Lets be honest, Court Duty is not every probation officers idea of a productive use of time and in my experience most male colleagues seem to have an aversion to wearing a tie in any event. Personally, having gone through university with a beard and looking scruffy, I really enjoyed the chance to smarten up when I got my first job as a sessional PO. I've worn a tie to work ever since, but this is even less the norm nowadays. It has meant that I have always been ready to attend court in an emergency or in response to a phone call that one of my regulars was about to appear. The Magistrates Court is only a brisk five minute walk away and many a time I've been able to do a quick 'standown' verbal report on a persons progress, or lack of, thus saving much time and trouble all round.
In the early days, all members of the team had to take it in turn to standby for Magistrates Court duty one day a week if the dedicated officer was not available for any reason. This happened fairly frequently as he was not a well man and of course the disruption to your carefully planned day was considerable. As it happens our office used to be located immediately beneath the County Court and in the days when we also wore the dual hat of Divorce Court Welfare Officers, the Judge would often tell someone to ring down and 'send a probation officer up'. Guess who that normally was given that apart from the Senior, I was normally the only male wearing a tie. Incidentally, this was only just after the time that it was compulsory for female colleagues to wear a hat in court and the 'office hat' was still very much present, hung up in the general office.
Eventually this ad-hoc method of staffing the court gave way to a dedicated team and it wasn't for another 17 years before I found myself back on a regular basis in court. In essence the ability to be a good Court Duty Officer in my view is being able to think ahead, anticipate what is likely to happen and be prepared for it. Having good contacts with the solicitors helps enormously, but as anyone knows who is involved with magistrates courts, the most important person without a shadow of doubt is the usher. As many a solicitor has found out to their cost, you irritate or annoy the usher at your peril. They are the key person who keeps business flowing. They decide the batting order and are incredibly knowledgeable about everything from where a missing solicitor might be, to roughly how long each case will take. Our court has some of the best in the business and I feel so sorry for them that sadly it's one destined for closure.
Of course good information is only part of the job of a CDO. The other key part is being able to address the Bench completely authoritatively, invariably at a moments notice. Often from the minimum of notes you have to try and help convince them of the virtue of a particular course of action, whether it be for a standown, a fast delivery report or adjournment for a full PSR. You also have to be following proceedings closely in order to have the confidence to butt in at an appropriate moment either with information, a request for clarification or a helpful suggestion. Obviously this only really comes with a degree of experience and it can be a little scary when it's the District Judge sitting rather than a lay bench. I learnt the hard way that it really isn't a good idea to try and dissuade such a person from a particular course of action when they had made up their mind, but he smiled as he politely put me right.
I didn't think I'd enjoy my time as a full time CDO as it felt like being put out to grass after my period off with stress, but by the time management decided the job was for PSO's only, I genuinely didn't want to go. I enjoyed the opportunity to be able to step in on difficult cases, like defendants that I could see had a learning disability, emotional problem or mental health issue and ensure that the court were aware and followed suggestions for appropriate disposals or assessment. I saved quite a few people from inappropriate custody or other disposals with an FDR done typically in an hour. I gave hours and hours of advice and counselling to defendants often in quite a state, either in the cells or the tiniest of interview rooms and it reminded me why I chose this line of work in the first place. In short it turned out that court duty is in fact still an important opportunity to practice some good old-fashioned probation work, if the interest and skill is there.
As you say a good court probation officer is a great asset to sentencing in the magistrates court. The ability to present a clear verbal report or comment on progress made is very important and I always go out of my way to formally thank those officers who I think have done a good job.
ReplyDeletePity about the District Judge(MC). It shouldn't make a difference who is on the bench as to how a proposal is argued. And DJ's shouldn't have closed minds, and neither should we, of course!