Marty Haynes, president if the Hixson Kiwanis Club, and Coty Wamp
photo by Gail Perry
The Hixson Kiwanis Club held a meeting to host Coty Wamp and John Allen Brooks, the candidates running for the Hamilton County District Attorney. With Mr. Brooks being unable to attend, Coty Wamp took the opportunity to give her vision of how crime can be reduced in the county.
Ms. Wamp who won the Republican primary in May started her career as a Hamilton County Public Defender and then switched sides and worked as an Assistant District Attorney for Bradley County before her current job as General Counsel for the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
Violent crime in Hamilton has gotten out of control, partially because for the past eight years, the DA has been lenient, she said.
Some murder charges have been pending for years, that have ended in pleading the cases down and lowering sentences with the offenders getting out of jail early. This often results in that person committing a violent crime again, she said. Speeding up the trials would help stop that cycle, she believes.
She said the criminals are well aware of which judges and prosecutors are lenient and which will not prosecute certain laws. If any attorney refuses to prosecute any criminal statute, then they are not qualified to be the district attorney, she said. That is their job and it is unacceptable to pick and choose which laws to enforce, but there is the need to prioritize cases, she said.
Gang violence is the number one problem now facing Hamilton County and she puts the blame on gangs for the profusion of recent shootings. She said, "Everybody knows it is gangs that are responsible, the shootings are not random. People have been discouraged from using the word “gang, but never for me. We have a gang problem. Shootings are up 17 percent this year and there were 34 homicides last year in Chattanooga and 33 the year before. But the problem is not really how many people died, but the shooting."
She said she assumes if someone shoots at someone that means they are trying to kill.
Another problem is that teenagers are being recruited by older gang members because the punishment for juvenile offenders is more lenient. She said she would like 16-17-year-old juveniles with a gun to know that they will be prosecuted as an adult."If we prosecute," she said, "the word will spread."
There is a small group of violent offenders in Hamilton County that everyone in law enforcement knows. She said the grand jury last year believed there were 36 people that kept reappearing. She said in her plan, she would focus on violent offenders by having a specialized, violent gang prosecutor to work with the police department in the major crimes division and with the police gun team. She said the police "are begging for help from the DA." The solution will be to give them their own prosecutor who would also be involved in the investigation and will be familiar with the individuals involved.
Another part of her plan is to have a chief homicide prosecutor to speed up the process of trials for major felony offenses. Processing evidence by the TBI takes around nine to 12 months, but once her office gets the results and evaluates it, she said they would be ready for a trial and for all court dates, as opposed to having cases pending for years, as has been the practice in the past. In 2019, before COVID, with three Hamilton County criminal judges, just nine felony cases were tried. "We should be trying 30 cases per year," she said.
A gang intelligence unit will also be put together comprised of all law enforcement agencies. She said the different agencies are doing their jobs well but are not sharing information when it comes to gang violence. So the agencies need to come together and share information. If it can be established that an individual is a verified gang member, they can be punished more harshly. She envisions posting photos of gang members on the wall so everybody would be sure to know who the players are.
Opioid use and addiction are another big problem in Hamilton County but at the moment, ranks in importance after violence. There were 194 opioid deaths in Hamilton County last year, 128 of them from fentanyl. The rest mostly from meth coming across the border from Mexico. This is a public health crisis, she said. The families who have lost a member to an opioid overdose want justice. If you can prove who provided the drugs, they can be prosecuted for second degree murder.
Another topic she addressed was guns. Some people connect violent crime to gun control, she said but, in her opinion, gun control will not effect the problem because in Chattanooga last year there were 499 firearms stolen, and 108 in unincorporated areas of Hamilton County. Those stolen guns are being used in violent crimes. If you’re willing to steal and use those guns, you’re not interested in gun legislation, she commented.
Ms. Wamp said she is thinking about a plan for structuring the DA’s office for the first 30 days, then a 60-day plan and 90-day plan. She said her goal is to change some systems in Hamilton County and said, “I have the passion and time to do it and am dedicated to do it.” She said gang members will be picked off one by one and she hopes that the next time she runs for office that discussions about opioids will be first.