As part of the Vera Institute of Justice’s Motion for Justice  initiative, Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones and Georgia State  Representative Carl Gilliard, founder of Savannah Feed the Hungry, announced the Show Us  Your Guns! (SUYG) Differentiated Disposition Program, a new policy focused on eligible young  adults between the ages of 16 and 25 years old who face possible criminal charges for a firearm  possession offense. In lieu of incarceration, the Savannah District Attorney’s Office is partnering  with Feed the Hungry to offer these young people programming and resources specific to each  participant, including job training, educational support, housing stability, health education, and  conflict resolution. The program will attend to the needs of each person, eschewing a one-size fits-all approach in favor of increasing each participant’s wellbeing and fostering a greater sense  of security within the community. 

“It is an honor to be one of ten offices in the country to receive the Vera Institute’s Motion for Justice grant.  The grant provides us with an opportunity to interrupt and prevent the entry of youth offenders into the  criminal justice pipeline. Prosecuting crime is just one part of a DA’s job – another part is to prevent future  occurrences of crime. The grant, our relationship with community-based partner The Empowerment  Center, and the establishment of the Show Us Your Guns! program are steps in the right direction to  improve the lives of young people in our community,” said District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones. 

Diversion programs tackle the root causes of crime in a community. Research has found that diversion  programs can cut reoffending rates in half compared to prison sentences and grow quarterly employment  rates by nearly 50 percent over a decade, with the positive effects lasting as long as 20 years. Moreover,  diversion programs reduce costs and are much more effective than incarceration at preventing future  interactions with the criminal legal system. Incarceration takes people away from their communities; in  contrast, diverting people pre-charge to a community-based diversion program connects them to life  changing treatment and support services. In this manner, a restorative process can take place that not  only reduces the number of individuals who enter the criminal legal system, but creates safer  neighborhoods and communities.

“I'm excited to be a part of a collaboration to help break the recidivism of incarceration and give people  an alternative to turn their lives around,” said Georgia State Representative Carl Gilliard. “Everyone  deserves a second chance and the Show Us Your Guns program is a wonderful opportunity for them to get  restructured and to have a new beginning.”ju8 

Many efforts to decarcerate have not addressed the root causes of mass incarceration, which are  perpetuated by racial inequity. In Chatham County, the Show Us Your Guns! diversion program will do so  by providing needs-based services to young people charged with gun possession; nationally, these charges  disproportionately impact Black people and people of color.  

“Despite its widespread use, research shows that increased incarceration has a marginal-to-zero impact  on crime,” said Akhi Johnson, Acting Director of the Reshaping Prosecution Initiative at the Vera Institute  of Justice. “The data suggests that diversion programs provide a way to reduce the number of people who  enter the criminal legal system and foster long-term public safety and better outcomes for everyone.  Thanks to this diversion policy, Chatham County residents will benefit from a stronger and more just  community.” 

New research finds that forgoing prosecution of nonviolent misdemeanor cases bolsters public safety by  minimizing current exposure to the criminal legal system and substantially reducing future exposure.  Individuated diversion programs are one tool that prosecutors have to address crime that delivers long term results.