THE SECRETARY'S INBOX

[Guest]

So it's about law suit time!

[Guest358]

I believe one of the key problems in community corrections operations is the stubborn insistence on one officer-one caseload. It is time to adopt a triage style of supervision where teams of officers can efficiently manage large numbers of offenders.

[Mr. T]

Just about everything imaginable has been tried at one time or another. Team supervision was organized by a group of officers and tried in the 80's. It sounds good in theory. The same group that tried it found it was no panacea and went back to one Officer per caseload in less than a year.

[Guest]

I see that the secretary is visiting Polk,CI today. I am sure that he is going to avoid the Work Camp at all costs so that he does not have to run into Sergeant Gatusso.

[Nematode]

I see that the secretary is visiting Polk,CI today. I am sure that he is going to avoid the Work Camp at all costs so that he does not have to run into Sergeant Gatusso.

As stated in the first post, this thread is to suggest SOLUTIONS directly to the top .... NO WHINING here !!!!!!!

Use this most viewed thread wisely.

[Guest]

Maybe if the powers that be would stop and talk to Gatusso, alot of the problems would stop and the solutions would start "NEMATODE!" But I guess you did not think that far ahead

[Paladin]

Maybe if the powers that be would stop and talk to Gatusso, alot of the problems would stop and the solutions would start "NEMATODE!" But I guess you did not think that far ahead

Continuity of subject matter does matter. The Gatusso issue belongs on the Tony Perez IG Office thread. Please adjust your sights and place your shots where they will score.

[Guest]

Can't we all just get along?

[Guest]

Can't we all just get along?

[Nematode]

Back to topic.
Any suggestions to improve the situation?

Efficiency and cost effectiveness????

[Nematode]

Suggestion....

Time to replace CAs who do not improve, but maintain inefficiency by "kissing up"; THEY think they walk on water in their little domains. A fresh perspective from someone outside the good ol boy network will improve things.

[Circuit I Experience]

Be careful what you ask for. When our long time born here good ole boy CA retired we were sent up a CA from Lake City to clean up and clean out the good ole boys. We did not realize how well off we were. Now it is a good ole gal system and she is very selective about them.

We have a political system made up of families that have been here for generations. They take care of family. They are not impressed by outsiders just because they have a title. She quickly alienated and destroyed the relationships that had been built with them. She dismissed the long standing liaisons who had built 20-30 years of rapport and decided the CA was the only person smart enough to get things done for us. The Chief Judge tolerates her as he is a very professional Judge. The Escambia Sheriff will not give her the time of day.

Sometimes it's better to live with the devil you know.

[Guest]

Here are a few suggestions:

1. In-court officer's case loads are mainly administrative probation cases which require little to no work. They spend their time in court from 8:30am to 2pm at the latest. Have PSI's taken out of the field and assigned to the in-court officers.

2. OD (officer of the day) duties. This just gives officer's an excuse not to be in the office. The CPSS's and CPS's do not address this because they are not affected by it. OD should be eliminated. The supervisor should be called to the lobby to see an offender of their officer. The supervisor then can address with the officer why he/she is not in the office during their reporting period.

3. Community Control officer's: All CC cases need to be treated the same. You may have 2-3 officer's in one office where their cases are low because they are out checking on their offenders at different times and on different days. Of course they will catch them out. Then you have the remainder CC officers that have not done a violation in 4 months and their case loads are higher. Those go out into the field on the same day and the same times every week. When they go on leave, 50% of their cases violate because they are used to the same day and time. It is like clock work. Have the supervisors check the contacts. These contacts are supposed to be random.

4. I understand that we are to try to rehabilitate now. Have you seen the increase in crime? These are grown adults we are dealing with. We can not hold their hands. We have people on for Possession of Cocaine or even Driveing While License Suspended that have guns and they are shooting Law enforcement officers. DOC is so reactive and not proactive. I guess you will react greatly when it is one of our own that is shot and killed doing a home visit?

5. Sheriff's Office and Local Police Departments not taking offenders with active warrants from the offices, or even trying to serve warrants. We are all on the same team. Protect the public. CA's and DCA's have tried to mend these bridges, maybe some assistance from region or the Secretary himself would work. We are letting these violent offenders walk out of the office and into the community again and again. This happens for months. Then the officers don't want to go out to the homes due to the active warrants, so the case is put in s03-64. Probation Officers are even telling the offenders that there is an active warrant and to turn himself/herself in. This puts whoever goes out to serve the warrant in danger. The offender is not that stupid. They will be prepared to defend themselves.

