SAVANNAH, Ga. () — Bond is under scrutiny in Savannah and Chatham County, after a string of violent crimes spanning back to March 7 where the suspects were out on bond, violating the terms of their release.

Savannah Defense Attorney Boone Phillips deals with around five bond cases per week and spoke to about the ongoing bond conversation.

“I know the issue of these individuals getting bond has been a problem for the community,” said Phillips. “I understand these people committing crimes out here, a lot of them are out on bond, but we can’t just deny bond to everybody. It’s really hard to predict what someone’s going to do in the future.”

Predicting the future is something judges, prosecutors and now Phillips told is impossible and unfortunate.

Phillips said he is passionate about bond and wants to reverse the stigma the term has been getting as of late.

“If one person is denied bond, it affects their entire livelihood. It affects their ability to work, it affects their relationships with their families, and it’s probably the most important part of my job- making sure innocent people are represented and people who may have done something wrong, and we can ensure the courts they can be released and won’t violate the law pending trial,” said Phillips.

In a lot of his cases, he said bond has been beneficial to not only his clients but the community as a whole.

“A lot of times they are going into counseling, they are taking anger management and participating in family violence intervention programs, and they’re actually becoming better citizens for us.”

Phillips also said he has noticed amidst the string of recent violence; the justice system has been hyper-vigilant when it comes to bond.

“I’ve noticed in the past several months since, judges are looking at this more closely than they were before.”