enough evidence to prove the manufacturing, selling, or delivering of heroin or fentanyl, the defendant should have to plead guilty as charged, or go to trial. We need less negotiation and more prosecution.
Child Sex Abuse
Years ago, the County Commission gave the District Attorney’s Office money to fund the position of a Child Sex Abuse Prosecutor. Based on the nature of the cases and the fact that they’re often extremely hard to prosecute and require a level of attention that other cases may not, the prosecutor who held this position was only responsible for handling these cases, and nothing else. This prosecutor worked directly with the Children’s Advocacy Center and the Family Justice Center to ensure child sex crimes and domestic assaults were handled with extra care.
In the last few years, my opponent has removed this position from his office. There is currently no prosecutor dedicated to handling child sex abuse cases or severe domestic violence cases. When elected, Coty has committed to not only restoring the position of Child Sex Abuse Prosecutor but she is also committed to the office of this prosecutor to be located at the Children’s Advocacy Center and Family Justice Center so that both organizations know that they have the constant support of the District Attorney’s Office and always have a full-time prosecutor to work with. This position must be restored.
