Chapter 12 Flashcards
(16 cards)
Klockars’ Typology
Carl Klockars (1972)- 4 basic types of supervision officers:
- law enforcer
- time server
- therapeutic agent
- synthetic officer - both law enforcer & therapeutic agent
Appointment system
judge or selection committee appoints a chief probation officer who hires assistants subject to approval of advisory body
Merit (civil service) system
developed to remove public employees from political patronage (what you know rather than qualifications), applicants meet minimum employment standards are interviewed & evaluated, placed on ranked list, selected based on order of rank
Officer qualifications
- knowledge of human behavior
- good oral & written communication skills
- build relationships & establish rapport
- treat people fairly, consistently, firmly, & w/respect
- knowledgeable about different cultures
- good time managers
- clean record
Education & experience
- most probation officers have at least a bachelor’s degree
- recruited out of social work, psychology, sociology, & CJ
Officer salary
- as of 2023, median salary of U.S was $55,000-$60,000 per year
- impacted by whether officer works in local or state agency, & whether department stands alone or is combined probation/parole department
Administrator salary
earn considerably more than field officers, average salary for probation/parole administration can be well over 100k
Officer basic training
- preservice training - basic knowledge, skills, and abilities to new officers
- combined probation & parole offices require at least 208 hours of preservice training
- probation and parole officers that are separate require fewer hours of training
- states where officers carry firearms require completion of Peace Officer State Training (POST)
Juvenile preservice training
- American Correctional Association recommends juvenile probation officers receive 40 hours of preservice training
- American Bar Association suggests 80 hours of preservice training w/additional 48 hours within 1st 6 months
- juvenile officers have fewer training hours than adult ones
- no national training standards for juvenile probation
Stressor in probation/parole
- excessive paperwork
- lack of promotional opportunity
- lack of time to accomplish job due to large caseloads
- officers have discretion & can choose whether to exercise it
- officers: empathetic, understanding, objective, & terminate/revoke clients
- court leniency on offenders
- administrative policies, fear being sued
Alleviating fear of being sued
different types of protection:
- government officials, unless they engage in acts (intentional & wrong)
- those who act in a legislative, quasi-judicial, & prosecutorial function
- parole board officials in release, revocation decisions
- officers preparing PSI reports
Qualified immunity
- workers performing administrative factors whose actions are “objectively reasonable”, & within scope of agency policies
- probation & parole officers have qualified immunity for most actions they take
Fear of being sued part 2
- best approach for officers: follow department policy, orders of court or parole board, & justify their actions w/accurate paperwork
- negligence is failure to do that which a reasonably prudent person would have done in a similar circumstance
- officers who are grossly or willfully negligent may be liable & sued
Private probation
- as state & local government look to trim costs in budgets, they have turned to private companies for array of services from drug testing to EM
- private service providers can be profit & nonprofit organizations that provide both supervision & treatment services
- private, nonprofit entities: been involved in community supervision since 1800s
More private probation
- at least 18 states currently use private sector for some form of supervision, 10 which rely on private agencies for supervising misdemeanor & low risk clients
- regulating private sector is slow, w/some jurisdictions operating under unclear/non- existent standards for awarding contracts to private providers, staff hiring requirements, & curriculums for outpatient treatment services
Criticisms of probation privatization
- need to provide effective correctional services at odds w/having to make profits for businesses
- private sector probation completes w/government’s traditional & ultimate responsibility to carry out punishment fairly
- PS not equipped to be full-service organization, only takes low risk offenders
- PS doesn’t have uniform method of monitoring probation conditions or ensuring collection of victim restitution
- employees of PC get less training & chances for career advancement
