Kidnapped at 11, Woman Emerges After 18 Years

[wildchild]

Originally Posted by Apoc

Funny you should say that. I recently read that probation officers in the USA have an average of 70-80 parolee's each. Im no cop lover, far from it, but common sense tells me you cant know where 80 people are all the time.

it's not about knowing where they are all the time, it's about doing the job they are asked to do. It's about scaring a probie into thinking if he screws up you will catch him and he will go back to jail. Do you notice how many crimes are committed by people on probation? They have no fear of being caught. Did you know one of the rules of probation is home search? Do you know what they really do? They tell you when they are coming and then they sit in your living room and ask if you have anything in the home you shouldn't have.
I had a roomate on prob. his officer came to the house and did just that. being on parole he was not allowed to have guns in his house. just down the hall from where the officer sat were 15 guns. (all mine) had she walked through the house he would have been revoked. Why did he not care? because he had been in the system previously and knew what they do.
When you miss your visit, they call and ask if you're coming. If you miss too many in a row then they will notify police and put out a warrant. (we're talking as much as 3 months late here)
I'm not reading things about how they work, I have actual experience with quite a few people who have been in that system. (on both sides) They do not do the job they are asked to do.
I know quite a few people on paper and not one of them has ever had their home searched even though it is on the list of things that will happen to you while on prob. Why? Because the officer's say it violates the person's privacy. Some will admit they are not comfortable doing it because it's dangerous. When you get too close to finding things that could send someone back to jail they tend to get very aggressive. Ok I get that so give the prob a gun and a back up.
Yes they deal with 70 to 80 people. that's a once a month visit for most of them. a few will be weekly or bi weekly. So let's see once a month for a half hour each well on the high side that's 40 hours of work for 80 people. Doesn't seem too tough to do that does it?
The absolute biggest problem I have seen with probation is talking with one officer. I mentioned a friend of mine and how they acted. The officer thought I was joking and said no one acts like that. Reason for his thoughts were because he had never known anyone to act like that. he was raised in a nice family, in a nice neighborhood and wanted to "make a difference" in life so he went into the field of prob. He had no real life experience with those who operate outside of the law. If you can't believe someone would do something then you wouldn't look for it.
Do I think they're all bad? of course not I know a couple that are complete asses. You know what? people hate being assigned to them, because they are almost guaranteed a trip back to their home away from home. Why because they do the job they are asked and paid to do.