HI!
I'm in the middle of doing research for a law firm in Michigan
concerning whether probation officers should be required to under go
psychological testing like police officers do. If anyone has any
comments or stories they would like to share concerning this topic
please feel free, I'm willing to listen to either side of the
argument. Right now I'm fresh out of new ideas for research, so I
thought perhaps posting on a message board and receiving responses
might help me remove the mental roadblock I've erected.

Thanks!

mike145k

i think the testing will be a waste of money i believe a better trainning course would help keep the level of personal at a particular target,also it will improve the operation as a whole.

magprob

As a retired probation officer, I can tell you I firmly beleive that any probation officer that carries a gun damn well should be psych tested. I have worked with a few of them that made me nervous when they were in possession of a ball point pen! There are flakes in every field but I think the powers of arrest and the use of a gun, coupled with the ability to inflict deadly force, is at issue here.

Fr_Chuck

Most of the probation jobs I know of ( from my state and the state where I used to be in law enforcement and corrections for years)

The probation officer ( with the exception of private probation companies that do city probation) are prefered jobs and get high competition for them. There will be hundreds of applicants for every one opening.

There is written testing, a background check, annual training, lots of training before they start thier first day. These are most often the best of the best from either the police departments or the correctional departments.

The majority of these officers (probation) are highly educated and motivated. What often is the real problem is that they have a case load that should be done by 3 officers but because of budget cuts they have to do it all.

And like the police officer and the correctional officers they hear it all, every sob story of why this could not happen, or why they missed this meeting or that. After a while they don't care any more if it is true or not, merley following the rule book is all that matters.

Then they may also see the officer who trys to do harder and better, get left behind by the officer who merely follows the book no matter what, since they will not have any "issues" for not following a rule, they may not have any success stories, but they also will not have any other problems either.

So all of the probation officers I have ever know are tested very highly, are picked from the best a state has to offer. This does not mean that someone could not become bitter or find they don't like thier job after they are there. Or perhaps a women who just hates men,or a manwho hates one race more. it all slips though at times.

But

tomkitty

Yes, I do think that Probation Officers should Undergo Psychological testing.
These are people who try to guide people who have made bad choices. They should be randomly drug and alcohol screened as well. There should also be surveys done, by their clients, judges and Lawyers to see if they are making a difference or not.