Plumas Probation Chief celebrates staff during Probation Service Week
In Plumas News
Chief Probation Officer Keevin Allred announced that this year’s annual Probation Service Week is July 17 – July 23, held to honor probation professionals who work to keep communities safe and support the rehabilitative process for the justice-involved individuals under their supervision and care.
According to Allred, activities of the Probation Department are often less apparent and familiar to most citizens in comparison to front-line law enforcement officers. Probation is fundamentally an alternative to incarceration.
Probation Officers are sworn officers tasked with supervising defendants placed on formal probation with court-ordered conditions. The activities of these officers focus on holding defendants accountable for compliance with these conditions. They do so by providing field contacts, searches, drug testing, violation reports filed with the court, and when necessary, arrests, among many other activities.
“What makes Probation Officers unique” Allred said, “ is their ability to balance accountability with an earnest effort to help defendants with rehabilitation, which ultimately is the most effective way to reduce recidivism.” Probation Officers utilize evidence-based practices to provide effective rehabilitation services.
Supervision level and rehabilitation efforts are guided by the use of validated assessment tools that provide detailed information regarding a defendant’s risk to reoffend, criminogenic needs (factors in an offender’s life directly related to recidivism), and effective interventions for addressing these needs, such as; cognitive behavioral therapy, journaling, parenting classes, domestic violence classes and referrals to various providers for services.
“The Probation Officers and staff at the Plumas County Probation Department are exceptional in these efforts,” Allred said.
