Who out there can remember that infamous marketing campaign by Hoover? You know, the one that nearly bankrupted them by promising two free tickets to New York if you spent more than £100 on one of their products. I bought a vacuum cleaner in 1993 and duly ended up on a flight from Heathrow with several hundred other excited Hoover owners for two weeks in the Big Apple.
Being a bit nerdy, I thought it would be fun to take the opportunity and see how the courts and probation worked on the other side of the Atlantic. I well remember being introduced to the novel notion of probationers having to 'report' to electronic booths not dissimilar to ATM's. Their identity was checked by fingerprint and the machine enquired if their circumstances had changed; had any problems or wanted to see a probation officer? If all was well, the machine duly issued further reporting instructions and produced a token for the return subway journey.
I remember being thoroughly bemused by the whole concept and upon my return even wrote a dismissive piece for the service newsletter entitled "Is the Future Apple or Pear-shaped?" Well, it might have taken 18 years, but it seems this ridiculous concept has finally reached these shores. The London Probation Trust have confirmed that trials are underway in several Boroughs. Without any sense of irony, a government spokesperson is quoted as saying that the aim is to 'ensure that officers are freed from bureaucracy and have more time to spend with offenders.' It looks like the future is indeed going to be pear-shaped after all.
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