My second retirement was from Parole last december. If you don't like shit shows then you won't want to pursue this job. I'd surmise from it being a non-LEO unarmed position, your state has fully drank the Kool-Aid. We were LEO with take home vehicles and my decision to pull the pin was based on the new case management modeling and the lack of any real ability to hold offenders accountable to their conditions of parole.

It is an armed position. And you still don’t use your personal car for stuff

Retired Ohio LE, with a lot of contact with Adult Parole Authority officers.

They are very definitely armed and trained in the usual police tactics. Their unarmed self-defense program is fairly intensive, I taught with one of their instructors and he really had his feces cohesive.

They do not transport prisoners in POVs, instead a deputy or local officer will handle that.

A lot of the job is case management for lack of a better term.

Ohio LE generally views them as equals, just different. We'd serve warrants together and they were the same as any other LE officer, just from a different direction.

I wouldn't do it, just because I don't have the personality for it.

Some members may not understand the difference. Parole officers supervise criminals after their release from prison, probation officers supervise criminals put on probation in place of jail/prison (or a fine). In NY the state managed the parole system, each county had its own probation department.

As an adult and juvenile probation officer, I also wrote pre-sentence, child custody, and child support investigations. And some of the juveniles on probation had not violated criminal laws, they were runaways and chronic truants.

This was a small rural county in upstate NY, other states are likely to be different.

All I had to do is see how long the list of duties was and know that you will be supervised by someone who has been promoted far beyond their abilities....

quote:

Originally posted by kidcop:
Retired Ohio LE, with a lot of contact with Adult Parole Authority officers.

They are very definitely armed and trained in the usual police tactics. Their unarmed self-defense program is fairly intensive, I taught with one of their instructors and he really had his feces cohesive.

They do not transport prisoners in POVs, instead a deputy or local officer will handle that.

A lot of the job is case management for lack of a better term.

Ohio LE generally views them as equals, just different. We'd serve warrants together and they were the same as any other LE officer, just from a different direction.

I wouldn't do it, just because I don't have the personality for it.

Can you message me on email.

Email is in my profile.

Thanks

Know a guy who is a state parole officer here in Florida. He goes around calling himself a cop, goes to parades in uniform, etc. We were in the car and I introduced him to a real cop but he didn't know. She asked him what he does for a living and he said "I'm a cop." I go and look at her, she tells him she's a cop in the Orlando area and he starts stammering "well under Florida code blah blah blah, I can call myself a cop." Sees north Florida trash fighting in the street on his way home from work and stops to break up the fight by himself. Asked him why he did something so stupid and he said it was his duty.

They wouldn't hire him as a cop. He said it was because his father served time in prison for murder. True or not, I don't know. But I would surmise during the hiring process, they probably saw a guy who really wanted the badge & gun and was power hungry. But that's this guy in a nut shell, always comparing himself to others and trying to justify how awesome he is.

He has some funny stories to tell about work, though. I enjoy those stories over the tough guy stories. It still sounds like a thankless job, though.

Good luck in your journey.

Doesn’t sound like a good move in my view.
Regular cops encounter people on a daily basis some of which might be hardened criminals

Parole officers are dealing with people known to be on a consistent basis.

And these days all the social engineering feel good BS that such workers are hamstrung by would make it seem an impossible thankless and dangerous job