Georgia Prosecutors Join Forces to Combat Violence

District attorneys from some of Georgia’s largest counties havelaunched the Urban District Attorney Coalition to share ideas on a variety of criminal justice issues, including how to fight gang violence, engage witnesses and victims and give young and nonviolent offenders an alternative to prosecution.

District attorneys from some of Georgia’s largest counties have launched the Urban District Attorney Coalition to share ideas on a variety of criminal justice issues, including how to fight gang violence, engage witnesses and victims, and give young and nonviolent offenders an alternative to prosecution, reports the Associated Press. District attorneys in the group include Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Broady, Metro Atlanta prosecutors Fani Willis and Sherry Boston, Anita Howard from Macon and Mark Jones from Columbus, among numerous others.

“We love our communities, but we know in order for our communities to be better, we have to make them safe,” said Broady. District Attorney Jared Williams from Augusta said part of the group’s focus was on using “data-driven policies” to prevent crime. He cited early childhood intervention as an example and said the policies may not always be politically popular. Many Republicans ahead of the 2022 elections are trying to make the case that voters shouldn’t trust Democrats on crime.