DISCUSSION
Nationwide, many probation and parole jurisdictions choose the week of July 15-21, 2018, to recognize those officers engaged in the activity of providing community supervision, accountability, and rehabilitative services to offenders.
Probation Departments have an important role within the criminal justice system and offender supervision is an essential piece to reducing recidivism and achieving community safety. Probation services are a multi-dimensional approach to community safety and include: prevention; accountability through community supervision; changing criminal thinking; objectively accessing the law and facts for individuals coming before the court; restoring victims and preventing future victimization; providing evidenced informed assessment, strategies, and rehabilitative services that promote long-term behavior change; providing comprehensive reentry services; and ensuring secure and effective detention services for juveniles. Probation officers are sworn peace officers who work with high risk offenders both in the field and office and are exposed to the risks of a career in law enforcement. The officers who work for Probation do so in a highly professional manner and are trained to manage a variety of situations. Shasta County’s Deputy Probation Officers supervise approximately 2,200 adult and 100 juvenile offenders. These Probation Officers possess keen observation skills, exercise exceptional judgment, enforce strict accountability and demonstrate uncommon compassion and understanding. They are dedicated, hard-working people who are truly concerned about providing offender accountability and promoting offender rehabilitation. The staff care about the community and want to make a difference. The primary goal of a Shasta County Probation Officer is, and always has been, to provide “safer communities and better lives” for Shasta County.
This week is the occasion to honor those professionals and let them know they are appreciated. It is also an opportunity to let the communities they serve know how well they perform their jobs despite their workloads and other challenges they face. Shasta County Probation Officers make our community a safer place to live, raise families, attend school, work, and play. |