By Probation Officer Rosario Zocco
For the past several years I have been a member of Caliber Press and now, Police1.Com. The information from these publications has been invaluable to me as a Probation Officer. However, as I sit in my office and/or at home reading articles about defensive tactics, firearms, and other related issues to Law Enforcement, it struck me that I have only seen one article written about Probation and Parole Officers. I thought about this for a long time and wondered why? I never came up with an answer and sat feeling like we were the forgotten brothers and sisters of Law Enforcement.
While I am certified in several areas and could write about DT, OC, Firearms, and MEB, I thought there was something else POs do well, but has not been talked about very much. The word Collaboration comes to mind. Probation Officer’s work with a diverse and complex network of people including: Judges, Attorneys, Cops, victims, treatment agencies, various community members, and defendants. It is strength for us and you don’t need a gun to do it. The purpose of this article is to raise awareness with my fellow officers about what we can contribute and also, how we can be utilized within the Law Enforcement Community. Let’s face it we are all in the business of “keeping the peace” we just do it differently.
The definition of collaboration in Webster’s dictionary is to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor. A second definition is to cooperate with an agency or instrumentality with which one is not immediately connected. So how can POs “collaborate” with other Law Enforcement agencies? I think the first place to start is by understanding what Probation Officers are empowered to do and what training they receive.
A day in the life of a Po consists of:
- Office reports and field visits
- Urine screens, DNA collection, and photos
- Preparing pre-sentence investigations
- Court
- Meeting with community agencies
- Service of warrants
By statute we are Peace Officers. Powers vary from state to state and County to County. Probation Directors can also impose stricter guidelines or allow officers to fully utilize their powers. Generally Pos have the authority to:
- Enforce Court’s orders and conditions
- Arrest and detain
- Serve warrants and make warrant-less arrests
Training standards are different for Pos than for the police and training varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In New York State Pos complete a course covering fundamentals of Probation. Topics include General Probation work, state mandates, how to supervise clients, preparing pre-sentence reports for the Courts, utilizing community resources, and basic firearms and defensive tactics. What is also different is that our primary function is not to arrest, but rather to correct behavior while an individual lives in the community.
I have worked many different details in my career and it never fails that the question comes up, “how come some POs don’t have guns?” It shows that the police might not understand our training and the role we are playing in the community. For the cops it’s clear: gun and badge go hand in hand. Not so for Probation Officers. Many POs are fully trained however, and carry a firearm, baton, OC, and handcuffs while others have no equipment at all.
Monroe County Probation encourages its officers to go out into the field and work in the community. Home visits provide a learning opportunity for both Probation and Patrol Officers. Information exchanged between officers helps in many ways:
- The cops learn that Johnny has a curfew and is not allowed to be in certain areas of the city
- What corners they’re on and who they are hanging with.
- I learn a probationer has been stopped and questioned and is a suspect in a recent crime.
- Police Officers have an advantage when dealing them as they learn who their PO is and can report violations.
Gathering information about who is who in the criminal world is an important aspect to both the Police and Probation. Monroe County Probation, Parole, Local PD, Sheriff, State Police, Federal, and Prosecution meet every other week to discuss “problem” folks and areas in the community. Of special interest are gang members and other violent individuals. Discussions are held to determine members/associates, locations, recent arrests, and any on-going investigations. Pos cross reference names to see who the police are targeting and/or have come in contact with and in turn the police learn who is on Probation. It allows other agencies to put a name to face in terms of who is supervising a person of interest. In addition, resources can be allocated in the planning of how to deal with those causing significant problems in the community.
Here are some programs in which agencies collaborate in Monroe County:
- Warrant Unit. These officers serve warrants on their own, however, there are many times we work side by side with local police, Sheriff, State Police, and the Feds. Our warrant unit has cleared over 5,800 warrants since 1995.
- Monroe County Probation also participates in several specialized details such as Cease-fire, Night-watch, DWI Surveillance, Project Impact, JIT (Juvenile Intervention Team), and Project Uplift.
- The Night-watch program was modeled after the Boston Project. POs and Police team up and ride together targeting probationers who have gang involvement and a propensity for violence. Those officers are given the power to make warrant-less arrests on probationers for violations of probation. I would suspect that some police agencies do not know that Probation Officers have that ability.
- DWI Surveillance; if probationers are seen drinking and/or driving an immediate sanction can be utilized. The Police are called, we do the affidavit, and offender goes to jail. Imagine that all in the same night!
Training with other departments is yet another way to collaborate. It provides for consistent skills in defensive tactics, firearms, and other topics. I would also encourage attending instructor certification courses along with co-teaching academy and in-service courses. Being in the same classroom allows for the enhancement of relationships among personnel and reduces false perceptions about job roles and ability. I can remember spending the week in tactical warrant school. I could hear some cops cringing at the idea of being paired up with a PO; however, as training went on we showed we were just as competent and capable.
There is no question that Law Enforcement needs to work together as we do more with less. Working collaboratively allows us to pool resources, so that we can address violent and dangerous behavior. Officers should keep an open mind, join associations related to Law Enforcement, and utilize technology. For those who like it simple: pick up the phone and talk to one another. I am confident there are other ways to achieve a working relationship between all our brothers and sisters who are in the fight for “keeping the peace.”
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Rosario Zocco was born and raised in Rochester, NY. His career in Law Enforment started in 1990 with the Monroe County Sheriffs office. He was hired as a Deputy Sheriff-Court Security Deputy. His duties were to provide Courtroom security to Judges and those entering into the Hall of Justice. He left the Sheriffs Office in 1997 to take a Probation Officer position in Monroe County. He has been there for nine years. His duties and assignemnts included supervision of adult probationers and Juveniles (current). He is certified as a Defensive Tactics, Firearms, OC, and MEB(expandable baton) instructor. He is also a menber of the East Coast Gang Investigators Association (ECGIA). He is involved with his warrant unit and has worked many specialzed details including night-watch, ceasefire, DWI-surveilllance and Operation Impact.