Today my husband was challenged by a Connecticut State Probation Officer to have me blog about his/our feelings, and our corporate view regarding Probation in CT. My husband and I did some soul searching and discussed our feelings for quite some time with respect to the current probation system, we certainly have mixed feelings; my husband as a probationer and myself as a wife/victim of the system. The first reaction one has is a knee jerk…. lash out verbally, criticize and condemn the system because it is personally oppressive. On reflection, when viewing the Meta picture, such a commentary would be inappropriate and in any event untrue.
Despite several personally problematical experiences both of us fully endorse and support the need for a probation system in Connecticut, and frankly when all is said and done, and the dust clears, ours is first rate when compared to others. I would like to be able to say otherwise, but as a responsible taxpaying citizen, I have no complaints about my tax dollars going to the Probation Department and its officers. Through Con Com I’ve had the opportunity to interface with many departments…ours is heads and shoulders over most. With respect to our system however, in my perception, and my husband’s the role/mission/goal of the probation department should be to assist it’s its probationers to achieve personal success by living a moral and crime free life within the community, and I think they have that a bit mixed up. I think they see themselves as some kind of “police force” charged with protecting the community. It’s a syllogism. It is my/our belief that the probation system should to the extent financially and socially possible provide the tools necessary to keep the recidivism rates down, however not be so restrictive as to stymie the potential positive growth of its charges. It is our feeling that the way the department is currently operated, like the rest of the prison industrial complex in CT it runs scared, and won’t allow probationers ample space to grow. To some extent this is a function I believe of the repercussions following the unspeakable tragedy that befell Doctor William Petit and his wonderful family a few years ago. If found guilty it wouldn’t trouble me an iota if the two alleged perps were boiled in oil, but that being said, clamping down on an entire system and population because of two maniacs just doesn’t cut it…and by the way, the two alleged perps were not on probation, they were on parole.
My husband has been in the CT system for about four months. For the most part, his reactions are favorable. One of the good things that happens right up front, or at least in the office to which he reports, is that the probationer meets with the Chief Probation Officer, TM, on his first visit to the office. This woman is no body’s fool. She has an easy down home style, but all the time she’s talking, she’s taking (mental) pictures. She’s been around for a bit and it strikes me that her assessments are pretty on the money. I like that she takes the time to do that. To some extent it assures that the right PO is assigned to the right probationer, and it gives her a feel for the probationer and what she might expect. To the uninitiated it may not sound like much, but It’s a really strong plus for the system. The negative side of MS M interviewing probationers is that the system is very rigid and unforgiving. It doesn’t allow the people who operate it and operate within it a whole lot of latitude. Lots of what happens within the system has little to do with the law, rather it’s policy regulations formulated by those on high, and does not leave much room for interpretation…. That’s a big flaw in the system. Good or bad, to some extent, the line Supervisors hands are tied. At times that places a real hardship on the probationer and at other times on the system. A system as large as Probation needs rules and guidelines to operative effectively. But it needs to provide for the individual as well. I think this system in my/our experience falls short of the mark in that area. The line Supervisors needs more authority, and the more senior Probation officers do as well.
The PO assigned to my husband’s case is an example of that rigidity. I need to start by saying, he’s a really heard working PO, and in our opinion a very good one from the system’s perspective.. One can reach him on his cell phone day and night…he invariably answers his calls, and when one gets him for the most part he has answers. That’s the good part. The bad part is, we believe he perceives his mission is that of a cop rather than someone trying to help the probationer succeed. I think a good PO needs to be some of both. I personally find the way of some probation officers a bit too intrusive. I understand the need for some intrusion, but some place there should be a line. I am not on probation. The probation department has a standard line or that…”your husband is, and if you don’t like our methods we can have him move out.” That is a bunch of nonsense. There is certainly a happy medium. It’s a mixed bag, to some extent a matter of degree. I don’t mind a PO coming on a home visit, but I don’t think it’s appropriate that each time he come, he walks through every room in the house. When a PO is told for example, this room is my office and there is nothing of my husband’s in the room, that he still walk in and look on desks etc. My business papers are none of his, whether or not in plain sight. If he chooses to walk in a room to see whether there may be some kind of contraband visually present, I suppose that is okay within limits, but to actually stare down at papers and personal mail, I see as “going too far.” And then there is our bedroom. What possibly could a Probation Officer want that might be on my personal nightstand, or in my bedroom closet? To physically walk into the closet where I hang my clothing and night wear, to my way of thinking goes above and beyond. The same applies to our bathroom. Unless the PO has needed to relieve himself, or is taking a survey about bathroom tissue, why look in our bathroom?
Although I personally want nothing to do with these people, and will not interface with them except as absolutely required by law to satisfy the requirements of my husband’s probation, I must confess that on the whole, as a member of the community I applaud PO JM’s diligence, and the diligence of his brother and sister officers. However, as the wife of a probationer, I wish at times he’d/they’d be a bit more liberal/reasonable if not trusting. I’m not suggesting they give away the candy store, but by the same token life changes, and as people get older, they really do change. At my husband’s age and health condition he’s not doing anything stupid, and that’s where the system falls down. They are so worried about what he may have done in the past they can’t accept the fact he’s now a 65 year old cancer victim, who has suffered two heart attacks, open heart surgery, and is likely to need more heart surgery soon. He’s also a diabetic and hypertensive. All those factors weren’t present then…Nor was I. They are now. My husband does not choose to die in a prison, and these people just don’t get it… Their needs to be some room, some play.
In all fairness I might point out that my husband has an extensive major fraud background, and while in the system, he was not passive. When he perceived injustices were being heaped upon him, he responded in the appropriate forums…and he won. The system is unforgiving in that regard, and it wouldn’t surprise us if someone on high didn’t whisper into someone else’s ear about “special treatment” for my husband during this probationary period. Can I make that as a cold hard accusation?
Absolutely not. But you the reader can draw your own conclusions. Also, as a matter of disclosure, you should know I do bear some bias (and a pending law suit) against the state corrections system. The state would undoubtedly attempt to use my husband as a lever to induce me to drop my litigation. Although corrections and probation are not the same entity, they are tangentially related. I was a state employee for over 20 years, much of it in corrections (in a professional, non-custodial capacity). I’ve seen and heard it all. Thus it is possible my feelings are not totally objective. They come from a place of having been there and seen the best, the worst, and everything in between.
Hopefully this is not about our family but rather a commentary on the probation system as we see it. Reluctantly but being truthful, on the whole we are compelled to give the probation department high marks.
Responses are welcome.