Guest Blog 84

Reflections  

Well, for a multitude of reasons it has taken some time to reflect on the circumstances and nature of my own departure from the National Probation Service after many faithful years of service.

Departing my main grade PO role earlier this year (I opted for early retirement) I then commenced a new, part time job a few days later. However, I feel the need to confirm that I qualified as a Probation Officer and completed my degree after attending face to face lectures. I also benefited from lively but healthy debates and guidance from established, long serving Probation officers (like Paul Senior) who documented and accurately forecast the dismantling of a Gold Star Service.

During my years of service I have worked across several regions, a handful of offices and a few Approved Premises. I have successfully delivered groups that included ETS, Think First, SOTP and IDAP. I have ‘acted up’ (SPO) and was always without hesitation willing to cover colleagues and the service at inter-agency meetings, gaps created by staff sickness and a Service inability to provided adequate report writers. A regular at L3 MAPPA I have over many years held and managed some very interesting cases! I was always considered to be a very safe pair of hands.

I spent some time developing an IOM team and actively worked within a proactive team before that. Back in the day, writing a detailed and meaningful Standard Delivery Report ‘on a weekly basis’ was a core skill, as was the ability to navigate the murky world of IPP sentences and the ever-changing face of Parole reports. I have had cases audited in numerous inspections and the feedback received was always complimentary and to the best of my knowledge rarely critical. But then, we were always given time to sanitise and prepare cases in advance of any inspection.

Over the years, I had the misfortune of becoming involved in 3 SFO’s, the first concluded that the ‘Offender Manager’ had done everything in their power to manage risk and they could not fault my work or that of the Service. My second interrogation was not as forgiving and I was criticized for not completing an OASys on time and the RMP was not in the correct format. The reviewing Officer made a point of telling me (prior to a 3 hour interview) that he would find something and bless him, he did! Regrettably he never explained how the RMP format or timeliness would have prevented further offending? 

My third SFO occurred about 6 months before I left the service. At the time, I calmly advised it was not an SFO because the ‘allegations’ made were so thin the matter would never meet a charging threshold and as a consequence it could never get to Court. As predicted the SFO was abandoned approximately 2 weeks before my departure and I never got the opportunity to say ‘Told You So’. However, the Service left the sword of Damocles hanging above me for almost 6 months, that decision in itself contributed to my departure.

So what was the point of this brief narrative? Well, having taken time to reflect and recharge my batteries, I am happy to confirm that upon my departure from the National Probation Service, I am satisfied that I had experience in abundance, I was a bloody good officer, I was truly a safe pair of hands that never turned work away or took ‘sick leave’ because things got difficult. I met deadline after deadline, I maintained the quality of my work despite the best efforts of the faceless bureaucrats and bean counters whose only aim was to deskill and privatise the role. The Service allowed me to 'burn out', they allowed me to believe I was failing and not meeting the 'new' exacting standards' being pumped out.

I realized the angst, sadness and fatigue I experienced at the very end of my Probation Journey was not of my making. I can now say I am proud of what I achieved. The Service is now desperately trying to train new officers and yet they have never considered why they have lost so much experience. The Service should hang its head in shame for driving the dedicated few out of the role. Was that deliberate or was it simple mismanagement I cannot decide. However, I can say that the accelerated promotion of newly qualified and less experienced officers through the ranks will inevitably create problems further down the line. I have not seen any evidence to suggest retention of staff was ever a real goal? Experienced Officers at the top of their pay grade can become quite expensive to maintain and newly qualified Officers are much cheaper?

Am I missed? Well, the Service didn’t come crashing down after my departure; however the good-will shown to the Probation Service (by me) continued and was arguably ‘expected’. I had to brief officers regarding impending Oral Hearings, the content of Parole Reports and even some case handovers almost 6 weeks after leaving the Service. All done in my own time, however, I was glad to offer my views because in every case we were discussing a third party, an individual who often remained in custody, my integrity demanded that all available information be shared.

So was I missed at all? Some service users expressed anxiety and concern at my departure. Some colleagues also expressed their concerns at the loss of experience within the Office; I suspect my line manager struggled to allocate those extra difficult cases for a day or two. However, life goes on, the Service has inevitably found other willing work horses and in reality my time was an insignificance to such a great Public Service.

I still have to ask how the service will manage staff that experience direct threats, intimidation, knives being pulled in interview? How do you react to an individual that calmly produces bits of his own body that he has hacked off? Is the new generation of Officer willing or indeed able to work late and sit with an offender whilst finding accommodation? I have many, many times.

It’s ironic that on my very last day with Probation, I called at one of the satellite offices to say goodbye to colleagues and whilst there I spotted an Offender I had recalled a couple of weeks earlier. He was unlawfully at large and clearly sleeping rough. I approached him, took him for a cuppa and bought him a sandwich; I then asked if it was ok to get the police to collect him? He agreed it was probably for the best and I sat with him until he was taken in to custody. ‘Old School’. I didn't claim the money for the sandwich, tea or my overtime!

So what now? Well I am several months in to my new role, I do remain within the judicial system and my risk assessment skills are still being used, but for different purposes. I have rediscovered my love for work, learning ‘new rules’ and ‘new standards’ within a new organisation has been a challenge but one that I welcome because it is allowing me to grow again. My partner and children all remark about the change in my demeanour and general well-being. I have time for others now and I am no longer consumed by my occupation. I am sleeping better because I am not worried about deadlines or the behaviour of 58 Offenders who clearly remain my responsibility 24/7!

Do I miss the work? Absolutely, being able to work with and motivate individuals toward change has been a privilege over the years. I have achieved success and many offenders I have worked with over many years have gone on to live very productive lives, I know because many of them stay in touch. It’s a shame the service never studied individual attrition rates (Newly Qualified PO’s v Experience PO’s) that is where you will find ‘Effective Practice’. The ability to exercise common sense without the fear of SFO’s or failing targets would yield undeniable results, but the Service does not want to measure that. I stand by my results, breach and recall clearly has its place, but it should be used wisely.

"A one-size fits all approach to outcome measurement – based principally on the proven rate of reoffending (while strategically and symbolically important) – is unlikely to be sufficiently fine-grained and nuanced to reflect the complex reality of probation provision." (Kevin Wong, Associate Director, Criminal Justice at the Policy Evaluation Unit, PERU, Manchester Metropolitan University). Any Probation Officer worth his or her salt could have confirmed this.

To be an effective Probation Officer (in the past) relied on the presence of ‘people skills’, you had to have an ability to be non-judgemental, firm but fair management in crisis with an ability to challenge ‘confidently’. Sadly these are not traits I see being taught. Sadly OASys and meaningless targets appear to be the order of the day!

Will I ever return…..? Yes because I genuinely believe Old School will come back in to fashion one day.

Anon