Rising Stars: Meet Jonnie Moeller-Reed of Marietta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonnie Moeller-Reed.

Jonnie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I began my law enforcement career with Marietta Police 25 years ago. My goal from day #1 was to become a homicide detective. After four years on patrol, I went to our investigative division and began my dream job working homicides and other crimes against persons. I quickly became our lead person’s crime investigator and had much success in bringing justice for our victims and their families.

During my tenth year in the division, I experienced (as many investigators refer to) as that “one case” of your career that stays with you. For me, this case was a missing persons case. I spent a year looking for my victim, knowing that she was likely deceased, never being able to bring her home to her family. The case happened in 2013 and still has not been resolved. Despite all of my successful cases, I began to question my ability to bring this case to a resolution. In addition, the years of chronic stress from working the “worst of the worst” cases had begun to take a toll on my mental and physical health. I realized that I was in a dark space and wondered if others struggled with the demons of the job, too, even though no one talked about it.

After ten years of doing my “dream job”, I decided, for my own well-being, that it was time to leave the division and do something different. Another passion of mine was teaching, so I accepted a position at our academy as a course coordinator/instructor. This position gave me the time and opportunity to work through some of the things that I had compartmentalized during the 14 previous years of my career.

While assigned to the academy, I was also able to partner with the mother of my victim in the missing person’s case, and bring training to other officers and investigators through the development of a Missing Persons training class. We also began speaking together to victimology classes at Kennesaw State University, in hopes of educating students and future law enforcement professionals, on how to show empathy to victims and their families.

As I moved into a healthier headspace, I wanted to do something for other officers who may also be struggling with the cumulative stress of the job. I created a peer support team for our department in 2015 and began to seek out additional training and support for our officers. Unfortunately, however, in 2021, my agency was shaken to its core with the suicide of two of our officers. These events were life-altering and motivated me even more to work towards educating officers about the stressors of the job and how to prevent cumulative stress, burnout, and suicide. I went back to school and obtained my Master’s Degree in Forensic Psychology with an emphasis in police psychology and officer wellness. I wanted a solid foundation of education from which to guide and instruct our officers.

Currently, our peer team has been active for ten years now, and we continually look for ways (traditionally and non-traditionally) to support the well-being of our officers. It has taken the past ten years to slowly change the culture of policing and to normalize the stress-response that our officers experience. In 2024, our Chief incorporated me into a full-time position as a Wellness Officer for my department. I was the first sworn officer to hold this position with any agency in the State of Georgia.

In the past year, we have incorporated equine therapy into our department’s wellness plan, along with other initiatives such as family recruit night, in-service training, etc. Additionally, I recognized the need for other departments to develop a solid peer support foundation within their own agencies, as not all departments were able to have a full-time person dedicated to officer wellness. So, in 2025, I founded the Metro Atlanta Public Safety Peer Support Collaborative. This provides a forum in which public safety peer support personnel from all around the Metro area can come together and train, network, and collaborate on issues related to peer support and the mental health of our first responders.

As our network continues to grow, my hope is that every first responder in the State of Georgia will have immediate access to peer support and culturally-competent mental health professionals when needed. By educating our first responders and normalizing the stress response, I hope to alleviate the stigma and fear that responders have surrounding their own mental health.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
As a woman in a male-dominated profession, there are many challenges to overcome. Overall, women make up about 15% of law enforcement personnel, and the percentage of female homicide detectives is even lower. The need to constantly feel as though you have to prove yourself is very real. I nearly worked myself to death trying to prove that I was worthy of being in the position that I was in.

Additionally, there is a huge burden that investigators place upon themselves when working these cases. That investigator carries the burden of knowing that he or she is the person responsible for bringing justice to the victims and their families. They must speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. The entire weight of the case rests on the shoulders of that investigator, and the weight can be an extremely heavy burden to carry.

Additionally, being the first officer to speak out publicly in the department (about the stress and the challenges of the job) was not easy. It has taken years to break down the stigmas associated with officer mental health. The stigma still exists, but is slowly changing. Being vulnerable enough to share my story with others was initially a tremendous challenge, but I knew that, by speaking about it, I could help someone else.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have worked in public safety for 28 years, including 3 years in Cobb County 911 prior to becoming an officer with Marietta PD.

During my 25 years at MPD I have worked in a variety of units, including patrol, investigations and FBI Human Trafficking Task Force, the training unit, community outreach, and as a coordinator/instructor at our police academy. I am also the senior member of our Negotiations Team. (I have been on the team for 20 years).

My passion has always been to help others, especially those who cannot speak for themselves. As I progressed through my career, my passion began to evolve and shift towards helping our own officers process and manage the stressors of the job.

Publicly, I am proud of being selected as Officer of the Year twice (2007 & 2018), recipient of the Medal of Meritorious Service twice (2009 & 2023), I am probably most proud of receiving the Major Steve Campisi Compassionate Service Award in 2025. This award was created in honor of Major Campisi, a pillar of our department, who died by suicide in 2021. The award honors Major Campisi’s work ethic, servant’s heart, inspiration to others through mentorship and performance, and fulfilling one’s duties with honor and integrity.

Privately, I am most proud of the officers that I have been able to help, behind the scenes, that most people do not even know about. By sharing my struggles, officers can understand that it is acceptable to have human emotion and to ask for help to process through it. The power of peer support is having officers understand that they are not alone and they have support from others who have experienced it, too.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Bringing awareness to officer mental health is key.

I would love to collaborate with the community and local businesses to provide low-cost/free wellness services to our officers. Unfortunately, I do not have a budget to work with, so the only funds that I have access to are from grants and/or our Marietta Police Foundation. Our foundation has been instrumental in supporting my efforts to address officer mental health and wellness.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mariettapolicefoundation.org
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonniemoellerreed
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/marietta-police-foundation-inc/