1. 7
Probation and Parole Officers

2. Qualifications and Qualities
Minimum requirements for entry-level positions, usually include:
possession of a state driver’s license
minimum age, generally 21
U.S. citizenship
physical qualifications
absence of a conviction for a felony and certain serious misdemeanors

3. Qualifications and Qualities
Other qualifications vary but focus on
education
supervision skills
firearms proficiency

4. Personal Qualities Basic knowledge Individual characteristics
Understanding of psychology, sociology, criminal statutes, police operations, internet, securities, accounting, banking
Individual characteristics
Ability to relate, exercise authority, work well with staff, organize work properly and prepare reports

5. Personal Qualities P/P agency Other agencies
Accept responsibilities, enforce rules and adhere to regulations
Other agencies
Deal effectively with many kinds of agencies and persons

6. Tasks and Hiring of Probation/ Parole Officers
Monitoring and enforcing compliance
Investigating
Analyzing and making recommendations
Report writing and documentation
Handling emergencies
Interacting/Communicating with probationers

7. Tasks and Hiring of Probation/ Parole Officers
Interacting/communicating with nonprobationers
Working with probation staff and other agencies
Working with the justice system
Performing physically demanding work

8. Selection of Probation/Parole Officers
Merit system
Meet minimum qualifications
Pass a competitive written examination
Ranked list
Developed to remove public employment from political patronage
Critics argue that the written exam cannot determine who will be a good officer

9. Selection of Probation/Parole Officers
Appointment system
Meet minimum requirement
Hired on the basis of an evaluation by the agency
No written examination

10. Selection of Probation/Parole Officers
Interviewed by an agency representative
Provides agency officials with the greatest amount of flexibility
History of being used for political purposes

11. Selection of Probation/Parole Officers
Combined system
First screened through a qualifying exam
Those passing are placed on a list
Usually have an interview with agency representative(s)

12. Agency Models Control Model Social Service Model
Primary focus is controlling the client’s activities with unannounced home and employment visits, checks for drug use
Social Service Model
The primary focus is on client needs, including employment, housing, and counseling

13. Agency Models Combined Model Parole < ………… > Probation
This model requires the officer to provide social services, while attending to control functions
Parole < ………… > Probation
ControlCombinedSocial Service
Most agencies would be in the middle
Probation typically on the right and parole on the left

14. Agency Models
P/P officer with a law enforcement focus would be found in the control or combined model agency
P/P officer with emphasis on rehabilitation would most likely be found in the social service model
Is the role compatible with the agency model?

15. Probation/Parole Officer Roles
Law enforcement
Primary concern is protection of the community through control of the client
Rehabilitation
Primary concern is the improved welfare of the client

16. Probation/Parole Officer Roles
Blend
The officer attempts to effect a combination of law enforcement and treatment

17. Officers as Treatment Agents
Does the probation officer have the training and skill to change the behavior of the client?
Is the therapeutic enterprise possible in a probation/parole setting?
Is it realistic to expect the delivery of treatment where caseloads average between 80 and 100?
Related to the social service model

18. Brokers or Advocates
Some see the brokerage approach as almost diametrically opposed to the treatment approach
Officer functions as a manager or broker of resources and social services available from other agencies
Officer’s relationship with community agencies is more important than the relationship with the client

19. Brokers or Advocates
Counseling and guidance are considered inappropriate activities for the officer
Assess the concrete needs of each probationer and make appropriate referrals to existing community services
Related to the social service model

20. Law Enforcement Agents
Most controversial role of the probation/parole officer
Related to the control model of supervision
Arrest powers and the carrying of firearms have become increasingly common
Officers going into high crime areas for home visits

21. Law Enforcement Agents
Agency policy with respect to firearms:
Officers are not permitted to carry firearms based on either state law or agency policy
Officers are by statute peace/law enforcement officers, but the agency either restricts or discourages the carrying of weapons

22. Law Enforcement Agents
Agency policy with respect to firearms:
Officers are by statute peace/law enforcement officers and the agency permits or requires all qualified personnel to carry firearms

23. Law Enforcement Agents
Should probation/parole officers make arrests and carry firearms?
Some agencies that permit the carrying of firearms on duty forbid officers from carrying a firearms while off duty

24. Powers of Search and Seizure
Shift in courts regarding the rights of prisoners and those under supervision in the criminal justice system
Griffin v. Wisconsin (1987) -
The special needs attendant to supervising probationers justified a warrantless search based on “reasonable grounds”

25. Powers of Search & Seizure
Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole v. Scott (1998)
Evidence seized by parole officers without a search warrant could be used at a parole violation hearing
Parolee signed a parole agreement
The relationship between the parole officer and the parolee is more supervisory than adversarial

26. Powers of Search & Seizure
United States v. Knights (2001)
Expanded the Scott decision
Probationer’s residence can searched based on reasonable suspicion
Reasonable expectation of privacy is diminished
Rehabilitation and protecting society from future criminal violations
State may focus on probationers

27. Powers of Search & Seizure
Supreme Court’s overall expectation of probation was to be much more oriented toward law enforcement than serving the needs of probationers
Samson v. California (2006)
Police officer may conduct suspicionless search of a parolee
Part of written agreement with parolee

28. Legal Liability of Probation/Parole Officers
Agencies generally exempt from liability for their governmental activities unless waived
Immunity for probation officers
Dependent on the agencies for which they work and nature of the functions they perform
In general, they have qualified immunity

29. Legal Liability of Probation/Parole Officers
Negligence
Most common form of tort action
Failure to exercise that degree of care which a person of ordinary prudence would exercise under similar circumstances or conduct that creates an undue risk of harm to others

30. Legal Liability of Probation/Parole Officers
Four elements to a negligence action
Legal duty owed to plaintiff
Violation of that duty by act or omission to act, which constitutes a breach of that duty
Act or omission was proximate cause for injury or damage suffered by the plaintiff

31. Legal Liability of Probation/Parole Officers
Four elements to a negligence action
Failure to warn
Duty to warn third persons when there is a “special relationship” between certain types of professionals and a person under their care
Reasonably foreseeable risk of harm

32. Legal Liability of Probation/Parole Officers
Reiser v. District of Columbia (1977)
Reasonably foreseeable risk factors:
The parolee’s job
His or her prior criminal background or conduct
The type of crime for which he or she was convicted

33. Volunteers in Probation/Parole Work
Four volunteer service models
One-to-one model
Obtain the trust and confidence of the client and help them maintain their existence
Supervision model
Working as a case aide to the P/P officer, the volunteer provides services at the direction of the PO

34. Volunteers in Probation/Parole Work
Four volunteer service models
Professional model
Professional in his or her field
Provides specialized services to client
Administrative model
Assists with project administrative functions and interacts only indirectly with clients

35. Key Terms Control model Social service model Broker Appointment system
Reasonable expectation of privacy
Probable cause
Merit system
Combined system

36. Key Terms
Volunteers
Legal liability
Negligence
Failure to warn