Probation

Probation is the conditional release of an individual by the court after he has been found guilty of the crime charged. Over the past decade probation has become the sentence that is ruled more than any other. With over populated prisons, alternative sentencing has been the top choice when dealing with adult violent offenders. Probation population has become almost two times the size compared to prison population. The number of offenders has doubled when statistics are compared over the past decade. Probation officers today deal with supervisions like house arrests and electric monitoring. These enforcements in some areas will charge certain fines and fees for these extra services. Probation and Parole officers help in treatment and rehabilitation of the offenders. They help them with finding jobs and aid in keeping strong ties in their family atmosphere. These cases can be somewhat difficult or surprisingly very complex. Another way probation is used is through community services. Community based services require the cooperation of its neighbors and the resources to make this a valid option. It requires the officers to find and keep contact with their offenders to make sure no harm or crime is committed. The main objective in community-based programs of probation is keeping the community safe. There are times when almost everyone wonders exactly what the purpose of probation is, what kinds of conditions can be imposed if someone is put on probation, and what roles the probation officer and the court systems play in the scheme of things. Probation is one of the least restrictive penalties among the alternatives confronting a sentencing judge. For probation, the individual will not be sentenced to prison, although he may, in fact, have been incarcerated in jail following his arrest and awaiting trial. Probation is in fact a charge and not a dismissal of charges, as many people believe. Many people believe that putting a person on probation is just a “slap on the wrist” and that it will not stop the person from committing further crimes but the term of probation is supervision and if it is broken punishment will follow for the probationer. In a lot of cases conditions imposed include refraining from the excessive use of alcohol, or use of any narcotic drug or other controlled substance without a prescription from a licensed medical practitioner, refrain from possessing a firearm, destructive device, or any other dangerous weapon. Also in many cases the court will impose a condition that the probationer must undergo available medical, psychiatric, or psychological treatment for drug or alcohol dependency, and remain in a specified institution if required for that purpose. The court is able to make the condition of residing at a community correctional facility during all or part of the time of the term of probation for some cases that go to court. In some cases the probationer must work in community service as directed by the court to make up for the crime that was committed. There are some conditions that are imposed because of the offense that the probationer was found guilty of, for instance, refrain from engaging in a specific occupation, business, or profession bearing a reasonably direct relationship to the conduct constituting the offense, or engage in such a specified occupation, business, or profession only to a stated degree or under stated circumstances; refrain from frequenting specified kinds of places or from associating unnecessarily with specified person. One of the major things about probation is that the probationer must report to a probation officer and allow the probation officer to visit him at his place of residence or elsewhere as specified by the court. The probationer must answer questions asked by the probation officer and he must notify the probation officer immediately if there are any changes in address or employment. Whenever a probationer has been arrested or questioned by a law enforcement officer the probationer must notify the probation officer promptly because this may show that the probationer has broken the probation and have to go back to court for a new sentence. A probation officer does far more than merely supervise a caseload of probationers. In addition to providing counseling, employment assistance, and other related services, a probation officer must be an investigator and a diagnostician of the needs of the probationer and must be able to develop, coordinate, and implement the special casework services needed. Probationary supervision means a great deal more than mere surveillance of the defendant by the officer. After researching probation to a fairly good extent in my opinion, I believe that it really is an easy way out of being in trouble. This is especially true if the convicted person’s offense was something that was done intentionally. I feel that probation is also a better way to handle people who are mentally unstable or people that have a drug or alcohol problem rather than just throwing them into the frying pan for a mistake. The purpose of probation is an alternative to an offender being incarcerated in jail or prison by serving his or her sentence in his or her community as long as he or she meets the conditions set by the courts. Conditions of probation vary from state to state but include supervised and unsupervised probations in addition to mandatory and non-mandatory conditions. The responsibilities of the probation officer are many; hence it is important that services and programs are available that will afford offenders an opportunity to become responsible, law-abiding citizens.