6. COPS and pp89 have been addressed. Ditto.

I have seen several comments that there are alot of Probation Officers that work for DOC that love their job. I have to say I love my job. Anytime you want to see what really happens in the field, come out with us. You pick the person, don't let the ciruit office pick them. Ask the PO's, we want you to come out with us, to see what we see.

[CPSO North]

3. Community Control officer's: All CC cases need to be treated the same. You may have 2-3 officer's in one office where their cases are low because they are out checking on their offenders at different times and on different days. Of course they will catch them out. Then you have the remainder CC officers that have not done a violation in 4 months and their case loads are higher. Those go out into the field on the same day and the same times every week. When they go on leave, 50% of their cases violate because they are used to the same day and time. It is like clock work. Have the supervisors check the contacts. These contacts are supposed to be random.

Well said. I agree with all that was posted, however I want to comment on the CC issue. Say, for example, that there is an office with 4 CC officers, each with 25 cases. Two of the officers work at all times of day and night, and obviously catch several cases away. The other 2 never work past 8pm, and have very predictable schedules otherwise. The first 2 officers, who work random, late hours reduce their caseloads over a period of a few months to 15 due to violations. The last 2 officers maintain at 22-25 over the same period of time, losing only one or two cases to violations and the rest to terminations. When new CC cases come on board, who gets the cases? If you said the most proactive officers, you are correct. Over time, the hard working officers start to wonder why they bother because as a result of their hard work, they are given all the new cases. I've seen this happen like clockwork over and over for may years. The only time it doesn't happen is when CC supervisors look at the schedules and make all officers works similar, effective work schedules but that is rare. Like you said, when certain CC officers take leave and 1/4 of their cases are caught away by temp officers it is a clear sign that something is wrong. Many supervisors will not say anything to the slacker officers because contacts are being met and the computer is happy. This happens statewide and everyone knows it.

[Guest]

3. Community Control officer's: All CC cases need to be treated the same. You may have 2-3 officer's in one office where their cases are low because they are out checking on their offenders at different times and on different days. Of course they will catch them out. Then you have the remainder CC officers that have not done a violation in 4 months and their case loads are higher. Those go out into the field on the same day and the same times every week. When they go on leave, 50% of their cases violate because they are used to the same day and time. It is like clock work. Have the supervisors check the contacts. These contacts are supposed to be random.

Well said. I agree with all that was posted, however I want to comment on the CC issue. Say, for example, that there is an office with 4 CC officers, each with 25 cases. Two of the officers work at all times of day and night, and obviously catch several cases away. The other 2 never work past 8pm, and have very predictable schedules otherwise. The first 2 officers, who work random, late hours reduce their caseloads over a period of a few months to 15 due to violations. The last 2 officers maintain at 22-25 over the same period of time, losing only one or two cases to violations and the rest to terminations. When new CC cases come on board, who gets the cases? If you said the most proactive officers, you are correct. Over time, the hard working officers start to wonder why they bother because as a result of their hard work, they are given all the new cases. I've seen this happen like clockwork over and over for may years. The only time it doesn't happen is when CC supervisors look at the schedules and make all officers works similar, effective work schedules but that is rare. Like you said, when certain CC officers take leave and 1/4 of their cases are caught away by temp officers it is a clear sign that something is wrong. Many supervisors will not say anything to the slacker officers because contacts are being met and the computer is happy. This happens statewide and everyone knows it.

Scenarios like those above are exactly the reason I fill very strongly that cases should not be assigned to a caseload, rather make all 4 cc officers responsible for all cc offenders. Make the CC supervisor do their job and assign a certain number of cases to have contacts made each week to a different po. Ensures random contacts, lessens complacency, and when we tried it we were actually making more contacts on each offender. It was actually pretty good for the CC Officers. The practice stopped when our Supervisor transferred and we got a lazy supervisor that did not like having the responsibility to dole out assignments. Oh, holiday contacts, made it sweet. The three cc officers would pick the holidays that they wanted to work. The holidays that were left, would be determined by seniority. Normally only two cc officers would work each holiday making the necessary contacts. This way cc officers didn't have to work as many holidays each year.

There were some issues that had to be worked out, but we had three good officers that worked together.