Probation and Police

I've been thinking of writing something about the relationship between probation and the police for some time and a recent query from a PC has finally prompted me to try and tackle the topic. Regular readers will be aware that Inspector Gadjets excellent blog was part of the inspiration for this blog and from time to time I'm tempted to add comments on certain of his posts. As other non-police officers have discovered, this can result in some startling responses from police officers and be somewhat akin to grabbing the lions tail. But the blogosphere is about debate and enlightenment as well as entertainment and it's in that spirit that I make my contributions. But in essence the question I have been posed is, what is the current relationship like and has it always been the same?. 

At the time I joined the Probation Service in 1985, most officers were in their late 40's and 50's and typically had joined following a career doing something else. Most were men, but along with the teaching profession after the Second World War, probation was in the vanguard of appointing women. The Service was set up by statute in 1907 and grew out of the work done by the Police Court Missionaries. Early on there was a strong Christian ethos within the Service and for example it was routine for staff to hold a prayer meeting at my office only a few years prior to my arrival. However this aspect faded away as 'professionalism' spread within the Service, hand in hand with the development of social work theory and the recognition of the importance of training. This was basically the period when to be a probation officer was a highly regarded position and officers enjoyed widespread respect.

Even so, I suspect that right from the beginning most people were confused as to exactly what the role of a probation officer was. For this reason it was customary when I joined for an experienced officer to talk to each new intake of officers at the County Police Training School. We also did 'exchanges' in those days and I was fortunate to spend a week trailing around with a beat bobby. I was never sure what he made of it, but for quite a few years I had new police officers spending a day with me in return, getting to know what the job entailed. Long before Youth Offending Teams and CPS was set up, a task given to me by the boss was the fortnightly 'cautioning panel' chaired by the local police Inspector. Over a cup of tea and biscuits, myself and a social worker used to do lighthearted battle with an Education Welfare Officer and the Inspector over which juveniles could be cautioned and which prosecuted. 

In 1985 the miners strike and its effects were still very raw and for years as a PO I had to try and deal with the ramifications. You became aware of numerous testimonies that did not paint the police in a favourable light, but I'm not aware that it ever interfered with my or the Service's professional relationships with the police. In truth there has always been close and quite frequent contact, especially with officers in the Child Protection, Domestic Violence and Sex Offender units. Until the Multi Agency Public Protection process was simplified, PO's regularly had the chance of discussing difficult and high risk cases with police officers and invariably it was our two agencies that had the best intelligence. Of course in more recent times contact has been cemented formally through Youth Offending Teams,  Prolific and Priority Offender projects and the new Integrated Offender Management process. 

In a sense though, none of this specialist or high level stuff touches the ordinary PC and their perception of probation and what the hell it's all about. To paraphrase, I suspect a significant view persists that basically 'the police 'catch 'em' and a soft liberal Probation Service conspires with an equally soft Judicial System to 'get 'em off'. Although I would say this is ridiculous and a grossly simplistic distortion and misrepresentation, I think most PO's have been aware of this view and the limited opportunity of countering it. It is unfortunate, because we have always had a shared responsibility towards public protection. It's just that our methods are necessarily different because we occupy very different parts of the CJS.

Police involvement with an offender basically ends at the time the file goes to CPS. We work with that person right through their sentence and in the past beyond voluntarily. Part of the trouble is that what we do is complex and not easily distilled into attention-grabbing soundbites for tabloid and public consumption. I suspect this is one reason why there has never been a significant TV drama series based on our work. But it has been one reason for this blog.

But there's another factor at play as well. Regular readers will be aware that I have discussed at some length the cultural revolution that has taken place within the Service over the last fifteen years or so. Probation Officers are no longer qualified social workers like myself and our mantra is no longer advise assist and befriend. We were officially dubbed a Law Enforcement Agency and are now joined at the hip to the Prison Service under the joint management of the National Offender Management Service.

A new breed of enforcement and punishment-orientated Probation Officers have been around for ten years, not to mention a growing army of mostly unqualified Probation Services Officers delivering what many of us old-timers would call a very different and less effective service. There is now a widespread perception that the formerly caring Service has given way to a somewhat purely punishment and enforcement-focused Service which many of us are not happy about. It has been suggested that our perception amongst police officers might have changed for the better as a result. Please tell me it hasn't!